Foundation Round-Up (Dry, 40+ Skin)

Foundation Round Up 40+ Dry Skin Type Review and Swatches

Last Updated: September 20, 2025

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 a 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.

Wearing NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Tahoe

Wearing 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 smoother, more blurred look of a matte finish. A radiant finish looks like freshly moisturized skin, and a luminous/dewy finish looks wet and sometimes oily.

Foundation Round-Up

All prices and information are current as of June 12, 2025.

Click here to open the complete list of foundations in Google Sheets.

Review and Swatch Links

IIf you’d like to check out more of my content, here are some places to start.

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