care · layer weight 0

Hydrating prep layer

The only reliable anti-cake step, and it is not makeup.

Layer weight · A film is one continuous layer sitting on the skin. Layer weight is the 0–3 opacity this object adds.

Fit against your current edit

consider · 37 of 52

50 is neutral: nothing known for it, nothing known against it. Everything above and below is listed under the score.

Evidence · signed weights (they add up to 37)

+50 · Neutral start — Every product type starts here. Above 50 the profile argues for it; below, against.
-13 · Coverage match — Delivers 0 against your appetite of 30.

Coverage delivery: 0
Sebum behaviour: 0
Dry flex: 2
Minutes: 1

On the desk

Odacité · Serum ConcentrateCurrent$39
Coola · Mineral Silk CrèmeCurrent$42
The Ordinary · Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%Current$6
Bobbi Brown · Vitamin Enriched Face BaseCurrent$64

Named examples · Any humectant serum under base

Score this in the edit →All formulas in this type Compare against another type

96 houses seed examples. Houses are positioning notes, not rankings.

Whose desk this is

Rachel Anderson

I research, write and build Vanity or Vice on my own. I hold a medical aesthetics licence and I do not practise, so what sits behind these pages is formal training plus about a decade of paying for this as a customer — the products, the receipts, and the times I fell for a result I wanted and handed over the card before asking a single useful question. Trained in it, and I still did that.

No industry money, no affiliate links, and nothing on this desk is for sale — that last one is worth checking on anyone telling you what to buy, including me.

Never a diagnosis, a toxin score or a safety ranking. A scored fit is this desk's reasoning about a product type, not a promise about the unit in your hand.

How the evidence is judged (opens in a new tab)Vanity or Vice (opens in a new tab)