This Easy ‘Nude Glow’ Foundation Gives You Foolproof Application—And It’s Selling Out Fast

It’s very Gemini of me to say that I love makeup and also hate it at the same time. I like how it makes me feel, but the process of painting it on my face makes me want to crawl back under my duvet. I have every shade of red, pink, and orange lipstick under the Sephora sun, and enough eyeshadow palettes to last me five lifetimes (and I’m probably being conservative here). Give me bronzer. Give me glitter. Give me that cool purple blush from TikTok that perfectly complements my skin tone without trying too hard. I want all makeup, but I will probably despise actually putting it on my face… unless it can promise a foolproof application in 60 seconds or less.

This is exactly what It Cosmetics CC+ Nude Glow Lightweight Foundation ($42)  does. And it’s why I whole-heartedly adore it with every Mercury-ruled bone in my body.

IT Cosmetics CC+ Nude Glow Lightweight Foundation + Glow Serum — $42.00

Let’s start with the fact that this formula (which launched in late March in 22 different shades) was essentially made for summer. Lightweight and ultra-buildable, Nude Glow offers the perfect consistency that makes it easy to apply to your whole face in less than a minute—with or without a brush or Beautyblender (I’ve used my fingers in a pinch and gotten the same results). It’s creamy without being too liquidy (if you apply it directly to your skin, the formula won’t run), and when it dries, it never cakes or settles into pores and creases. The shade (“fair” for me) matches my skin perfectly, and it stays put all day (even in 95-degree LA heat).

Nude Glow gives you a dewy finish that looks like your natural skin, but brighter, more even, and super hydrated. That’s thanks to its skin care-infused ingredients, like niacinamide (this evens out your complexion and minimizes pores), hyaluronic acid (like a gigantic water bottle for your skin), and green tea extract (a potent natural ingredient that helps fight inflammation as well as environmental damage, like pollution). It also has SPF 40, which protects skin from UV rays (just make sure you reapply or layer on sunscreen every two hours).

Is it the foundation I turn to when I want to hide the colony of hormonal zits on my chin? No. That’s what Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation ($65) is for (it’s denser, and the coverage is more intense). Is it the foundation I turn to when my skin is blotchy, uneven, and experiencing a mild stress zit or two? Absolutely. I have oily skin with redness and extra shininess on my T-zone, and this formula does a stellar job evening out my complexion while simultaneously helping make my skin look healthier—with very little effort. It’s like an Instagram filter in a bottle.

After applying Nude Glow, I’ll dab on a bit of blush, swipe on some mascara, fill in my brows, and put on some tinted lip balm, and I’ll be good to go—the entire process takes mere minutes. Even though the foundation launched only a little over a month ago, it already has about 1,000 5-star reviews on Sephora (with an impressive 4.5-star rating). “Great product. I loved that it felt super lightweight but gave me medium coverage. This is so good for those days that you only have like 5 minutes to get ready. I loved that it was easy to use and that it has SPF,” one shopper writes.

Another says, “This is amazing. It doesn’t look like I have makeup on my face, it just looks like I’m having a perfect skin day. It has a beautiful dewy glow. I am more oily, and it still looks great after a day of wear. Not to mention it feels like I’m applying skin care to my face, it is so refreshing. Will buy this over and over again.”

The only bad news is that many shades keep selling out (if yours is sold out now, I’d bookmark the Sephora page if I were you—the wait is very much worth it). But I guess that’s what happens when the makeup gods give us a product this consistently good *and* convenient.

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