I am constantly looking for products that can do double duty to save time and energy. But lets think outside the tinted moisturizer as tint AND moisturizer! mentality. I love products like Tarte Cheekstains because they not only provide fresh, sheer long lasting color for your cheeks but if you pucker up, it’s a great stain for your lips. Magically, there are several other stains out there: Benefit’s Benetint is the cute, pink, mothership, and PosieTint is the Skipper to Benetint’s Barbie, but Tarte gets the prize for having the widest range of super flattering shades. And did I mention that it lasts despite all its dewy sheerness? That and a little mascara and you have a fully polished face in 2 (count em!) products. Perfect for when you have 3 minutes before leaving to do errands on a Saturday.

Aquaphor is another double duty-er. Yes, that ultra un-glam blue and white tube that will help heal your scars or diaper rash is a great emollient if you want to protect your lips from windburn OR create that sheen-y highlight above your eyebrow. (Not for people with oily skin, but if you are a dry face, like me, having a moisturizing product that does double duty as a highlight, get on it!)

Dermalogica Soothing Protection Spray is on my list too. Sure it’s great to restore your PH balance after washing your face. And SURE it smells like a Tuscan lavender field. But what if you have been wearing your makeup for 7 hours and you need to wear it for another 7 but you don’t want your makeup to look 14 hours old? Well, my pet, you only need to spritz your face 2-3 times with this and your face will return to all its “beginning of the day” freshness. I don’t know how, but somehow it reactivates your makeup without mushing it up.

And along those lines, La Mer The Eye Concentrate, does the same thing around the delicate undereye area. Put it on in the morning with the little metal roller doo-dad and your eyes are hydrated and depuffed and your face smells like a cucumber. But put a dab on a concealer brush mid-day or before going out in the evening, and gently pat it over your under eye area. The gel will mix with your concealer but fear not, in a minute or two, the moisture will have soaked right into your skin leaving your concealer right where you put it the first time only rehydrated and refreshed.

Don’t you look FRESH!

Originally published March 1, 2009 on Rebecca’s Blog Pigment