I Test Hundreds of Beauty Products a Month, and This Tinted Vitamin C Serum Has Become My New Staple
Ilia
Ilia has quickly become one of the best brands for tinted serums Its Super Serum Skin Tint has thousands of perfect reviews, in addition to being beloved by beauty editors and celebrities like Cindy Crawford and Miranda Kerr. But as great as that product is, I'd actually like to shine the spotlight on Ilia's new Vitamin C Beyond Triple Serum.
Like its predecessor the Beyond Triple Serum has SPF 40 coverage and niacinamide, which combat environmental stressors and inflammation, but instead, uses encapsulated vitamin C that dissolves over time upon contact with your skin. The encapsulation gives you the benefits of the ingredient throughout the day, rather than just once upon application.
Like any effective serum, there are long-term benefits. It fades dark spots and signs of aging, but this serum also has short term benefits thanks to its subtle, sheer-like tint. Expecting to be underwhelmed, I was hesitant when I first poured out a few drops of the serum onto my hand — it was so thin and became incredibly sheer as it dissipated. But I didn't want to judge the product too quickly; in the name of properly testing the hundreds of products that make their way onto my desk, this needed further experimentation.
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Wearing Beyond Triple Serum and Drunk Elephant Rosi Glow Drops.
I took my Rose Inc Number 3 Foundation Brush (it's great for light, skincare-makeup hybrid formulas) and covered my face in Tone 2. Once I was done, I literally said, "wow" out loud. It is sheer but not invisible — Triple Serum made my complexion even with breakouts and discoloration far less noticeable and left me donut-skin-level dewy à la Hailey Bieber. I was worried that the thin texture would spread all over my face and become patchy, but it did the opposite: it felt like my skin absorbed the pigment, which kept it in place throughout the day.
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Shop now: $64; iliabeauty.com
This was one of the few products to make it into my travel makeup bag on two recent trips, which alone tells you how much I like it. The serum is perfect for easy, everyday wear; it's subtle and works as seamlessly for wearing to the beach as it does to dinner.
The only possible issue I can think of — although I can't speak to it — is that the three shades in the range are pretty limited. However, according to the brand's shade-matching graphic, all of Ilia's tinted shades are represented within these three options because of their sheer adaptability.
Most summer days, I put C Beyond Triple Serum on as the last layer of my skincare routine, apply Drunk Elphant's O-Bloos Rosi Glow Drops (another skincare-makeup hybrid), pack an SPF mist for reapplication, and call it a day.
