The Milk Sunshine Skin Tint is a one-of-a-kind foundation – you can tell that from just looking at the packaging. But how well can this sheer foundation perform in the run up to summer? Is it worth the awkward packaging?
Claims
- Preservative free – stays ‘fresh’ with antimicrobial silver
- Hydrates skin with sheer, buildable coverage
- SPF 30 protection
Packaging
You have never seen anything like the packaging for this one before. It comes in a long thin tube that is a roller ball on one end and a clicker on the other. When you click at one end, the product comes out around the roller ball in a flower shape. It’s definitely a bit of a gimmick to apply the product this way, and I do find myself getting through quite a lot of product every time I apply it. I’ve read that for some people the pump has been faulty, leaving them unable to get into the product (this is VERY common feedback). Luckily for me that hasn’t been the case but just something to consider. I’m sure this could easily be put into a glass container with a pump or a container that you can shake and pour the product out and it would be less gimmicky and probably lower the price for the consumer as the component wouldn’t be custom. I don’t have any complaints about the packaging (because luckily it does work for me) but it seems like quite a round about way of applying the product.
The claims that the antimicrobial silver in the roller ball keeps things ‘fresh’ seems to be quite a claim with not much to back it up. In my mind, it refers to the fact that although this touches your face multiple times that it doesn’t harbour bacteria, rather than preserving the formula for a longer time because of it (as I have no idea how that would work if the product only touches the silver when it’s being dispensed). Surely a pump would also make sure that the product stays fresh?
Performance
The coverage of this is sheer to buildable. For such a light coverage product, it’s not as thin as you would expect. It isn’t runny at all and is almost like a gel? I find that I end up applying quite a bit of product to get the coverage to where I want it to be. I’ve used both a beauty sponge and a foundation brush to apply and they give a similar coverage, but the beauty sponge blends thing in much nicer. You could definitely use your fingers to blend this in, but I personally hate using my hands to apply my makeup. It blends in very well and leaves the skin looking dewy and fresh. It does a pretty good job at covering redness, though you would have to apply concealer for redness to disappear completely (though that is to be expected). This is probably one of those foundations that would work well for those who have pretty good skin already – if I still had my cystic acne, I certainly wouldn’t be reaching for this. One thing I have noticed is that the formula doesn’t really dry down on its own. It tends to stay wet throughout the day if you don’t powder it, so if you touch your face some will come off on your fingers or if the wind blows your hair on your face, it will likely get a bit stuck to your face. I personally don’t tend to powder because it can make my skin looks drier (and other foundations I use dry down), but I would powder this one a bit to get rid of that tacky feeling.
I use the shade fair which is said to have cool undertones, though this comes out as quite yellow. As someone who is very fair and has naturally quite pinkish skin, I much prefer warmer undertones to help balance out my complexion. So although it is advertised as having cool undertones, it doesn’t really. Fair is nice and pale and if applied sparingly would be pretty undetectable on my skin, though if I build the coverage a bit, the colour does start to go a bit orange and noticeable.
I’d just like to point out that this foundation only comes in 7 shades (fair, light, sand, medium, honey, medium tan, deep). As the names might suggest, this doesn’t cater in any meaningful way for those with deeper skin tones. While there is often the argument that ‘sheer foundations/skin tints don’t need a massive shade range’, one shade for POC isn’t okay in my book.
This does claim to have SPF in it, but you should not be relying on a skin tint or a foundation to get your SPF. ALWAYS apply a separate sunscreen (SPF in moisturiser again isn’t enough) to get your sun protection. Any extra in moisturiser or makeup is an added bonus but shouldn’t be the only protection you’re wearing. To get the full protection that is advertised (SPF 30), you would have to apply far more than is natural or normal to wear.
Durability
In terms of durability, I’ve been very impressed. There’s often an assumption that light coverage foundations won’t last a very long time and that you need a heavier foundation for it to be long-wearing. This has lasted 8+ hours and survived long walks in the sun. While I may not be commuting anymore and can’t put things to the commuter test anymore, I was surprised to see that there was no breakdown on my T zone, between my nose and mouth and on my chin. Bear in mind that it lasted well despite not powdering.
Suitability
I think the Sunshine Skin Tint would work well for dry skin as it is a dewy finish and doesn’t really set down (without powder). I have patch of eczema around my mouth at the moment and it does look a little flaky by the end of the day, but that’s more of a skincare issue rather than one with the foundation. It doesn’t cling to any other pieces of skin or dry my skin out. I’m not sure how well this would work for oily skin types – maybe if you were to powder it down and use the right primer you could prolong the wear time, but ultimately I don’t think this dewy foundation was built to survive oil breakdown.
At the time of testing, my skin was very sensitive and would react badly by breaking out in to spots when trying new products. I’m glad to say this did not happen with this!
Overview
For anyone with normal or dry skin looking for a light coverage, long-wearing skin tint/foundation, then this is your gal for absolute sure. I’d love if Milk would reconsider the packaging because I think it would encourage more people to try it out – ultimately most reviews that give a poor rating is because of the packaging rather than the product itself.
Annoyingly, this isn’t available in the UK at the moment and I’m not too sure why really. It might be the SPF issue, but it states on the Milk website that the Canadian version just doesn’t include the SPF. A friend got this for me from the US, which will make it quite a difficult one to repurchase, so I’m using it quite sparingly!
If you’re interested in reading more Milk reviews, you can find the Matte Bronzer and Lip and Cheek Tint review here and the Hydro Grip Primer review here.
For all other Milk products, you can find them at Cult Beauty here in the UK.
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