Some Background Information To Keep In Mind
I am in my early 40s, and my skin type is dry, sensitive, and eczema-prone. I look for medium to full coverage because I have darkness around my mouth and forehead, and the occasional acne scar I want to cover. I often don’t take the time to spot conceal, so I want my foundation to do most of the heavy lifting around my face. I occasionally try lighter coverage products, but they aren’t my preference.
Creasing will happen, especially as we age and expression lines and wrinkles deepen. I’ve talked about this in most of my concealer reviews and a dedicated post about makeup creasing, but everything will eventually settle into lines. When the pigment starts collecting in the lines so much that I can see it from a distance, I consider that a deal breaker. You may be surprised that I need to powder some foundations despite having dry skin. Sometimes, that is for better longevity and others to tone down an overly luminous finish. I use both a moisturizing serum and a heavy oil-based moisturizer, so that does come into play with how foundations perform. Keeping that in mind, you may be able to get better longevity or need less powder if you use a gel cream or silicone-based moisturizer. You may also have varying results if you use primer, which I don’t.
I have a warm olive, medium-deep skin tone (sometimes medium or tan, depending on the shade range). For shade reference, my best matches are NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Tahoe and Estee Lauder Double Wear 4W4 Hazel.
I decided not to even attempt to do this in a ranking style like I did with concealers. There are so many variations on formula, finish, and coverage that it didn’t feel like I could make sense of it that way. I have embedded a Google Sheet with the prices, shade range, notes, etc. I have also linked to reviews and swatches that you can click on for further information if I have it.
One last note on the terminology I used for finishes other than matte formulas. I think the terms natural and satin are used interchangeably, so that is how I list them. To me, a natural/satin finish looks slightly drier than my moisturized skin and lacks the more smooth/blurred look of a matte finish. A radiant finish looks like freshly moisturized skin, and a luminous/dewy finish looks wet and sometimes oily.
Click the continue reading link to see the spreadsheet.
Foundation Round-Up
Click here to open the complete list of foundations in Google Sheets.
Review and Swatch Links
- Anastasia Beverly Hills Luminous Foundation (swatch) (wearing 365C)
- bareMinerals BarePro 16HR Skin-Perfecting Powder Foundation
- Bobbi Brown Stick Foundation
- Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer
- Clinique Stay Matte Oil Free Makeup
- Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup
- Estee Lauder Double Wear Sheer Long-Wear Foundation SPF 19
- Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Matte Powder Foundation
- It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better Foundation + Skincare
- L’oreal True Match Super Blendable Foundation
- Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation Stick
- MAC Studio Fix Every-Wear All-Over Face Pen
- MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation
- MAC Studio Radiance Face and Body Radiant Sheer Foundation
- Maybelline Superstay Longwear 30HR Liquid Foundation (swatch only)
- NARS Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Foundation
- NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation
- NARS Sheer Glow Foundation
- Patrick Ta Hydra-Luxe Luminous Skin Perfecting Foundation
- Smashbox Always on Skin Balancing Foundation (swatch) (wearing)
- Smashbox Halo Healthy Glow Tinted Moisturizer
- Urban Decay Hydromaniac Tinted Glow Hydrator
My Current Most Used Foundations
- NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation Tahoe
- Smashbox Always On Skin Balancing Foundation M20W (swatch), (wearing)
As I did with the concealer ranking, I will add a permanent page at the top of my website so this information will be easy to refer to in the future. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for reading!
If you’d like to see more of my content, you can check out my Brands A-Z index to see what products I have posted about in the past.
Disclaimer: I purchased all products featured with my own money. This site receives a minimal commission from participating in the WordAds program. For my full disclosure policy, click here.
Nikki From HR 
Wow… No Shiseido Synchro-Skin Radiant Lifting or Self-Refreshing foundations tested? Too bad. They’re great products but unfortunately, are in the process of being discontinued.
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I have started to avoid foundations with octinoxate sunscreen, so that kept me from trying them. Have you found a replacement since they are discontinued?
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No, I still have and use the Shiseido foundations. I didn’t recall that you don’t use foundations with octinoxate. A few months ago, Shiseido had created a Self-Refreshing version without sunscreen: it appeared, and then quickly disappeared. Very odd.
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Oh ok, that is odd. The decision to avoid octinoxate is recent. I haven’t mentioned the octinoxate in any of my reviews because I could never pinpoint if it was a problem for me or not. Then recently after a bad skin reaction and eczema flare up I just decided I wanted to be more careful.
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HI,
I’m M Lavanya this foundation coverage is very natural, it is suitable for sensitive skin to dry skin, I noticed you mentioned needing to powder some luminous foundations despite dry skin. Do you find that powdering impacts the dewy finish, or does it still look natural
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For the NARS Light Reflecting, Urban Decay Hydromanianc, ABH Luminous, and Smashbox Halo Tinted Moisturizer the powder turns them into a satin finish (not quite matte, but not dewy). For something extra hydrating like the Patrick Ta foundation it remains dewy. Just keep in mind that I apply powder lightly and use powders that aren’t as mattifying like the NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder and MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural.
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