10 best tinted sunscreens for glowy SPF coverage all year round

Since bursting onto the scene 15 years ago, Supergoop!’s sunscreen formulas have showcased the best in innovation, from the brand’s powder sticks (excellent at preventing scalp sunburn) to mattifying lotions. Combining skincare, UV protection and make-up, its glowscreen formula is arguably the best of the bunch. The creamy formula glides on effortlessly with your fingers (use a brush to buff around the hairline), with the coverage lasting all day, whether in balmy climes or in the office.

It’s available in various shades but we opted for a pigment one shade darker than our natural complexion, for a subtly bronzed and glowy look. The lightweight formula gives skin a glass-like finish, with niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and vitamin B5 sinking into skin for a moisture boost. With SPF30, it can be worn either alone or over a higher UV-protectant moisturiser. It also works nicely as a primer, owing to the near-weightless formula. A true year-round skincare staple.

Garnier’s budget vitamin C fluid glow face cream gives premium formulas a serious run for their money. With SPF 50, it offers high UV protection, while the formula itself has a gel-like consistency that is lightweight and smooth to apply. It’s easily blended with your fingers, and the texture isn’t greasy – it absorbs quickly, too. The pigment is glowy rather than tinted, as it’s designed to suit all skin tones (those on TikTok praise it as being brown- and dark-skin-friendly).

The pinky hue adapts to your skin tone for dewy, plump and glowy results, with a dose of vitamin C brightening your complexion. The coverage is equally impressive, with one application lasting all day. If you’re layering it under foundation or concealer, you won’t find any piling, with the Garnier formula doubling up as an SPF primer. For the price and generous tube size (40ml), this is a hero high street buy.

This product is the secret to a your-skin-but-better finish. With SPF50, it offers ample protection, with the silky-smooth formula gliding effortlessly across skin. Despite the lightweight consistency, it’s not greasy or oily, with the formula buffing and blending over your existing skincare with no piling. Using a brush for a flawless finish, the results are natural, dewy and glowy.

It’s available in 15 shades, so you can either colour-match for a no-make-up make-up look or go one shade darker for bronzed skin. If you love light coverage, the pigment and staying power of Ultra Violette’s tint is good enough to forgo foundation completely (it’s a go-to product while on holiday), with the formula leaving skin feeling nourished and soft. Our only gripe is the small size (50ml) for the price, with a full-coverage look requiring at least three or four pumps, meaning you’re likely to get through a tube quite quickly.

La Roche-Posay’s hardworking formula contains SPF50, so it offers ample safeguarding from UV rays. It’s also water-, sweat- and sand-resistant, and the formula has impressive staying power throughout the day. Powered by nourishing ingredients, including glycerin and vitamin E, it’s super lightweight, so can easily be applied with your fingertips (a little goes a long way). A good choice for those with oily skin, it isn’t greasy and offers a subtle skin-blur and dewy finish, with the tinted formula helping to even out skin tone and mask spots or blemishes.

Providing light coverage, it’s the perfect substitute for foundation in hot weather or if you want a no-make-up look. Though, it still sits nicely under make-up and even doubles up as a primer, if you’re looking to layer your coverage.

Providing colour-correcting coverage, Lumene’s formula evens out your skin tone while blurring imperfections, thanks to its hero ingredients: Nordic lingonberry (for visibly smoothing skin) and Arctic spring water, for a hydration boost. Plenty of antioxidants (think seed oil and rosemary extract) work to soften and stimulate collagen production for a plumper look, while there’s also ascorbic acid, which works to brighten the skin. The formula itself is super lightweight and easy to blend, whether with your fingers or with a beauty blender.

The formula is available in 10 shades, so you can either colour match or go a shade lighter for brightening, or a shade darker for a subtly bronzed look. Sitting over our SPF30 moisturiser, the featherlight formula is the perfect base for concealer, bronzer and blusher. The perfect balance between dewy and matte, the results are natural and long-lasting. At the end of a long day in the office, the coverage is still going strong and skin feels soft and hydrated.

Korean beauty brand Dr Jart+ is no stranger to going viral on TikTok (see its cult colour-correcting treatment), which is a testament to how good the products actually are. Launched last year, the BB beauty balm reworked the original formula from 2004, which cemented the brand’s success. As soon as it landed on our desk, it became a staple of our make-up bag. Thanks to the SPF50, it offers stellar UV protection with the formula streamlining your beauty regime by providing light-to-deep tan coverage.

The consistency is creamy and best buffed with a brush. Rich in pigment, it quickly adapts to your skin tone, helping to even out your complexion, blur any imperfections and mask redness. It feels lightweight on the skin and hydrating, thanks to glycerin and niacinamide, leaving a radiant and subtly dewy finish that lasts all day. We relied on it throughout winter for UV protection and glassy coverage, layering a little concealer and bronzer over the top for a day-to-night look.

Packed with skincare benefits, Erborian’s five-in-one formula uses innovative ingredients (think ginger for refreshing the complexion and liquorice for targeting pigmentation and dark spots). Lightweight and creamy, the BB cream glides onto the skin easily, with just a pea-sized amount needed for full coverage (use a brush for best results). Boasting a skin-blurring effect, it mattifies your complexion while masking imperfections. Plus, skin is left hydrated, soft and nourished after use. What’s more, the cream balances an oily skin tone, creating a velvety finish, while the staying power is impressive (coverage perseveres during a sunbathing session). 

Featuring SPF20, it’s not going to offer the same protection as higher broad-spectrum formulas, so we’d recommend applying a higher SPF moisturiser underneath. By doing this, we’ve not burnt once. The coverage is subtly tinted for no-make-up make-up days, with the shade range catering to various complexions. It also sits nicely under make-up, doubling up as a grippy primer.

Available in 11 shades, Nars’ tinted moisturiser is a skincare and make-up hybrid with added SPF30 protection. The oil-free formula gives skin a translucent veil of colour that works to even, tone and smooth your complexion. Infused with French Polynesian kopara to hydrate and brighten the complexion, the lightweight formula doesn’t cling or pull skin.

Whether using a brush or your fingers, application is easy, thanks to how blendable and silky the formula is. It has a smoothing effect on the skin, with a soft focus and seamless finish. The pigment isn’t as strong as foundation but, when applied with a helping hand from concealer and powder, the tinted moisturiser has impressive staying power and coverage.

Beauty buffs on TikTok have hailed elf’s whoa glow SPF30 formula to be a budget alternative to Supergoop!’s cult glowscreen sunscreen, but how well do these claims stand up against testing? Boasting a relatively thick formula, it doesn’t go on as smoothly as other formulas when using just your fingers, so, you’ll need to go in strong with a brush, to avoid the product piling. The colour and coverage, on the other hand, is impressive. 

Available in three shimmery shades, it delivers a natural, radiant glow and a soft, non-greasy finish. Evening out your skin tone, it’s infused with aloe, hyaluronic acid and squalane, for added skincare benefits. Plus, it doubles up as a primer with concealer, blush and foundation formulas sitting comfortably on top. It’s not as long-lasting as other formulas, and it boasts a more traditional sunscreen scent that may put off some people, but if you’re after an affordable dual-action SPF to throw in your bag when you need a little coverage, it’s worth trying.

It Cosmetics is synonymous with CC creams. The nude glow formula is the newest product on the cult roster and a subtler coverage alternative to the brand’s bestselling BB cream. A lightweight skin tint that offers a barely-there make-up look, it combines the benefits of a foundation, serum and SPF all in one. 

The product’s creamy consistency is easy to buff with your fingers (use a brush or sponge around the hairline and eyebrows), blending out to a sheer and glowy finish. There are skincare benefits to boot, with 90 per cent of the formula made up of ingredients such as hydrating hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and green tea. Available in 15 shades, the tint’s coverage is glassy and long-lasting.