

It is more gel-like than any of the other products I swatched above. When this first touches the skin, it feels and spreads like a basic lotion. I definitely like the finish of it better than most sunscreens I’ve tried though. The product dries down a tiny bit within a couple minutes of application but never looks truly matte. It doesn’t take away shine but also doesn’t add shine either. I maintained my skepticism about this claim and tried it anyway. Some of the reviewers mentioned that it gave them a matte finish. I think Ulta’s product description exaggerates by saying it gives a “powder matte” finish.
Australian gold fair to light skin#
It has a somewhat strong peachy tone to it but is sheer enough that I think it would still work for a sizable range of fairer skin tones. The color is a smidge darker than what you’d typically find as the lightest shade of a foundation or concealer… so not “fair or pale”, but just “light”, if that makes sense. I chose the lightest of the 3 available shades. The result looks just like my natural skin both in color and finish but just more even and smoother. Two layers is my favorite way to wear it, giving me something similar to a light coverage foundation. One layer almost doesn’t look like any coverage at all, but does provide a tiny bit of texture smoothing. It doesn’t seem to shorten foundation wear time or cause shine to develop earlier than it normally would.

I didn’t find that they were more difficult to apply over the sunscreen vs just on bare skin and they didn’t look much different either. However, all of the other products applied perfectly fine over it. I love the Nars foundation but it does not get along with this sunscreen at all, probably because of the matte finish. So far, I have tried this with several base makeup products including Nars Soft Matte Complete Foundation, Too Faced Born This Way Multi-use Sculpting Concealer, Essence 16h Cover & Last Powder Foundation, and NYX Bare With Me Concealer Serum. Australian Gold Botanical Tinted Face Sunscreen Comparison Swatches | Fair to Light Australian Gold Botanical Tinted Face Sunscreen Ingredients It is one of the darker shades I have but this works out fine since it is sheer. The Australian Gold Sunscreen is the sheerest of everything here and is layered more than the others so you can actually see the color. Here’s a before and after of two layers of just the sunscreen by itself: Before | Australian Gold Tinted Sunscreen After Two Layers of Australian Gold Tinted SunscreenĪnd here are a couple of pics wearing makeup over the sunscreen: Wearing Too Faced Born This Way Concealer as Foundation Over Australian Gold Tinted Sunscreen Wearing Essence 16hr Cover & Last Powder Foundation Over Australian Gold Tinted Sunscreenįor reference, I swatched it next to some of my other foundations and concealers. It also smoothes the look of pores and texture. It provides a little bit of sheer coverage with one layer but I can apply a second layer to get more noticeably evened out skin. The way I’ve been using this is either by itself or with makeup over it. It doesn’t feel uncomfortable or have a strong smell and has gotten along with the majority of the makeup I’ve paired with it. This is one of the more moisturizing mineral sunscreens I’ve tried that is somehow also not greasy or shiny. Mineral based sunscreens I’ve tried in the past tended to cause my foundation to cake, gather in pores, and be difficult to blend. And they usually cause my foundation to get very shiny and break down early in the day. In general, I find chemical sunscreens are oily feeling, no matter how much they claim to be “oil free”. I often wear sunscreen underneath makeup but haven’t found many that work well for that purpose.

I got mine from Ulta during a sale (they carry two of the three shades), but you can also get this straight from Australian Gold or on Amazon. The price is also attractive at $16 for 3 fl oz. It is a mineral sunscreen that comes in 3 shades that are sheer enough to span a wide variety of skin tones and is supposed to have a matte finish. I would consider this a lightweight moisturizer, sunscreen, and makeup in one product. In my searches, this Australian Gold Botanical Tinted Face Sunscreen caught my eye more than once. I have been on the hunt for a new sunscreen for a while. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.
