Merit The Uniform Tinted Sunscreen Review For Fair Skin

May 31, 2025

It’s been a minute since I’ve covered a new beauty product here on Affordable by Amanda. In full transparency, I’ve taken a step back from routinely purchasing new makeup products just for the sake of trying them out. I’ve found myself on a journey to use up the current makeup products that I have sitting inside my drawers.

MERIT Tinted Sunscreen + the rest of my makeup routine

When I noticed MERIT Beauty launching a tinted foundation this month, I was eager to get my hands on it as I continue to make smarter beauty decisions in terms of using cleaner makeup and skincare. MERIT Beauty prides themselves on creating products free from harmful chemicals which I appreciate as a woman attempting to live a more toxic-free life.

Over the past few years, I’ve been able to try out plenty of MERIT’s award-winning makeup such as their cream blushes, tubing mascara, and complexion stick. You can check out a previous blog post where I discuss my opinions on these other MERIT favorites here.

Honest Review and First Impressions: MERIT The Uniform

Choosing My Shade

After a recent trip to my local Sephora inside Kohl’s, I was happily surprised to find the lightest shade, 30, available for purchase in the MERIT beauty section. I knew I wanted to test out the lightest shade of The Uniform after looking over the shade options online. The shade 30 is listed as Fair Cool which works well for my fair complexion. My natural skin tone leans a little pinkish which also made the shade 30 my best possible match.

First Wear Test

Since I purchased this tinted sunscreen at 7 pm, I figured I needed to wait until the following morning to include it in my first official wear test! I do regret not applying more moisturizer to my dry skin prior to applying the MERIT tinted sunscreen as I was experiencing dry patches on my skin.

Sometimes at night I forget to hydrate my dry skin and I do think this is an important part of a skin care routine. In the morning I also forgot to apply enough moisturizer to my dry patches to ensure that the tinted sunscreen applied evenly.

MERIT Tinted Sunscreen + the rest of my makeup routine

I would say that if you also have dry skin to moisturize enough before applying this product for the best all-day wear. I know MERIT sells a priming moisturizer and I really want to get my hands on it next as part of my morning makeup routine to lock in moisture!

I snapped a couple of first impression photos to share over on Instagram with my audience of fellow beauty enthusiasts. I really loved how it turned out on my dry/combination skin type. To complete the rest of my makeup routine I applied this: blush, bronzer, eyebrow pencil, lipstick balm, mascara, and eyeshadow.

Final Thoughts

You can see how the MERIT tinted sunscreen looks on my complexion in the photos above. I really love how the formula was buildable because I needed to go back and add a few more layers of product to my cheekbones to achieve the look I wanted. As someone who lives in hot, sunny Florida, I also can’t wait to put this tinted sunscreen to the test in the next few months. So far so good, I just need to remember to give myself an adequate about of moisturizer before I apply this product all over.

When I posted these photos to the community tab on my YouTube channel, I did receive some feedback that my skin looked “dewy” which is SO kind to hear! As I layered the rest of my makeup on top of the MERIT tinted sunscreen, it didn’t budge which was also a good sign. It’s never fun when you add blush and bronzer on your foundation and it starts to slide around.

What I Like About MERIT The Uniform

you get a LOT of product for the cost compared to other tinted sunscreens on the market.
a nice shade range of options – the lightest shade never oxidized on me or turned orange.
it contains non-toxic, clean ingredients with SPF 45
lightweight on the skin, doesn’t feel heavy

What I Don’t Like About MERIT The Uniform

(in my opinion) if you have dry skin, you NEED to moisturize before you apply this tinted sunscreen on your face to prevent any product from adhering to dry patches.
you do need to use a good amount of product to create medium coverage.