L’Oréal True Match Nude Hyaluronic Tinted Serum Review + How to use it?

So L’Oreal came up with this hot new product, a tinted serum. Yes, it’s a 1% hyaluronic acid serum and it’s tinted. I must admit it sounds fun and innovative, but is it really?

Can we just skip the regular hyaluronic acid serum and use this one? Let’s find out!

If you don’t know already hyaluronic acid is a humectant and a very common skincare ingredient. It binds water, hydrates the skin, and the low molecular hyaluronic acid can penetrate the skin deeper and fill in the fine lines, and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

High molecular hyaluronic acid on the other hand, just hydrates the outermost layer of the skin. So low molecular hyaluronic acid is considered an anti-aging ingredient, but it does not permanently reduce wrinkles, just temporarily.

The best way to use hyaluronic acid serums is on damp skin because that way they can bind more water. Right after application, they should be locked in with an occlusive/emollient moisturizer in order to stop the hyaluronic acid from evaporating from the skin and leaving your skin dry. If you live in humid environments it’s a different story and you should be able to use the hyaluronic acid serum on its own. But you can check this video out for more info on how to use hyaluronic acid.

Anyways, when we take a look at the ingredients of this tinted serum by L’Oréal, we can see that the hyaluronic acid that is listed here is high molecular, which means that it will only hydrate the outermost layer of the skin. You are not getting the anti-aging effect here.

But this serum does have some ingredients that can blur the fine lines like nylon-12 and dimethicone. These can fill in the fine lines temporarily. If you see some immediate results, this is why.

So this is a 1% hyaluronic acid serum and it’s tinted, so it’s not a foundation, it’s a serum. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this product was,

HOW SHOULD WE USE IT?

It sounds cool, but how do we use it in order to get both hydration and coverage? So I tried using it in multiple ways.

APPLICATION ON DAMP SKIN

If you want to get hydration, you should apply a hyaluronic acid serum to damp skin and lock it in with a moisturizer. So that is the first way of use that I tried. Is it possible? NO.

The tint moves around and blending is impossible, and it only gets worse when you add the moisturizer on top!

APPLICATION ON DRY SKIN

Next, I tried applying it on dry skin without anything on top (no moisturizer) and this actually looks pretty decent and feels nice too! I was afraid that this way of use would dry out my skin because that can happen when you apply a hyaluronic acid serum to your face without a moisturizer on top, but it didn’t happen with this one.

This intrigued me, but when I saw that dimethicone is listed in the third place in the ingredients list, everything was clear.

Dimethicone is a silicone that forms a protective barrier on the skin and stops the TEWL (trans-epidermal water loss). So that’s why my skin felt hydrated and soft even though I didn’t apply a moisturizer on top of the serum. Besides dimethicone, this serum has more emollient ingredients like Isododecane, Dimethicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Isopropyl Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Diisopropyl Sebacate, Ethylhexyl Hydroxystearate, Silica Silylate…

This tells me that this serum is a sort of a hybrid. I would call it a serum/moisturizer because you can use it on its own (without a moisturizer on top) unlike other serums.

Now, do I recommend using it on its own? At night time? YES. But during the day? NO. If you have been following my work for a while, then you know how important sun protection is during the day. Because of this, I tested the third way of use: with sunscreen.

CAN YOU COMBINE IT WITH SUNSCREEN?

You know I had to find a way to use it with sunscreen! Here is how I used it. I first apply a good layer of sunscreen, let it absorb for around 10 minutes and then I blot it with regular toilet paper (this makes blending easier later on). After blotting I apply the serum on top. I put it around my eyes as well, I use it as my undereye concealer. Because it’s super lightweight it looks great under the eyes as well.

Blending takes a little more effort and time (then when applied to bare skin), but I’ve gotten pretty quick in doing it. After blending I just set it with some RCMA “No Color” setting powder and I’m done. I do my everyday “no makeup” makeup and that’s it! It looks super natural and lightweight as if I have nothing on my skin! But my skin is more even because of the tint.  

Now, when applying it this way, you do sacrifice hydration because the hyaluronic acid cannot penetrate through your sunscreen, but something’s got to give. And on the other hand, you get the sun protection, little bit of coverage and a super natural, lightweight finish on your skin. This is enough, if you ask me!

FINAL VERDICT

This serum cannot replace your regular HA serum, which probably has at least 2 types of hyaluronic acid, low and high molecular hyaluronic acid, and a higher % of hyaluronic acid (1,5% or 2%).

Also, even though the best finish is achieved by applying it on its own to bare skin, because you don’t get sun protection in it, it’s not smart applying it on its own during the day and I recommend that you combine it with sunscreen the same way I did. You sacrifice hydration but get a super natural finish on your skin.

If you want to wear it in the evening on its own, go ahead and do that. The blending is the easiest when it is applied to bare skin and it also hydrates and makes your skin super soft and blurred out.

You don’t get the coverage you would with using a real foundation, so this depends on your personal preference. If you like a lightweight, blurred-out, skin that looks like skin finish, then this is for you. And if you are a full coverage girl, then just skip this.

You can watch all the demo applications in the video below.

Let me know if this was helpful and thank you for reading!

Danny

Pharmacist Specialized In Cosmetology

Danny

Pharmacist Specialized In Cosmetology