Skin tints, we know them, we wear them, we love them. But speaking for myself, a lot of my favourite skin tints tend to lean on the pricey side. And up to this point, none of the drugstore options have done much for me. So, I was delighted to see Mecca Max add one to their line a little while back. With a price point that actually rivaled some of my favourite drugstore brands. It’s main claims was that it gave a natural dewy finish with a lightweight feel to the skin. And that was more than enough to get me to add it to my cart. I’ve spent the last few weeks playing with it behind the scenes, and I’m ready to give you my thoughts.
MECCA MAX OFF DUTY SERUM SKIN TINT – $32.00 – mecca.com.au
*20 Shades Available*
We’ll start as I always do with the packaging. The Off Duty Skin Tint is housed in a stout, slightly frosted glass bottle. I say slightly because while the glass isn’t completely crystal clear, you can still fully see the shade of product you’re getting. There is also black, pink, and the iconic Mecca Max Red detail on the bottle. On top of the bottle, there is a twist off cap that doubles as your dropper dispenser. Despite the low price, the bottle has some heft to it. And it reminds me a great deal of the Ultra Violette Queen Screen packaging. Except this isn’t blue. The Off Duty Skin Tint is vegan, cruelty free, and contains 30ml of product
The Off Duty Skin Tint is dispensed via a dropper. It’s actually been a while since I last had a proper dropper style packaging for a complexion product. And while I’m not normally a fan, this one I actually like. My issue with droppers in the past is that they’re usually paired with a formula that is too thick. And as a result, they get clogged up really easily, making it difficult to get product out. The Off Duty Skin Tint, however, is a very thin, serumy consistency. And it pairs with the dropper perfectly.
The Off Duty Skin Tint comes in 20 shades. With the shades being divided up into four categories (Light, Medium, Medium/Deep, Deep). Now, I did note that more than a third of the shades were in the light category. But there is also a good range of undertones available. And the overall gradient from light to deep is pretty even. But, as I always say, I would love to seen a future expansion of the shades.
As for me, I wear shade 165, described as being Light with Peach Undertones. In the above swatch, I will admit that it looks light. But on the face, it’s easily one of the best matches I’ve ever had in the 6 years that I’ve been reviewing makeup. This matches my neck perfectly. I couldn’t be happier.
I always like to have a peek at the ingredient list these days. And there are a few fun things in the Off Duty Skin Tint that I feel are worth mentioning. Firstly, we have vegan Squalane. Which is beloved by dry skin baddies everywhere for it’s moisture protection properties. We also have Niacinamide, which I’m personally a huge fan of for helping strengthen my skin barrier and improve the overall appearance of my skin.
For me personally, there was only one way to apply the Off Duty Skin Tint. And that was with my fingers. The Mecca website does suggest that a brush or a sponge can be used too. Both of which worked well too. The sponge in particular surprised me because I assumed the thin formula would just get soaked up and not apply evenly. But I just preferred the ease of using my fingers to warm the product up. And I got the best coverage overall.
Speaking of coverage, the Off Duty Skin Tint, like I said at the top, is described as being a sheer to light coverage with a natural dewy finish. And I would say that description is pretty spot on. This isn’t the kind of product that you can build up to anything more than a light coverage. Nor would you really want to. I actually love the finish it gives. It evens out my skin really nicely without it being obvious that I’m wearing makeup. It also feel super lightweight on the skin to boot.
Which brings me to the wear test. Now, full disclosure, I actually took this picture slightly later than I normally would. So, this is me wearing the Off Duty Skin Tint for close to 12 hours. Let’s get the obvious out of the way, yes, I desperately needed to powder my face. I got very shiny on my forehead and chin. But the skin tint didn’t noticeably break down at all. It held on much better than I anticipated (this isn’t touted as being long wear). It did want to sink into my forehead lines. But pretty much everything does these days. Yeah, I’m struggling to finds any issues with this one, y’all. This is pretty fab!
Well, you heard me in the above paragraph, the Mecca Max Off Duty Skin Tint gets a wholehearted recommendation from me. I can see this easily becoming a summer staple for those occasions where I just want to slap on something. If you have combo/dry skin, you especially have to try this. And if you’re oily, maybe get a sample first. Have you tried the Mecca Max Off Duty Skin Tint? Let me know in the comments.
Cheers and love
Emily xo