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Every job has its hazards. As a commerce director and editor, mine is that I’m often sent amazing beauty products to test. Which is great! Until I inevitably fall in love with whatever it is and promptly run out of it, leaving me with an often pricey new addiction. (Check out my full list of favorites here.). The biggest drain on my wallet? Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin foundation (4N). At $49 a tube, it’s beautiful, yes, but not exactly economical. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when a newly launched $10 tinted serum came close to dethroning it entirely. World, allow me to introduce to your new (affordable!) hero product: the Catrice Nude Drop tinted serum.
What Is Catrice Nude Drop Tinted Serum?
As its name suggests, Nude Drop is a tinted serum foundation that offers lightweight coverage. Launched by Catrice in October 2023, its goal of being light-as-air is hardly revolutionary. Unlike the typical “your skin, but better!” offerings, however, which tend to give you little more than a dewy finish, this one goes above and beyond in the coverage department. Just a few drops can color correct your redness, balance an uneven complexion and fully disguise your problem areas. What’s more, it does it all with a nearly weightless finish. Loaded with vitamin E and hyaluronic acid, a.k.a. the buzzy beauty ingredient of the moment, it’s super hydrating to boot.
Why Is Catrice So Cheap?
I know what you’re thinking. “If Catrice is so great, how come I haven’t heard of it before? And why is it so dang cheap?” According to the company, it doesn’t bother with a whole lot of advertising. In fact, that’s the reason it’s able to offer its products at such a low cost despite the high quality. In other words? Catrice would rather keep its cost low for customers and build its brand through word of mouth than plaster its sh*t all over your Instagram feed. And all of this translates to an affordable yet little-known secret weapon in your beauty arsenal.
How Well Does the Catrice Nude Drop Tinted Serum Work?
After putting this product to the test in three different shades that I was sent by the company, I can attest that it absolutely lives up to its claims to perform like a foundation while feeling like a serum—and a very light one at that.
I rated it on everything from its application (stellar) to its shade range (decent) to come up with my final verdict below. Keep reading to find out where this serum excels, where it falls short and if it’s worth the $10 add-on to your Amazon cart.
The Application
- My Rating: 5/5
One of my favorite things about this product is the applicator. True to serum form, it comes with a little dropper that allows you to easily dispense the product across your cheeks, forehead and chin before blending it in, Meredith Duxbury style. Unlike other tinted serums I’ve used, however, this dropper actually works. It sucks up a nice amount of product on the first try, every time. It also holds it shape well—no half-deflated squeezer tops here. What’s more, it doesn’t leak or gush out anywhere, creating a mess for the next time you open the bottle.
The Shade Range
- My Rating: 4/5
In total, there are 16 different colors of this tinted serum to choose from.
I was sent three different shades to try on my super fair skin with pink undertones—005W, 010N and 020N. While the differences in all three were extremely subtle— to the point of being almost interchangeable—010N is the one that suited me best, as I found it to have ever-so-slightly less of a yellow tint. That said, I can wear any one of them without making my face a different color than my neck.
Interestingly enough, if I use the site’s shade finder tool, which allows you to enter your normal foundation to find your perfect match, it says I should be using 040N, which apparently offers a little more color. This leads me to believe I could get away with wearing even more shades than the ones I already have.
While this certainly makes it easier to shop for in my case, such subtle differences in the colors make me wonder if the line will truly be diverse enough for all skin tones to wear. Still, there are a respectable amount of options for a launch, and I’ve seen other companies work just fine with less.
The Wear
- My Rating: 4/5
After substituting this for my regular foundation on several occasions (namely, when I’m too lazy to do a full face), I’ve found that its performance largely depends on the shape your skin is in when you put it on.
If my normal-to-combination visage is well-hydrated, I can use this everywhere except for my under-eye area, where the product tends to settle in my fine lines and crease. If my skin is dry, however, it also gets a bit patchy in other areas, like my T-zone, after an hour or two.
For that reason, I not only moisturize the heck out of my skin before I put the Nude Drop serum on (I’ve been using Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream, $100), I avoid using it on my under-eye area altogether, opting for a quick concealer (I’m a big fan of this one from Kaja, $19, or this bareMinerals option, $28) instead.
You don’t have to use a lot of this stuff to get great coverage: Just a dab will get you a full face of makeup’s worth. It’s so light, however, that even if you did slather it on, you wouldn’t feel it on your skin. Basically, the second you apply it, it soaks in like magic, leaving behind a gorgeous and dewy—never shiny—finish. (See: the photo above, in which I’m wearing it.)
It also stays put fairly well. While you may need to reapply it in the event of say, a good cry fest (something I definitely put it to the test against), I was otherwise pleased with its staying power. I can’t cosign the brand’s claims that it will last for a full 24 hours, but it did get me through to the end of the day relatively intact. All in all, the performance was far better than I had anticipated.
The Value
- My Rating: 5/5
Look, I’ll be honest: For $10, I didn’t have very high expectations of this serum, particularly since it was my first time trying the brand. A true makeup snob, I thought its price tag was a clear indicator that it would be runny, greasy and chalky at best. After just a few swipes, however, it became clear to me that Catrice was no run-of-the-mill drugstore find. This stuff is good—like, shockingly good—and on par with some of the best, most expensive products in my beauty bag.
That fact is made even more impressive when you consider that all of Catrice’s products are vegan, which means they’re fully free of animal products, and have a cruelty-free PETA-backed label indicating that they’re not tested on animals during any part of the manufacturing process.
This serum is not only worth every godd*mn penny—it’s worth a whole lot more.
The Final Verdict
- My Rating: 18/20
At the end of my tests, I wasn’t quite ready to throw away my beloved Charlotte Tilbury. That said, this has certainly been a welcome addition to my beauty roster—and my wallet, considering it’s about one-fifth of the cost of my typical go-to foundation. It applies like a dream, it comes in a decent range of shades and it wears impressively well, as long as I’ve moisturized my T-zone and kept it away from my under-eyes. Throw in the fact that it’s $10, vegan and cruelty-free, and my mind is completely blown. Catrice, you’ve truly outdone yourself with this one.
Other Products Used
What are your thoughts on tinted serums? Let me know in the comments below.
Xo, Nicole
