Review: CoverGirl Advanced Radiance Sheer Makeup SPF15

a.k.a CoverGirl Smoothers SPF15 Tinted Moisture.

Disclaimer: I own the CG Advanced Radiance Sheer Makeup SPF15 , but Paula Begoun informed in her web that it is virtually identical to CG Smoothers SPF15 TM. I checked the ingredients of both products and true enough, based on the lists they are twin sisters. So I include both products in this review, but it’s really up to you if you believe that they are separate products as claimed by CoverGirl (the Advanced Radiance one was discontinued anyway).

From www.drugstore.com (on CG Smoothers SPF15 TM):
Sheer Coverage

• Smoothing moisturizers with Vitamin E
• UVA/UVB broad spectrum sunscreen
• Won’t clog pores
• Oil Free
• 100% PABA and fragrance free
• Dermatologist Tested

CG Smoothers SPF 15 Tinted Moisture combines lightweight moisturizers with a wash of sheer color to help cover tiny imperfections and smooth skin tone for a healthy looking glow.  SPF 15 shields your skin from the damaging effects of the sun.  Skin feels soft, looks smooth!

Made in Canada

 My Skin Type:
Currently normal/combo. My t-zone can oil up after 5 hours…but it’s not bad when I use some kind of good oil control product.

Packaging:
Both products came in simple, nonchalant, practical tube. Works for me! Though I prefer flip top compared to the screw top.

Color Selection:
CG Smoothers has quite a good color selection for a TM, if I’m not mistaken CG Advanced Radiance TM too.

Coverage:
Sheer, but buildable.

Texture:
Creamy. It’s not heavy. If I’m not wrong, it didn’t feel as slick as the old Stila SCTM SPF15.

Blendability:
Reasonably good. Not as slick as Stila though.

Finish:
Should I describe it as satin? Not matte, definitely. Yes true to the name, there’s some ‘radiance’ in here. It’s sticky for me, though. So I always set it with loose powder…however in photos it still showed up as reasonably dewy (see pics below).

Oil Control:
As a TM marketed toward ‘aging’ population, I didn’t feel that this TM did any job in controlling oil, nor did it claim to be. Didn’t really matter on my normal/combination skin, I’ll just blot once a day

My General Review:
I’ve always been interested in TM, and I’ve been interested CG’s TM for a while. So when I found a great deal on evil-bay a couple of years ago I immediately bought a set of 3 (!!) of the Advanced Radiance TM in the Fair/Light. I believe it was the lightest in their color selection?

The shade itself was a great match for my neutral-cool skintone, however like many mentioned in the MakeupAlley, this TM was sheer! I know TMs are supposed to be sheer (I’ve worn TMs for years now) but this is almost close-to-nothing coverage. Definitely not enough to blur out my acne scars or signs or tiredness. I showed up in office one day, wearing only sunscreen and a thin layer of this TM (no concealer). Horrible. I look extremely tired that day Maybe I was just sleep-deprived that day, but typically I could survive with just TM and LP, especially since my sunscreen that day was a physical one and it gave out strong white cast, so it actually already helped to give some ‘coverage’!

Good news was, the coverage of the TM could be amplified if I pile it on.

(Not) coincidentally, in order to obtain that broad-spectrum SPF15 coverage, you indeed need to put quite a substantial amount of product in your face. Problem is, probably due to the fact that the UVA coverage relied on Zinc Oxide, a physical block, it could get cakey. At least I found that using a good primer underneath helped in blending the TM so in the end it was reasonably smooth on me. The UV coverage supposedly was not that high (3% of ZnO; some other TM got better actives than this), however if it was only incidental exposure you’re experiencing, I guess this product provided enough.

Also, I didn’t rely on this TM as my moisturizer. I always put on separate product for that purpose, as this TM was rather lackluster in the state-of-the-art  ingredients.

Enough with the blab! Here’s a pic of me wearing YSL Top Secrets primer, and then a healthy dose of the CG Advanced Radiance TM.

CoverGirl Advanced Radiance Sheer Makeup SPF15

Sorry for the ashy color, I’ve moved out from the dorm to another room, I’m still trying to figure out the lighting in my new room here

While I was cleaning my hard disk, I also found this old pic of me also wearing the TM…before I moved to Singapore! It was taken at my own room at Jakarta…much better lighting there compared to here In here I put on separate sunscreen and only applied the TM thinly. Sheer coverage. You can spot the acne marks on my cheek!

CoverGirl Advanced Radiance Sheer Makeup SPF15

In both pics my makeup was set with NARS LP.

Application:
Best applied with moisturizer/sunscreen and primer underneath. I typically stipple it with my fingers then use a makeup sponge to smooth everything out.

Availability:
Easily available at drugstores or online. I don’t think CG is available in Indonesia or Singapore?

Price:
Around US$8 at www.drugstore.com. That’s not shabby at all for 40ml.

Ingredients:
Active Ingredients:
Octinoxate (6%), Zinc Oxide (3.0%)

Inactive Ingredients:
Water, Glycerin, Isohexadecane, Isopropyl Palmitate, Oleth 3 Phosphate, Sucrose Polycottonseedate, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, DMDM Hydantoin, Steareth 21, Steareth 2, Stearyl Alcohol, Behenyl Alcohol, Talc, Polyacrylamide, Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, Panthenol, C13 14 Isoparaffin, Disodium EDTA, BHT, Beta Carotene (Vitamin A), Methicone, Cetearyl Alcohol, Laureth 7, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides

Overall Rating:
4 out of 5. It’s a decent TM and I wouldn’t mind using it, but for my skin I could use a bit more coverage, or higher percentage of sunscreen actives.

*This review will be cross posted in www.makeupalley.com under username Crescent_Shadow.

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