Since first gaining popularity a few years ago (right around the rise of no-makeup makeup), skincare makeup hybrids have become almost ubiquitous on the shelves of beauty lovers. And in our eyes, it’s not hard to see why. Using makeup with skincare benefits can streamline your morning routine, allowing you to reap the benefits of both your skincare staples and makeup must-haves in one simple step. And while skincare-makeup hybrids are often used in minimalist makeup looks, these multitaskers can fit into nearly any routine, no matter your signature style. Ahead, we’ll give you the run-down on what skincare makeup is and introduce you to a few of our favorite products to add to your routine. Keep reading to discover our must-haves for happy, hydrated, and healthy-looking skin.
What Is Skincare-Infused Makeup?
The term “skincare-makeup hybrid” can be used to describe any type of makeup that is good for your skin. These products boast skincare benefits (such as brightening, smoothing, or hydrating) and are often formulated with ingredients that you’d typically find in standard skincare products, such as hyaluronic acid. Their purpose is twofold, allowing you to achieve your desired makeup look while also helping your skin look and feel its best. Technically, any skincare-infused makeup product can be classified as a hybrid product, but it’s most common to see with complexion products such as primer, foundation, and concealer.
The Rise of Hybrid Beauty: Why Skincare Makeup Products Are Booming
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why skincare-makeup hybrids are so popular these days, but it’s likely that social media is (at least partly) to thank. Five or ten years ago, beauty was all about maximalism: Having a 10-step skincare routine was considered perfectly normal, and while hybrid makeup products like BB creams certainly existed, they were more niche than mainstream. But with the rise of skinfluencers on TikTok and Instagram, many have begun to adopt a skin-first approach to their routines. Beauty lovers no longer want products that simply look good—they want their makeup to make their skin feel good, too.
How Do Skincare-Makeup Hybrids Work?
Skincare-makeup hybrids work by providing skin benefits and cosmetic benefits simultaneously, though the specific perks will depend on the type of product and the ingredients it contains. Hydrating foundations, for example, can help to even out your complexion while giving your skin a dose of much-needed moisture. Sunscreen-infused primers, on the other hand, can help prep your skin for a seamless makeup application and shield your complexion from damaging UV rays. By providing several benefits in one step, these multitasking formulas allow you to reap the benefits of both skincare and makeup without having to layer on multiple products, minimizing the risk of your products pilling or applying unevenly.
Key Ingredients in Skincare-Makeup Hybrids
Makeup with skincare benefits can include any number of skincare ingredients, but these are among the most popular:
- Hyaluronic acid: Can help hydrate the skin without weighing it down.
- Niacinamide: Can help brighten the skin and balance oiliness.
- Peptides: Often used in anti-aging formulas to support smooth, firm skin.
- Cica (Centalla Asiatica extract): Great for soothing dry, sensitive skin.
- Green tea extract: Helps calm redness and soothes the skin.
- Squalane: Replenishes moisture and smooths the skin.
Who Should Use Skincare-Makeup Hybrids?
Hybrid makeup is for everyone, but choosing the right formula can make all the difference depending on your skin type and needs:
- Dry or sensitive skin: Go for hydrating hybrids with hyaluronic acid, cica, or squalane. These nourishing formulas can help replenish the skin barrier while adding a dewy finish.
- Oily or acne-prone skin: Seek out non-comedogenic formulas with niacinamide or green tea. These formulas can help regulate oil and reduce the appearance of blemishes without clogging pores.
- Mature skin: Care for mature skin with hybrids containing peptides, hyaluronic acid, or squalane. These can help smooth and firm the skin for a nourished, healthy appearance.
How To Add Hybrid Makeup To Your Routine
Skincare-makeup hybrids can easily fit into your existing routine. Here’s how we recommend incorporating a few of our favorites into your morning (and evening!) beauty regimens.
Morning beauty routine
- Wash your face: Start by washing your face with a gentle cleanser to remove dirt, debris, and excess oil.
- Moisturize and protect: Apply a lightweight moisturizer and sunscreen to help hydrate your skin and protect it from the sun.
- Prime: Smooth on a hydrating primer, like the Face Freezie Cooling Primer + Moisturizer or The Face Glue Gripping Primer, to help prep your skin for your makeup application.
- Apply your base: Smooth on a skin tint or foundation, and use a hydrating concealer such as the Bare With Me Concealer Serum to camouflage imperfections.
- Complete your look: Finish with a hydrating lip oil to smooth your lips and add a wash of color.
Evening touch-ups
You can use your hybrid products to touch up your makeup as the day goes on. Mist your face with a skin-loving setting spray like The Face Glue Setting Spray to help refresh your look, or apply another coat of your tinted lip oil to nourish and hydrate your lips.
Hybrid Makeup vs. Traditional Makeup: What’s The Difference?
Hybrid makeup
- Delivers skincare benefits while providing pigment
- Lightweight, breathable, and often infused with hydrators or skin-loving vitamins
- Combines multiple steps, saving time and reducing product layering
Traditional makeup
- Offers coverage only without any added skincare benefits
- Can feel heavier, especially with full-face or long-wear formulas
- Requires separate prep products (think serum, moisturizer, then foundation)
Why Minimalist Beauty Lovers Swear By Makeup with Skincare Benefits
For those embracing simplicity, hybrid makeup is more than just a beauty trend—it’s a smarter way to care for your skin. These multitasking formulas reduce the number of products you need, which means less clutter, less waste, and fewer steps in your routine.
They’re also ideal for travel: one product can replace two or three, making on-the-go touch-ups easier and lighter on your bag. And with fewer bottles and tubes, you're also making a more sustainable choice—less packaging, fewer ingredients, and products that work harder for your skin.
NYX Professional Makeup's Best Skincare-Makeup Hybrid Products
1. The Face Glue Gripping Primer
Benefits: Hydrating formula
Key Ingredients: Polyglutamic acid
If you’re looking for hydrating makeup to add to your routine, you’ll want to get acquainted with this makeup-extending primer. Formulated with maple syrup and hydrating polyglutamic acid, the lightweight formula provides a grippy, non-sticky base for your makeup to adhere to. Apply a thin layer to clean skin before layering on your foundation and concealer for up to 24 hours of breathable wear with a flattering, soft-focus finish.
2. Face Freezie Cooling Primer + Moisturizer
Benefits: Preps, evens, smooths, minimizes pores, tightens, and hydrates
Key Ingredients: Snow mushroom and niacinamide
This refreshing formula with snow mushroom and niacinamide boasts 10 distinct benefits: It preps, evens, smooths, minimizes pores, tightens, hydrates, sculpts, softens, calms, and revitalizes skin. Plus, the vegan formula is fragrance-, silicone-, and cruelty-free. Use the cooling primer alone for dewy, all-day hydration, or layer it under your base for makeup-ready skin.
3. Bare With Me Blur Tint Foundation
Benefits: Provides up to 12 hours of hydration
Key Ingredients: Glycerin, matcha, and niacinamide
Delivering up to 16 hours of comfortable wear, this medium-coverage foundation helps skin look smooth, visibly blurs pores, and controls the appearance of shine, all without leaving behind an ashy or cakey finish. Plus, the breathable formula with glycerin, matcha, and niacinamide offers up to 12 hours of hydration. Pick from one of the 24 skin-enhancing shades, or use our Foundation Finder to find your perfect match.
4. Bare With Me Concealer Serum
Benefits: Hydrating formula with lightweight, skin-like coverage
Key Ingredients: Tremella mushroom, cica, and green tea
Conceal imperfections and give your skin up to 24 hours of hydration with Bare With Me Concealer Serum. Available in 17 shades, this blendable concealer helps camouflage dark circles, blemishes, and dry skin patches with a natural-looking, medium-coverage finish. The lightweight formula with tremella mushroom, cica (also known as Centella Asiatica) extract, and green tea is soothing and suitable for all skin types, including dry and sensitive. You can even use it to help camouflage imperfections on your body.
5. Plump Right Back Primer + Serum
Benefits: Moisturizing and skin-plumping
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, pro-vitamin B5, magnesium, and potassium
This lightweight makeup primer moisturizes and plumps skin while helping to grip makeup for all-day wear. It’s infused with five electrolytes and vitamins (specifically: hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, pro-vitamin B5, magnesium, and potassium) and absorbs quickly, leaving your skin looking fresh and glowy.
6. Fat Oil Lip Drip
Benefits: Hydrating formula
Key Ingredients: Raspberry oil, cloudberry oil, and squalane
If you love a glossy lip moment, pick up this lip gloss-oil hybrid ASAP. It’s available in 18 versatile shades (in sheer, shimmery, and creamy finishes) that deliver a wash of juicy color along with 12 hours of soothing hydration. Smooth your favorite shade onto bare lips for subtle color and lots of shine, or layer the gloss over your favorite NYX Professional Makeup lipstick for a statement lip look.
7. Fat Oil Slick Click
Benefits: Nourishing and hydrating formula
Key Ingredients: Avocado oil, cloudberry oil, and raspberry oil
If you prefer a more pigmented finish akin to a lipstick, try adding this lip oil-balm hybrid to your routine. It’s made with a trio of nourishing oils (avocado, cloudberry, and raspberry) and provides 12 hours of non-sticky hydration for soft, smooth lips. The collection includes 20 shades to choose from, each made with light-as-air pigments that feel comfortable on the lips.
8. Smushy Matte Lip Balm
Benefits: Moisturizing formula
Key Ingredients: Sugar ceramides
Smoother-feeling lips are within reach with this tinted lip balm. Formulated with mochi rice powder and nourishing sugar ceramides, the weightless formula glides on effortlessly, leaving your lips feeling plush and pillow-soft, with a flattering wash of blurred, soft matte color. Pick from 12 versatile shades, each with its own craveable scent.
9. Buttermelt Glaze Soft Glow Skin Tint with SPF 30
Benefits: Nourishing formula with SPF
Key Ingredients: Shea butter, mango butter, and niacinamide
Opting for makeup with skincare benefits can be an excellent way to streamline your morning routine on busy days, and this is one formula we find ourselves reaching for time and time again. The hydrating skin tint is formulated with 93% skincare ingredients and provides lightweight, glowy coverage for radiant-looking skin. Plus, the nourishing tint is infused with broad-spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen to help shield your skin from harmful UV rays.
10. Buttermelt Blush
Benefits: Nourishing formula
Key Ingredients: Mango butter, shea butter, and almond butter
Fake a sun-kissed flush with this pigmented powder blush, which features a trio of nourishing butters (shea, almond, and mango) in its formula. The buttery powder glides on easily and blends like a dream, providing up to 12 hours of fade- and transfer-resistant wear.
11. Buttermelt Bronzer
Benefits: Nourishing formula
Key Ingredients: Mango butter, shea butter, and almond butter
A beachy tan can be super flattering, but sunbathing can wreak havoc on your skin. Luckily, with bronzer, you can fake the look. This velvety smooth formula contains shea, mango, and almond butters and glides on like a dream, leaving the skin looking silky smooth with a summery, sun-soaked glow.
12. Buttermelt Highlighter
Benefits: Nourishing formula
Key Ingredients: Mango butter, shea butter, and almond butter
Get a glass skin look with this ultra-flattering powder bronzer, which, like the other products in the Buttermelt family, is formulated with a trio of shea, mango, and almond butters. The silky-smooth powder highlighter melts into the skin, providing a high-impact glow for a seriously radiant look.
13. Lip I.V. Hydrating Lip Gloss Stain
Benefits: Hydrating formula
Key Ingredients: Magnesium, vitamin B12, and coconut water
This lip serum-stain hybrid is among our favorite lip products for a long-lasting look. The magnesium, vitamin B12, and coconut-water infused formula applies like a gloss, drenching your lips in color and non-sticky shine. After the high-shine finish fades, you’ll be left with a flattering tint of long-lasting color that feels lightweight and refreshing on your lips.
Next: Our Ultimate Lip Care Guide: 5-Step Lip Care Routine.
We’d love to see the looks you create with your favorite NYX Professional Makeup skincare-makeup hybrids! Share a pic on social and tag us @nyxcosmetics.
PRODUCTS USED
Lip I.V. Hydrating Lip Gloss Stain
Lip gloss + long-lasting lip stain in 20 shades.
Bare With Me Concealer Serum
Medium-Coverage Hydrating Concealer for Face and Body
BUTTERMELT HIGHLIGHTER
Butter smooth glowy highlighter in eight shades.
.jpg?sw=270&sfrm=jpg&q=70)
Buttermelt Bronzer
High pigment, true-to-skin buttery powder bronzer. Fade & transfer resistant with up to 12HR wear.
SMUSHY MATTE LIP BALM
A soft-matte buildable lip color infused with mochi rice powder and sugar ceramides in 12 shades.
Buttermelt Blush
High pigment buttery soft powder blush. Fade & transfer resistant with up to 12HR wear.
Fat Oil Lip Drip
Hydrating tinted lip oil scented with Suga Baddie
Plump Right Back Primer + Serum
Makeup-Gripping Serum Primer With Electrolytes
