Why I Replaced My Foundation With a Color-Correcting Moisturizer

My New Year’s beauty resolution for 2020 was to wear less foundation. And until I saw the Dr. Jart Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment all over my TikTok For You Page and finally tried the K-beauty product out myself, I made very little progress toward that goal. 

The silky cream has a slight greenish hue and is meant to work like a tinted moisturizer, color corrector, and sunscreen with SPF 30 all rolled into one jar. The mint hue is likely from the centella asiatica leaf (aka cica) water, which is extracted from the herbal plant that’s indigenous to Asian wetlands. Like aloe and chamomile, cica “is believed to soothe and repair irritated skin,” Ellen Marmur, a New York City-based board-certified dermatologist, has shared with Allure. 

Along with its anti-inflammatory properties, it’s also rich in chlorophyll, which can fortify the skin’s internal structure and allow the moisture barrier to work even better. All that is the scientific way of saying not only does cica work to quell redness (from zits, irritation, dryness), but it can also help improve the long-term youthfulness of your complexion. 

“Cica boosts circulation and blood flow to the skin, decreases moisture loss, and aids in cellular repair,” adds Shari Marchbein, a board-certified dermatologist and clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York University School of Medicine. “Skin, therefore, appears more hydrated and less inflamed.”

It’s worth mentioning the elixir also has some powerful moisturizers (glycerin, beeswax) and physical sunscreens (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide), but centella asiatica is the star of the show. 

Although the cream is mossy green in its jar and looks more like a clay mask than a moisturizer, it does a magic trick once it melts into skin. I usually warm a dime-sized amount up between my hands before pressing them onto my face. Then, I gently rub it in.  As I do so, the mint transforms into a beige hue that matched my skin tone. It’s basically foolproof. You can do it perfect your skin without a mirror if you need to.