When Hailey Bieber introduced the world to her Rhode phone cases that conveniently only held one thing—her peptide lip tints—the internet did what it did best, and latched onto the products like it was a godsend. And in many ways, it was. It showed us just how essential beauty products were, and how functional they could be as Pinterest-worthy accessories. Now that lippies have had their time in the sun, it’s blush’s turn. Bareness Skin’s Sculpt Screen takes that idea and gives it a Singapore spin.
Co-founded by aesthetic physician Dr. Shauna Tan-Chiam, the Singaporean skincare label has been building a following for its practical, skin-first approach, wrapped up in a clean, understated aesthetic. And while her qualifications have championed a science-backed foundation for Bareness, the brand is not one to eschew design for practicality. In fact, her products prove that both can work in tandem.
Besides the brand’s popular Bare Screen Gel Sunscreen and the award-winning Plump Screen SPF Gloss, they’ve been dipping their toes in the beauty accessories space recently—namely with their handy Spritz Screen sunscreen and exclusively-released crossbody chain that doubles as a bag charm. Their Sculpt Screen blush is the latest release, launched at Boutiques Fair on 15 May. It’s part cheek tint, part lip balm, part sunscreen, and it attaches to the back of a phone through MagSafe. With a pitch like that, I simply had to test it out. Here’s how Sculpt Screen held up.
The Design
If you’re a longtime fan of Bareness, you’ll recognise the gua sha-inspired shape from its Sculpt Mirror. Only now, the design has been refitted to slide open and reveal its new cheek and lip tint, while the cover of the compact doubles as a mirror. The sliding mechanism feels smooth and sturdy, and the balm isn’t filled all the way to the rim—a thoughtful detail that means you don’t have to worry about nicking the product or making a mess when opening it in a rush. The gua sha shape almost acts like a guide for how to grip your phone. The attachment fits nicely in the hand, and you can rest your fingers around the curves of the compact’s shape.
The MagSafe attachment is surprisingly strong, and it stayed firmly attached to my phone for the most part. That said, it did come loose once when I was rummaging through my bag, so I probably wouldn’t treat it with quite the same confidence as my actual phone case. For those days when all you want to go out with is your phone, I was delighted to find that it could still fit into my pockets (yes, front and back), despite the protrusion of the balm compact. Of course, just be careful when placing and removing it multiple times from your pocket.
The Formula
The formula is a balm that melts into skin without feeling sticky. The colour is sheer when blended out but builds easily depending on how much is layered, and leaves a soft glow as opposed to an overly glossy finish. So far, Bareness has released the Sculpt Screen in two shades: Core, a warm mauve; and Cardio, a soft peach which is lighter in tone to core. I tested out Core, which gives a slightly rosier look to your face as opposed to Cardio’s sunburnt-esque finish.
After a few swirls of the finger, it started to soften and melt down nicely, picking up noticeably more colour in the process. The formula is fairly pigmented, so a little goes a long way. But if you’re a regular victim of blush blindness, the balm doesn’t set too quickly once on the skin, and blending feels easy to correct for any application mistakes. For those who prefer the no-makeup makeup look, the cheek tint will fade a little throughout the day and settle into a naturally sun-kissed finish.
One thing Bareness always champions is sun protection, and Sculpt Screen is no different. The cheeks, nose, and upper points of the face are also the areas most exposed to UV and visible light, both known contributors to pigmentation. Bareness adds UV filters, iron oxides, and Vitamin E into the balm, so you’re getting a bit of added protection from something that’s already sitting on the skin throughout the day. As always, makeup (and even hybridised ones, at that) is still not a replacement for sunscreen, but it does make touch-ups feel a bit more functional.
The Experience
Once blended out, Sculpt Screen settles well. While there’s still a healthy glow to the finish, I didn’t find it transferring easily onto clothing, phone screens, or the random things my face inevitably comes into contact with throughout the day. You’d have to press into it quite deliberately to get noticeable colour transfer, which is a small victory for a balm-based formula.
Its dual purpose as a lip tint was one of my favourite aspects of the product. The formula creates that softly blurred makeup aesthetic that’s been all the rage recently. I paired it with a lip liner close to my natural lip colour and tapped the balm into the centre, which gave me a diffused, flushed lip look à la Nina Park. If you’re partial to a softly smudged, K-beauty-inspired lip, this is the sort of product that makes it very easy to achieve.
Sculpt Screen does wear down considerably throughout the day, but because of the balm’s sunscreen benefits, it doesn’t hurt to keep reapplying. I applied the balm to my cheeks, lips, and on some days, the tip of the nose. Out of all of them, the cheeks faded the most, while the rest stayed mostly intact. The balm on the lips is quite stubborn—and in this case, that’s a good thing. I was able to eat comfortably all day without losing the rosy shade of my lips to oils, sauces, and rims of glass cups.
Despite the balm’s staying power throughout the day, removal wasn’t an issue. A few swipes with micellar water or a makeup remover took it off without much effort.
Final Thoughts
At $68, Sculpt Screen is a slightly steeper purchase for makeup. But the formula is easy to wear, the design has been thought through carefully, and the added SPF ingredients are never a downside. While I wouldn’t trust it to survive every frantic rummage through an overstuffed tote, it’s a welcome product for days when all you want to bring out is your phone. In fact, Sculpt Screen nicely addresses the question: if our phones rarely leave our hands, why should the beauty products we reach for most be any different?
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