I’ve never been one for foundation – I’ve yet to find one that doesn’t feel like it’s sitting on my skin, acting like a mask. Instead I like a lightweight base with skin-loving ingredients that nourish my dry skin. Skin tints have been my go-to now for many years – they make me look like myself, but better.
My favourites are the Hourglass Veil Hydrating Skin Tint, Ilia’s Super Serum Skin Tint and Les Beiges Water-Fresh Complexion Touch from Chanel. Each one makes my skin sing – when I’m wearing any of these my skin looks hydrated, plump and dewy. I honestly couldn’t imagine a world without them. However, these retail at £49, £48 and £55 respectively. Not cheap. I am incredibly fortunate that these came into my possession thanks to my job – it is after all my job to test and trial all manner of complexion products, From the best tinted moisturisers to powder foundations, and everything in between. But it’s the skincare make-up hybrid nature of a skin tint that I personally love. And my three favourites have set the bar high.
However, recently I have shelved the spenny bases, in favour of a product that costs £7.98 and quite frankly face (and bank balance) has never been happier. Enter: L’Oréal Paris Glotion.
L’Oréal Paris Glotion landed on my desk months ago and I didn’t immediately think much of it, but added it to my ever increasing pile of products to take home and test. One day I absentmindedly swatched it onto the back of my hand whilst on a work Zoom call. I was surprised with how skin-like the finish was. I had initially thought it was going to be a bit a white, sparkly, iridescent cream – the shimmery packaging is fairly misleading I’d say – but in fact, it’s more like a wash of warm, luminous colour.
So after my call finished, I applied it to my face. The results were incredibly pleasing. Much like my beloved skin tints, this gave me a hydrated, radiant glow, but thanks to the fact that I had taken the medium shade home, it also added warmth that I would typically have to get from my bronzer. Incidentally, there are four shades to choose from – Fair Glow, Light Glow, Medium Glow and Deep Glow. It’s also formulated with glycerin and shea butter for hydration, which as you know I look for in a base.
(Image credit: Katie Thomas)
And this what makes Glotion so completely brilliant – it is, for want of a better word, a skin enhancer. There’s no other way to describe it.
In the days after, I was on TikTok doing some research for a story and my feed was taken up entirely by Glotion. Every single beauty creator was using it. And it’s quite the multi-tasker – some people were using it as an illuminating primer before foundation, others as a highlighter or a bronzer, with the lighter and darker shades. However, I love to apply it all over.
I cannot get enough of how it makes my complexion look on a daily basis, and I’m also in a state of disbelief at the price – £11.99 normally, but currently £7.98 in the Amazon Prime Day deals. So whilst skin tints will forever hold a very special place in my heart, at least I now know that when my bank account is looking like a barren wasteland, I can still have expensive looking skin.