IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ - Light Medium (N) - 1.08 fl oz

Why it's worth it

The CC+ Cream is the pick when a sheer tint isn't enough. It's SPF 50+ broad-spectrum with buildable medium-to-full coverage, plus hyaluronic acid and niacinamide, and it camouflages redness, dark spots and under-eye circles without a separate color corrector.

Where ILIA is a serum with a whisper of color, this is close to a foundation that happens to protect you. One pump gets you noticeably more coverage than anything else here, and two gets you nearly full. Owners with rosacea, acne scarring and stubborn redness reach for it specifically because the correcting pigments are built in. If your morning currently involves a green corrector and a foundation, this replaces both.

SPF 50+ is the real draw. The FDA's numbers put SPF 30 at roughly 97% of UVB blocked and SPF 50 at about 98% — a small gap on paper, but a useful cushion given that nobody applies enough. IT Cosmetics uses a mix of physical and chemical filters here, so it's not a mineral-only product, and the payoff is a higher SPF with no white cast at all.

From our review of 8 tinted moisturizers with spf, by Sarah Wright, Editorial Associate

What we like

• +Where ILIA is a serum with a whisper of color, this is close to a foundation that happens to protect you
• +SPF 50+ is the real draw
• +It's built for skin that's showing some age
• +It also stays put. This is the formula people choose for a workday that runs into an evening, and it comes off with ordinary…

What to know

• –The cool-toned shades are the weak spot
• –It's thicker than everything else in this guide