Struggle with redness or irritation, but are sick of layering on heavy foundations or concealers to hide it? Well here’s some good news – Colorescience, a brand that focuses on combining cosmetics and skincare, created a formula that not only neutralizes, but also provides long-term relief for those of us with sensitive, redness-prone skin. Introducing their All Calm Clinical Redness Corrector SPF 50.
Colorescience’s All Calm first came under my radar last fall, back when I was gearing up for another cold Pennsylvania winter and experimenting with correctors to hide my more-than-rosy cheeks. But as it turns out, this skin-enhancing formula comes in handy in the summertime too – after a long day at the beach, outdoor workout, or simply as a means to skip the foundation and go makeup-free more often! Keep reading to find out why I’ve been loving it all year round…
Colorescience All Calm
Colorescience All Calm is one incredible little multi-tasker that blurs the line between skincare and makeup. Designed to be applied as the final step in your skin care routine, it instantly smooths the skin in preparation for your foundation, while also working as a color corrector to neutralize redness using subtle green tints. The coverage is in fact so amazing, that you may even be able to get away with using it on its own, in place of foundation.
All Calm also doubles as a little skincare treatment to help soothe and calm skin, providing ongoing relief from sensitivity and redness. The magic is in it’s blend of specialty ingredients inspired by nature, including vitamin B3, a bio-available form of vitamin E, and marine plant extracts, just to name a few. At the same time, they formulated All Calm to be free of potentially irritating ingredients, including mineral oil, drying alcohols, gluten, dyes, talc, synthetic fragrance, parabens, and other harsh chemicals.
To top it off, All Calm contains chemical-free, mineral SPF 50 sunscreen, so it helps protect skin from UVA/UVB exposure – one of the top triggers of redness and rosacea.
Colorescience All Calm Review
Colorescience’s All Calm comes in one universal shade, though in my opinion, it’s not going to be the best match for everyone. I have light-medium, neutral skin and it manages to look fairly natural on me, even when applied pretty heavily. If your skin tone is similar (either cool or neutral toned) and in the light to medium range, you should have no trouble at all with this matching.
However, for very fair and very dark complexions, your best bet is to mix All Calm into your moisturizer to get sheerer coverage that won’t alter you skin color too much. Alternatively, you could spot conceal only the areas where you need it most. The same applies if you have strong yellow undertones – less is more, otherwise it can start to look ashy and wash you out.
When it comes to the application, Colorescience recommends using 1-2 pumps, though I’d suggest starting out with much smaller, pea-sized amounts and building up from there if you need to. For my first go, I had applied one full pump and it ended up looking like a mask – it’s that pigmented! As I later discovered, a little less than half a pump gave me just the right amount of coverage.
Also, it’s super important to prep your skin properly before applying the formula. First, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve gotten rid of any dry patches by exfoliating with a scrub or washcloth. Otherwise, the formula will cling to any and all dead skin and flakes.
Next, make sure to use a rich, hydrating moisturizer, and then apply All Calm while the moisturizer is still working its way into the skin. This will help the corrector spread more easily and evenly, as it is very thick. (If you have really dry skin, I’d suggest mixing a pea size amount directly into your moisturizer. Personally, I find this gives me the best results.)
Once I had experimented a bit with the application and found the right process that worked for my skin, I was very impressed with the results. As you can see in the before and after photos above, even using a rather thin layer, All Calm did an amazing job at neutralizing the redness on my cheeks and nose, hiding blemishes, and making my skin look more even-toned overall. The coverage was so good, in fact, that I didn’t feel the need to apply foundation. I ended up just finishing off the look with a little mascara, concealer, cream blush and lipstick and heading out the door!
Wearing Colorescience All Calm, Colorescience Mascara, Colorescience Total Eye (around the eyes), and W3ll People Nudist Multi-Use Cream Stick in Nude Peach (on lips and cheeks)
Now, the only downside for me is that it’s pretty pricey (~$125 for 1 oz). However, for one, a little goes a long way – with regular use, it should last a good 3+ months. And because it essentially functions as four products in one – including a skin-soothing treatment, lightweight sunscreen, makeup primer, and color corrector – you don’t need to purchase all of these separately (which could end up costing just as much). And to top it off, it can help streamline a morning beauty routine, while also saving valuable bathroom countertop space!
Available at Colorescience, Amazon, Nordstrom & Dermstore
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What are your thoughts on Colorescience’s All Calm?
