Done to death, I'm sure, but what are the best budget foundations?

[justleavethebottle]

Hi

Ok, so with my insanely generous christmas present buying this year, I am unfortunately skint.

I have managed to run out of all my 'essential' beauty products at the same time, which quite frankly, sucks.

I normally wear Clinique Even Better in 01 (am a pale face) , but I just can't justify spending much money on myself right now, so could someone please point me in the right direction for a really good foundation, on a budget?

Ideally something fairly dewy, but with decent coverage and one which has lots of different shades, ideally for pale skin tones.

TIA

Slightly cheaper at Amazon

I hate Healthy Mix Serum. Just to add a bit of dissent into the thread.

squoosh, nooooooooooo!!!! I was almost certainly going to buy it tomorrow. So what's your issue with it then? And what's your skin type? If you don't mind me quizzing you, that is

Not foundation but the poundland coverup is excellent too.

I have very pale skin, it's also quite dry. The palest shade was still far too orange on me and as well as that it just kind of sat on my skin in a kind of attractive sweaty sheen.

But loads of people clearly love it. If I was you I'd take a tiny tester pot into the shop with me squeeze enough foundation for a couple of applications and test it. If you are financially stretched you don't want to buy it and then regret it.

Obviously I am the only person but the best budget foundation I have ever found is the Body shop All in one face base - comes as a powder compact thing and can use wet or dry. Fantastic and my skin seems to look totally flawless, even if I only use it dry.

www.thebodyshop.co.uk/make-up/face/all-in-one-face-base.aspx

But I am going to try the bourjois next time after this post!

After using Clinique even better for some time, I recently switched to the Rimmel Lasting Finish Nude 25 hr, which I think is actually better on me than the Clinique. At 7.99 it's certainly worth trying.

squoosh, ah ok. Thanks for the tester pot advice. Do they let you do that?

Mutley, I've never really liked bodyshop make up, but thanks for the link. I shall have a look.

Christmas, yeah that's the one I used. Thinking about it, I do need to reapply a few times throughout the day though. It goes on really nice and they have a really good shade range, but yeah, doesn't last that long. So Rimmel, you say. What do you like about it?

I use Healthy Mix non-serum (which I love), and what I have heard is that the serum is more slippery and shiny as squoosh describes. So maybe what you need to do is test both.

justleavethebottle I can't imagine they'd have a problem with you taking a couple of squeezes of the tester bottle. That's what they're there for.

If you want something really budget to tide you over, Lidl's cc cream is nice, with a dwpewy finish. The bb cream is also OK but too orangy for me. At £1.99 it might keep you going until one of the above is on special offer.

I am another that likes the Healthy Mix non serum.
I have an extensive collection of high to low end foundations and I r ate this one on my oily skin.
Lasts well,not too shiny but looks healthy
Have read it's a dupe for either Dior nude or Chanel Vitalumiere. Can't remember which.

And another one for Healthy Mix NON serum.

The serum one I felt had a slimy texture. Didn't rate it at all. And came on here to be all humphy at the zillions of MNers who had been raving about it for years....then realised they had been raving about the NON serum one, which is fab.

I do have dry skin, so would have thought the slimier texture of the serum one would suit me. It doesn't.

Has anyone else tried the brilliantly bare stuff from boots? It's very light but doesn't sit in your wrinkles and is really nice. No one else I know in real life has ever tried it though!

Tesco's Barbara Daly all-in- one, or Marksie's Autograph (I think) which is around a tenner and has a very pale option.

Along came Betty (Tesco version of soap and glory) BB cream. I've got a virtually unused MAC face and body because the BB cream is actually better.

I tried Rimmel Wake Me Up and have stuck to it (now on fourth purchase which is unheard of before), though this site

beaut.ie/beautawards/best-budget-foundation/

has Boujoirs as their winner for 2014 Budget Foundation so I might just take a look at it, it isn't that much more expensive than the Rimmel (for some reason I thought Bourjois was more like twice the price as Rimmel

Could advise on the paleness of the pale one though, as I'm in the

ie.rimmellondon.com/products/face/wake-me-up-foundation

I dont get on with the bourjours healthy mix at all sadly. Its too fragranced and my sensitive skin breaks out and my eyes stings badly.

Any other budges suggestions for dry and sensitive skin?

It is smelly.
I revisited what's left of my bottle after the summer tinted moisturiser usage and it's fragranced.

But it goes away.

Is itv true you can return make up to boots of you don't get on well with it? Or is it just their own brand range like no7 or 17??

Sorry for typos on crappy phone.
It's just OP could return if no good without denting limited budget?

I couldn't get to Debenhams when my last Dior Foundation ran out , so ordered another bottle and as a three day stopgap I bought MUA Matte Perfect Foundation in Superdrug for £2.

It smells of face paint but apart from that I actually love it - great coverage.

I now keep my Dior for work/nights out and use the MUA for day to day nursery / shopping etc .

I am a big fan of MUA in general especially their lippy and highlighter compact

I also have the Rimmel wake me up. For me it's a bit too orange except in summer. Good for the price though.

I'm slightly concerned I'm orange now!!! Eeek

but you might not be as mozzarella white originally as me!

The Rimmel is fine when I've got a bit of colour. I'm no expert but wonder if the Rimmel is pink tinged and the Bourjois possibly yellow tinged as I know make up experts talk about these two colours as bases....

Another budget one I liked was the Max Factor whipped crème, that was lovely, and perfect for old mozzarella face here.