ByElizabeth Hours Updated
Comments 17 Comments

Foundation, BB Cream, Tinted Moisturizer: Yea or Nay?

This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Are you wearing foundation, BB cream, tinted moisturizer, concealer in specific areas — or nothing? Elizabeth just had a fun discussion with friends about this issue, so we asked her to share it with us! Today's “this or that” question: what are you wearing (if anything) for makeup? How much does the answer change based on situation, i.e., how different are your makeup looks for different occasions?

[For my $.02, I just wear concealer under my eyes — it has to be a Very Fancy Makeup Situation before I'll pull out foundation. — Kat]

This is a fun question that was sparked by a group text among my college friends. After 18 months of working from home, what kind of makeup are people wearing when they leave the house? Specifically, one of my friends wondered, what was she supposed to put on her face when the foundation that she had used for years was discontinued and she had no interest in going to Sephora to see what else was out there?

The general consensus was that none of us were wearing full-coverage foundation anymore. Oddly enough, as we’ve gotten older and would presumably have more about our skin that we wanted to cover up, everyone was leaning towards tinted moisturizers/BB creams or nothing at all. I’m not bold enough to suggest that my tiny focus group of six women in their late 30s is representative of the population as a whole, but my sense is that lots of people, particularly in the 35+ age range, are giving up on full-coverage foundation these days.

Personally, I just can’t be bothered to put on a heavy foundation that’s just going to come off when I put on a mask. And even if I weren’t wearing a mask, my skin has never looked better than it does now (thanks, IPL photofacials and Vitamin C serums!), so I’m not inclined to spend time putting on more than a tinted moisturizer in the morning. On the other hand, I have spent some time on TikTok and am genuinely impressed at the makeup skills of the Gen Zers who manage to put on a full face before the school bus picks them up in the morning.

Readers, over to you! Are you wearing a full-coverage foundation? A light-coverage CC cream? Tinted moisturizer? Nothing at all?

For what it’s worth, my daily tinted moisturizer is from Laura Mercier. For a bit more coverage, I also like the IT Cosmetics CC cream. For a medium coverage (the absolute most I’ll do these days), the Urban Decay Stay Naked Weightless Foundation is my favorite.

This post contains affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!

17 Comments

  1. My go-to is Charlotte Tilbury’s Healthy Glow. A tiny dab goes a LONG way and it gives you that perfectly sun-kissed look, basically “your skin but better.” (I use a bit of concealer under my eyes and for blemishes.)

    I only wear it on days that I’m really going to be out and about, though. I’ve gotten a LOT more comfortable going around bare-faced through all of this, especially with masks.

  2. Interview Question: I am interviewing for a position and they have requested that I meet with one of their vendors to get a feel for the services they provide, and how the vendor works with the company. They also want me to share my background with this vendor. Has anyone experienced this before?

    1. It’s a little hard to say without knowing more about the field you’re in – but while I haven’t experienced this, I would cautiously take this as a good sign that they want to be sure they are finding a great fit for the role. Maybe they’ve realized they had unclear expectations in the past when hiring? I’m assuming vendor management would be a big part of the job.

  3. I never thought I’d be comfortable enough going to work with no makeup, but I did it for the better part of this past year. It just didn’t seem worth it when half of my face would be covered and I wasn’t having in person meetings anyway. Once work life started getting back to semi-normal I switched from all over foundation to a mineral powder that I brush on the top half of my face. I use a little eyeliner and a lash curler when I have time. I like the freedom and the extra time in the morning without a real makeup routine!

  4. Tinted sunscreen, setting power, eye shadow pencil, eyeliner and mascara are all I’m doing these days.

  5. I wear concealer for my dark circles, and lipstick. Sometimes mascara. I meant to shout out the Bobbi brown color corrector here – it works much better than I would have expected out of a powder

  6. I quit “skin” makeup completely, so if I use anything, it’s only on my eyes and lips. I get much better results from being obsessive about skincare and letting my face breathe.

  7. I wear a tinted moisturizer almost every day. I use NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, which is the best I’ve found, and they carry a perfect shade for me in their new expanded shades (Gotland.) If I’m going somewhere in the morning I often skip the tinted moisturizer when I’m getting ready, because I don’t like getting it on my mask. But I wear it all other days because it improves my appearance for zoom calls and just generally around the house. I’m not generally covering blemishes, but I like how it evens out my skintone.

  8. I’ve never worn foundation and have always worn Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer on days I wear makeup. I’m fair skinned and freckled and foundation looks like clown makeup on me – yes, I’ve tried many brands. Now in my 40’s I’m using an even lighter hand with even the tinted moisturizer. Fine lines and thick makeup don’t play nice and I’ve found the clown effect is increasing with age if I’m not careful.

  9. I find I have to wear a tinted primer and a bit of CC cream under my eyes to look halfway decent on zoom/skype. Then I use setting powder on top and smudged eyeliner, mascara and eyebrow mascara or my eyes look non-existent. And an all day lipstain. Back in office days I didn’t wear eye makeup because I wore glasses but I take the glasses off for zoom and need something on my eyes.

  10. Any recs for folks with dark under eye circles, and/or South Asian skin?
    My foundation is Estee lauder Double Wear in Toasty Toffee, but it is THICK and I only like wearing it for court appearances and special occasions. Would love one of the lighter products, but not sure where to start. Thanks!

    1. This is exactly my problem and I just picked up Ole Henrikson’s Banana Eye Cream, for which I had read many recs, and tried it with my Nars creamy concealer. I couldn’t stop looking at myself! It was incredible. Supposedly the cream has some color correcting qualities, but I also feel that its tacky texture helps the concealer adhere. I also use Alima mineral powder. Like many others, I’ve given up on full face makeup, at least until we don’t have to wear masks anymore. If I’m just going out to run errands, though, I might just do liquid blush and nothing else. I don’t really need makeup for work … I’m a journalist and working remotely.

    2. Same here! I find masks emphasize my under eye circles as well, but I’m not using foundation nowadays. Last week I tried color correcting (dark peach/light orange color from ELF and LA girl, nothing fancy), then concealer (maybelline fit me) OR foundation just under my eyes. Both were better than concealer alone.

  12. I am 53, used to wear foundation until masks became part of my everyday work outfit. I do have a lot of video meetings, for which I’m generally in my office alone and unmasked, but I decided to care less how my skin looks rather than transfer all the makeup to the mask anyway. I do use eye makeup.

  13. I’m using a Neutrogena powder foundation to cover redness from rosacea. Can’t believe how quickly it covers! (I use a primer first since I live in an extremely dry climate.)

Comments are closed.