Looking for your ideal foundation is like low-key looking for love. We are all looking for the one that checks all our boxes. As beauty editors, we can confidently say that finding the best foundation is no easy feat.
Much like love, it’s not always easy. Sometimes you get a match that looks great on the surface but doesn’t quite fit your true needs. We are determined to make things easier for you by bringing you an edit of the very best foundations that we tested. Our checkboxes?
Coverage
If you’re going for a skin-like look, select a light coverage or even a good tinted moisturiser. If you want to hide away slight discolourations while still looking natural, choose a medium-coverage product. And if you want a full glam, airbrushed look, full coverage foundation is for you.
READ MORE: Foundation Application Tips For That Perfect Second Skin
Finish
A foundation’s finish can determine how it will look on your skin and how it will wear throughout the day. A dewy finish gives you a moisturising, fresh-faced sheen. A glowy finish gives a luminous, radiant glow. A matte finish gives a velvety, blurred look without shine.
Shades
A wide shade range illustrates that your foundation brand values inclusivity and diversity – no matter what their skin tone, can find the perfect shade match. Plus, ensuring your foundation works for your skin year-round can be tricky. Your colour is not the same in winter vs summer.
Lasting Power
Knowing the lasting power of foundation is essential for those who wake up early, do the boss things, survive a hot day and then maybe go out with the girls. You want something that stays in place for a long time, so you can go-go-go without having to touch up.
READ MORE: How To Get Clean Girl Make-Up On A Budget
The Winner’s List
Finding the perfect foundation is a game-changer and we are about to switch the game up, here are our winners that offer vast options for you 2024.
Fenty Soft’Lit Naturally Luminous Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Finish: Dewy | Shades: 50 | Lasting power: 8hrs
What we love about this foundation is that it includes ingredients such as kakadu plum extract and cyperus papyrus leaf cell extract which offer benefits such as brightening, improving skin tone and all-day hydration. It is waterproof, sweat-resistant and transfer-proof, RiRi doesn’t play. A great luminous foundation giving us that ‘shine bright like a diamond’ finish without leaving a greasy finish.
NARS Light Reflecting Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Finish: Luminous | Shades: 35 | Lasting power: 9hrs
This one challenges dry problems like no other. Infused with advanced skin care ingredients, this foundation not only provides hydration but also enhances the skin’s natural radiance. It’s a vegan formula, consisting of 70% skincare ingredients and is clinically shown to immediately strengthen and enhance luminosity while improving the clarity of the skin over time—even after makeup is removed. **Based on a six-week clinical study.
Lancôme Teint Idôle Foundation
Coverage: Full | Finish: Matte | Shades: 45 | Lasting power: 12hrs
This is a reformulated foundation. What’s new: contains hyaluronic acid and 81% skincare Serum. It’s the thinnest, most breathable long wear, for full coverage, without drying, clogging or creasing. It’s still waterproof and sweat-proof. Perfect for those who need their make-up to last all day without touch-ups. Worth the coin but make sure you colour match correctly – shades are slightly different from the previous formula.
Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Finish: Dewy | Shades: 30 | Lasting power: 10hrs
Lady Gaga said it best: “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before”. Nothing beats this foundation; it’s silky, glowy, lightweight, hydrating and buildable. It does not oxidise and you can forgo a setting powder. And if you can’t get to Edgars Sandton to find your shade (there are 30 available), the Armanibeauty.com virtual try-on matches perfectly. Worth the hype!
Clinique Even Better Clinical Serum Foundation
Coverage: Full | Finish: Matte | Shades: 42 | Lasting power: 12hrs
This one is going to be your next go-to this summer. Built with 3 serum technology, a powerhouse blend of good-for-skin ingredients: Clinique’s dark spot-fighting molecule UP302+ vitamin C, salicylic acid and hyaluronic acid. You are not putting on foundation – you are actually taking care of your skin. According to the brand, it is clinically proven to leave bare skin looking even better—smoother and more even.
Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Weightless Foundation
Coverage: Full | Finish: Matte | Shades: 5 | Lasting power: 12hrs
This is not new but it is a cult classic. True to its name, this foundation is light as air. It provides a natural, skin-like finish that enhances without covering up, ideal for those who prefer a barely-there makeup look. The finish is matte but it still gives your skin a healthy glow.
Clarins Everlasting Foundation
Coverage: Full | Finish: Matte | Shades: 13 | Lasting power: 12hrs
Rich in bamboo powder, quinoa and oat sugar extracts, as well as a plant-based micro-patch extract that binds water to its surface while protecting it from dehydration. It also conceals imperfections, redness or birthmarks and blends into the skin thanks to its ultra-light texture.
Maybelline Fit Me Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Finish: Natural | Shades: 40 | Lasting power: 12hrs
If you are looking for a natural seamless finish, this Fit Me foundation is the one. It is a lightweight formula which mattifies and targets shine as well as refine pores using its micro blotting powders and lightweight blurring powders. It is ideal for normal to oily skin.
Revlon Colorstay Longwear Foundation
Coverage: Full (buildable) | Finish: Matte | shades: 19 | Lasting power: 12hrs
Bored of your foundation melting off by lunchtime? Well, so were we. Until this skin-giving foundation. This one is transfer resistant and waterproof aaaand helps control oily skin. You’ll get a serious dose of coverage and protection (contains SPF 15 and antioxidant vitamin E to nourish and protect the skin from pollutants). Coverage: check. Protection: check. Price: double check; so affordable.
MAC Studio Radiance Serum Powered Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Finish: Dewy | Shades: 56 | Lasting power: 12hrs
Let’s get into the more ‘sciencey’ part of make-up, with this cult classic brand. The experts have combined their knowledge of skin with the science of skincare. This foundation delivers 209% hydration (thanks to 10% hyaluronic acid solution). It plump and smooth radiant skin along with ingredients such jojoba and olive oils for healthier looking skin after foundation application. It blurs redness, dark spots and dry fine lines and offers immediate smoothing coverage.
Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation
Coverage: Full | Finish: Natural-Looking | Shades: 34 | Lasting Power: 12hrs
This incredibly long-lasting niacinamide and SPF-infused foundation puts in the work; and will see you through the day. It has a breathable sleep proof, crease-resistant and waterproof formula that is vegan and cruelty-free. We love a natural-looking finish all while still managing to get that full coverage base.
L’Oréal True Match Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Finish: Skin-like | Shades: 17 | Lasting Power: 12hrs
This blendable, lightweight foundation has natural-looking results. L’Oreal has perfected this one: it’s lightweight without being too sheer, offers good coverage without looking cakey and gives skin, without being too oily. It’s also suitable for any skin type including sensitive skin as it is oil-free, fragrance-free and non-comedogenic.
Dior Forever Skin Glow Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Finish: Radiant | Shades: 40+ | Lasting power: 24hrs
Dior did its thing with this one. It has an 86% skincare base combined with floral extracts such as wild pansy, hibiscus and nasturtium to hydrate the skin and improve skin quality. We can not stress how hydrating it is. It offers protection against UVA and UVB, it adds glow to the skin without feeling trapped under your skin.
Catrice Soft Glam Filter Fluid
Coverage: Medium | Finish: Natural | Shades: 8 | Lasting power: 6hrs
Au naturelle look for the win! This foundation has a sheer finish and the glow is impeccable. It leaves your skin looking refreshed and dewy. We loved the applicator; it feels like you can really get into those little nitty-gritty spaces on your face. Perfect
for a subtle, glam look that feels lightweight. It’s oil-free, alcohol-free, perfume-free, gluten-free, cruelty-free and vegan.
Yardley Stayfast Foundation
Coverage: Full | Finish: Matte | Shades: 15 | Lasting power: 12hrs
This summertime fave keeps oil and shine under control and protects you from the sun with its SPF 20. Its vitamin E and amino acid combination blends together to hydrate the skin and provide a flawless blend. This range caters to all different undertones.
Wet N Wild Photo Focus Matte Foundation
Coverage: Medium (buildable) | Finish: Matte | Shades: 12 | Lasting Power: 8hrs
This is for our photogenic babes. This foundation is specially formulated with light-adjusting compounds to help prevent any flashback or white cast in photos. Its matte finish helps deliver that filter-like finish in other words no need for the Instagram Paris filter! This one delivers and won’t break the bank.
