When I heard that Laura Mercier, makers of one of my favourite tinted moisturisers, second to only Chantecaille were to release their cult product in compact form well, my beauty whistle was well and truly wet. Information on this illusive palette is scarce in the bloggersphere but after a bit of searching I found that (for the moment) the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser Crème Compact is exclusive to Selfridges. Cue a mad dash from me to get my hands on it. I may have only picked it up last week but after using it every day since just to be sure my mind was made up, here’s it’s school report…

First things first, the price – £40. Yes I did choke a little when the cashier said it out loud, considering the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in its usual tube form costs £33 for 40ml, here you’re only getting a pretty measly 7.5g of product. Slapping this on everyday, it ain’t gonna last long. Now you guys know I don’t mind a pricey product but for that I expect it to be fancy dancy and high quality. Cheap plastic outer casing that is so flimsy I can open it without using the catch, certainly doesn’t live up to my expectation. I wished it to be metal and perhaps even a little weighty – so packaging wise it’s a thumbs down from me.

Grumbles aside, now onto the formula. As with any cream product there is a fine line between it resulting in a greasy, emollient mess or a chalky, dry unblendable substance so it must have been a tough brief for Laura Mercier to try and keep that dewiness that is associated with their tinted moisturisers without it being too oily. I picked up the shade Bisque, which is my shade in their liquid formula and found it to match my skin just as well and blend in nicely with my Real Techniques Buffing Brush, perhaps not as smooth as their liquid but good enough for me. It’s long lasting (lasts pretty much all day on me), stays true to the low coverage of tinted moisturisers and due to its cream form it has the added advantage of being buildable. The only downside for me? The finish. The original liquid version (it’s probably worth mentioning here that it’s the oil-free one that I love) leaves a gorgeous, undetectable, skin-like glow to my face whereas the cream compact has more of a matte finish – no luminosity here, it looks almost powdery in some lights and certainly doesn’t look as natural on my combination skin anyway.

This won’t be a daily choice of base for me, but I’ll be tossing it in my bag for touching up on the go – the mirror and sponge that are included do make it great for that. It may not everything I’d hoped for it to be, but I’d recommend this to greasy gals who’ve always found tinted moisturisers too oily or Laura Mercier nuts like myself who just need to test it, you’ll find a use for it, even if it’s in the depths of your handbag. Now that Laura Mercier have thrown down the tinted moisturiser in compact form gauntlet I think it’ll be interesting to see which brands follow suit. But for now Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser Crème Compact, it’s a C….