Hi, I’m Maggie, and welcome to Tender Forms Off-Camera: a bi-weekly newsletter on all things slow: beauty, fashion, and living. Links in this newsletter may include affiliate links or discount referrals. If you enjoy and would like to support this newsletter, click the button below or shop through my links! No pressure, but thank you if you do.
Today’s newsletter is not what I had initially planned. I’ve been slowly gathering and ordering all the items for my updated base and sunscreen roundups. Of course, the weather (heat wave) and shipping times threw that out the window slightly, ha! Regardless, I’ve wanted to share thoughts on some new items I’ve been using. Some are early impressions, and others are more developed.
Stark Skincare CITY Light Daytime Oil ($46, 1floz | 30ml)
I first tried this way back in 2020 (dedicated brand review here) and loved it. But since then, Jess (founder) has reformulated it to be the line’s vitamin C serum. Usually, when something I love is reformulated, it never goes well. However, I’m happy to report that’s not the case because I love CITY more now. What a sheer delight this oil is. Don’t let the word “daytime” fool you. It’s equally excellent during the evenings as well. I’m thrilled that all the qualities I loved (silky texture, feather-lightweight feel) remained but with the added bonus of vitamin C mixed in. Thanks to all that I’ve tried, early impressions tend to be lasting impressions when it comes to skincare. My skin can tell when something works because there’s a sense of peace and synergy.
The scent is green and ever so slightly spicy. Perhaps spicy is the wrong word; it just feels invigorating. I use anywhere between 2 to 6 drops. 2–3 drops are my daily daytime routine over a generous misting of hydrosol and underneath sunscreen. Then it’s 4–6 drops depending on how dry my skin is feeling in the evening.
And I cannot stress how “invisible” this feels on the skin. I don’t think there’s a lighter-weight oil that packs this much nourishment out there in the market. If you or someone you know doesn’t like the feel of oils but would enjoy the benefits of one, look no further.
Stark Skincare MUDPUPPY Solid Cleansing Balm ($22, ~2oz | 60ml)
I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to try this! It’s another instant love. My skin was having a wacky moment with a new skincare regimen and volatile PNW weather, and this was the soft hug it needed. I wear some pretty stubborn sunscreen, and it blew me away that something this gentle could remove it!
One should not think of this as soap. It won’t suds up like a typical bar; just look toward the name, as this is a solid cleansing balm. I like to run it under warm water and create a milky lather between my hands. Then I go over my dry skin (with all makeup, SPF, and grime) and start massaging, followed by a warm washcloth to remove. Then I will double cleanse with the bar a second time using less than I did the first. I only do this because my current sunscreen has quite some grip and can be stubborn to remove. If your sunscreen is easy to remove, one cleanse will do it! It will leave your skin feeling clean, soft, and nourished without being overly moisturized or dry—a happy medium.
I love its creamy, gently gourmand, vanilla, and cocoa buttery scent. Everything about this bar is soothing. My sensitive, reactive skin loves Mudpuppy thanks to its colloidal oats and unique mix of butters and extracts. Since I create a lather on my hands and then spread it onto the face, I don’t find that I feel the bits of oat on my skin, so it doesn’t truly exfoliate. However, if you use the bar directly on wet, damp skin, you’ll feel more of a gentle exfoliating quality.
I used it on my body once when my skin was breaking out in hives, and it felt equally luxurious and soothing. However, please note that the bar will diminish much faster if often used on the body. I reserve it for the face only and have been using it as my daily cleanser. Thus far, it looks like this bar will last quite a long time!
LESSE Every Tone SPF 30 ($85, 2floz | 60ml)
LESSE’s overall brand aesthetic always gets me, and their latest sunscreen launch was no different. This is a mineral, non-nano zinc oxide sunscreen. I made an Instagram reel of the packaging for your viewing pleasure here. I am going to share quick, brief impressions on this, as it will be included in the updated SPF roundup!
Scent: I love it. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever smelled when it comes to SPF. For those sensitive to the scent of zinc oxide, you won’t find that here. There’s no added fragrance; the scent comes from the ingredients themselves. The scent starts as an intoxicating, almost heady mix of something berry adjacent, sweet from its medley of oils and extracts, and escalates to a tingling spiciness (akin to star anise) on the nose before mellowing out back into a subtle creaminess. The scent makes a few reappearances throughout the day, which is a welcome surprise for me. But if you’re sensitive to scents, be forewarned.
Feel: A silky, slightly loose gel-cream consistency. It goes on feeling thicker than it looks, but as it dries down, it becomes breathable and lightweight. The sunscreen has some body and feels like it grips the skin and doesn’t slip and slide once it sets. Because of this, it’s a rather stubborn SPF to remove.
Performance: Ample protection thanks to its high percentage of zinc oxide. However, this will cling to dry patches and texture on the skin. I preface this with three drops of Stark’s CITY oil, then go in with at least two pumps for the face and neck. Though it’s marketed for all skin tones with no white cast, this definitely has a white cast. It lightens my skin by at least a shade or more. If you used just one pump, it might blend in completely, but that’s not an adequate amount to apply. *I only say this because I asked how much they recommended for the face and neck, and they said at least two pumps.
Despite any cons listed above and feeling that it leans towards a miss for the masses, I am enjoying this sunscreen very much and keep reaching for it. So that has to say something!
MOB Beauty Blurring Ceramide Cream Foundation* ($23 refill, 3.5g | .12oz)
I filmed the first time I used it here. I have mixed emotions towards this (personally) highly anticipated launch. And it pains me because I wanted to love this unconditionally. When I get down to it, I think this is perhaps the first real miss for me with the brand. But that’s due to personal preference, and here’s why.
Wow, this foundation packs a punch in terms of coverage and blur. I couldn’t believe my eyes the first time I applied it. I closely followed the brand’s journey and watched their Instagram stories for application tips. They suggested using a dense brush, so I naturally reached for my tried-and-true favorite, the Bobbi Brown Full Coverage Face Brush. This delivers medium to full coverage when used with a dense brush and built up to just two layers. If you love radiant, comfortable, skin-like, full-coverage foundation, this one is for you. And that’s not even mentioning its incredible blurring capacity. You wouldn’t even need any other blurring product if you had this. Every time I caught myself in a mirror, I was stunned by how smooth my skin looked. This feels like a full-coverage foundation I would find in mainstream beauty packed with silicones, not green beauty. But somehow, they’ve achieved it through a vegan and clean formula. It’s astonishingly impressive.
However, as you may know, that’s not the type of coverage I tend to wear. And here’s where the miss comes in. I’ve tried desperately to sheer this out, whether in the application or mixed with other products. And I have yet to find a way that looks as lovely as its intended higher coverage finish. I have tried a flat foundation brush, looser stippling brush, fingers, and sponge. The closest I’ve gotten was picking up the tiniest amount with my fingers and applying it that way. But that brings me to the other con. This will catch on any dry spots or texture, even ones I didn’t know about. So in order to use this, I have to go overboard with my usual skincare and prep. And as you might know, that just isn’t me. I prefer a more satin or matte finish to the skin, so that’s how my skin is after skincare prep. This needs to be applied over well, if not overly moisturized, skin.
I also suspect that I might be a shade lighter. Long-time subscribers know my face is darker than the rest of my body, so I tend to go lighter in base products depending on whether my sunscreen lightens my face. I was gifted both Neutral 20 and Gold 20, and when I apply sparingly with my fingers, both stand out a bit when it’s not a complete layer over the entire face. I think Gold 10 would be the winner that would work all over, in a sheer layer, or to spot conceal. I must say there is some real genius in the nuances of their undertones. I can’t name any other brand where I can be more than one of their undertones!
I will continue my journey of testing these out and seeing if I can get it to sheer and work with my skin when it’s drier. I suspect oily-skin types would adore this foundation. And at $23, it’s too good to pass up. (Plus, they offer foundation samples for just $1!) But it will be a tough time for drier skin types that don’t prefer or do a lot of skin prep. However, if you’re used to putting in the work, this is a beautiful foundation.
Every so often, a film’s score will fade up from the far reaches of my mind. Soft and quiet before turning up. The ‘Her’ soundtrack is one of my favorites, yet not one I return to often, until recently. This has been all I’ve played in May thus far, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.
Thanks so much for reading! Since the timeline for the aforementioned work-in-progress newsletters is around the same, I’m wondering which you’d like to read first.
In the meantime, here are links to last year’s roundups:
As always, I hope you have a great start to your week! See you soon!
Having been immersed in a deep well of work (rewarding but also so time-consuming), I feel like I’m now back in the sunshine. I’m treating myself to an afternoon of skincare- and makeup-related reading and watching. And how nice to find not one but two of your newsletters to read!
Pity about the MOB blurring foundation. Hopefully you may still come up with a way to sheer it out. (In this day and age, sheer-blurring ought to be possible, I’d like to believe!)
Sorry I missed your poll.
Oh, I've been on the hunt for a new cleansing balm without EOs; however, the one linked in your dedicated Start review sounds gorgeous; do you still use it; are there other cleansing balms that you love/recommend?