Great Tinted Moisturizer From Laura Mercier By Laurel1 on Dec 02, 2007 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

Laura Mercier is a "fine cosmetics" line, so it is not the first I turn to when looking for a bargain. It is high end, and high priced. But it's also high quality.

The Tinted Moisturizer with an SPF of 20 is no exception -- it is one of the best tinted moisturizers I've tried. It is a great alternative to foundation if you have clear skin and a minimum of wrinkles. The shades range from pale enough for me (and I am very pale), to dark enough for a dark-skinned woman of color. I'm not the only one who thinks it's great; it won a "Best of Sephora" title this year, an honor determined by user votes.

It comes in both the regular and an oil-free product. It is lightweight, and has a pleasant scent, although it contains no artificial fragrance. It goes on smoothly, and a small amount goes a long way (a good thing, considering it is $40 for 1.5 ounces). It has a number of botanical ingredients; even the sunscreen in it is a plant derivative, which is rare. And with an SPF of 20, that sunscreen is a bit higher than that of most other tinted moisturizers. It doesn't irritate my extremely sensitive skin.

The only thing thing I dislike about it is the price. It's certainly too high for my budget (what I have was given to me as a gift), and will probably be too high for many readers. I'm not sure that it works that much better than, for example, CG Smoothers, which is less than $10. That said, I can't use CG Smoothers because it gives me a rash. The gentle and plant-friendly Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer just moisturizes with a hint of healthy color, and I'm glad I have some.