Totally lost with foundations - please help!

[Blackbird1234]

I'll try to keep this brief - I've essentially bought 3 different foundations in as many weeks, all of them have been disappointing and I obviously can't send them back, so I'm here for some advice/help, please!

I'm 25, my skin is fairly good with a couple of breakouts a month, a little bit of redness and it's quite oily. I've always used liquid foundations but over the past few months they've literally been sliding off my face after a few hours, so I tried 3 different powder foundations:

• Lily Lolo mineral foundation powder - I had high hopes but it doesn't offer enough coverage and looks a bit chalky on me, certainly didn't last all day.
• Maybelline Gemey - Looked good for the first day and thought I'd found "the one" but now it's looking quite cakey on my face and not long-lasting.
• NYX Matte But Not Flat - Thought this would be great because of the reviews, but it seems there's actual highlighter within the powder foundation and it's making me look ridiculous and as if I've literally plastered highlighter everywhere.

I'm looking for a foundation (liquid or powder) that has the following criteria:

• Long-lasting
• Very natural, I don't like it to look like I'm wearing anything
• Medium coverage
• Good for oily skin / mattifying
• Doesn't make me look like a corpse (my skin has been looking extremely dull these past few weeks due to the foundations)
• Around the £30 mark
• Can be found on Feelunique etc as I'm not in the UK

If anyone can offer any help/advice, please do! I've been using brushes to apply all of the above, don't know if I'm doing anything wrong?

Also, just in case anyone asks - I have a good skincare routine and cleanse/moisturise twice a day every day.

Thank you in advance!

Moonlightmistletoe I already only use the B5 cream at night, I found out the hard way that it makes me look like a lighthouse if I put it under makeup!

OP Double Wear was also too heavy for me. Double Wear Light is totally fine and buildable. I've been using it for 9 years now and even after they've modified it, it's still the best foundation I've ever used by a mile.

I have similar skin to you. The Ordinary foundation is the best I have used in my whole life. It is £6! Very thin consistency but really decent coverage so you really don't need to use much

My Estee Lauder lasts really well. My Nars is a good non corpse like colour match.

mrsmge I looked into the Double Wear Light but was put off as there are so many bad reviews! I’ll see if I can get a sample of it and see for myself if it gets on with my skin, thank you!

juanmorebeer I was really intrigued by The Ordinary one but I looked at a lot of YouTube videos where people have tested it and it just looked so bad, it was making people so much more oily and didn’t last long at all - I assume it did work for you? Maybe it’s just a case of trial and error and not working on all skin types. The price is definitely worth trying it, thanks :)

OP, I know what you mean it's because it's changed fairly recently and some people think it's worse. I think it's still good personally. Try it out 😊

mrsmge Ah right, well at £6 I'd be silly not to try it out, so I will do :)

I never tried the old dw light but I love this one. The colour is just me and it’s light enough that I can blob it on and dab it around - don’t need to pay any great attention as it just looks like me but better. Build up anywhere spotty or red and I look much better than I started!

Primark Perfect Finish foundation its amazing and only 2.50 a tube, honestly its so good. Perfect colour match for me is beige. Great coverage and texture Try it, for 2.50 you cant go wrong

They also do a Matt one in a glass bottle which is also good

I’m the same as you OP and hate heavy foundation. I use powder foundation and the one that suits me the best is Clinique Superpowder Double Face Powder in Matte Beige.

Estee Lauder double wear light, it's amazing! Lasts all day, feels really light and almost as if you haven't got anything on 👍

@WalkingOutOfFlabbiness That sounds like the kind of result I'm looking for - my skin but better, rather than a "makeup mask" kind of thing.

@slinkysaluki I would absolutely love to try the Primark one and have indeed heard good things about it, but the closest one to me is over 3 hours away in a city I never go to! I'll try to remember to pick it up whenever I'm near one, probably the next time I visit the UK :)

@VideographybyLouBloom How do you get on with powder foundation? I've trialled a few recently but just can't get them to look flawless no matter what I do - maybe I'm applying it wrong? I use a kabuki brush and apply it in circular motions.

@SospanFrangipan As the EL Double Wear is the most popular answer here, I'm going to get a sample of the "original" and the "light" the next time I'm at the shopping centre, so I'll see which one is best and if it's the type of thing I'm looking for :)

Blackbird i would happily buy a couple if you give me an idea of colour and send on to you

How do you get on with powder foundation? I've trialled a few recently but just can't get them to look flawless no matter what I do - maybe I'm applying it wrong? I use a kabuki brush and apply it in circular motions.
I honestly just use the little sponge that comes with the compact or a Beauty Blender will work. I find the Clinique one looks natural and doesn’t cake.

Place marking. Hope you find one that works for you OP,

My problem is that I’ve developed a dip on the side of my face, early fifties so twice your age OP, and it looks like a five o’clock shadow when I wear foundation or powder.

@slinkysaluki That is extremely kind of you, thank you! I couldn't possibly ask you to do that though, I'll just get my brother to drag some over this summer. Thank you anyway!

Good luck with it - mine has actually made such a difference to how easily I get ready. I am a bit of a blotchy sporty person sometimes so before the DW was always trying to find the right combo of powder and concealer but can now just blob DW on and a general application just polished me a bit.

@thisenglishlife I remove all makeup with a very gentle baby soap (I have very sensitive skin) and then cleanse with The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser, then I use The Ordinary hyraluronic (may have spelt that wrong) 2% acid, then I use a vitamin E serum, then I apply La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume 5. In the morning I just wash my face with the baby soap to remove any products from the night before, apply a spot serum and a light Mixa moisturiser. Exfoliating always breaks me out in spots so I use a very gentle natural one maybe once every 2-3 weeks. Does all that sound alright?

The soap will be encouraging oil production. I would use an oil based cleanser in the evening (the vitamin c by Superfacialist is very good, I have extremely sensitive skin). Alternatively, one by Lush (Aqua Marina perhaps, they will give you samples in store) or the Merumaya melting cleanser (super gentle and effective and not at all greasy).

My skin sounds similar to yours and laura mercier flawless fusion ultra long-wear foundation was an absolute game changer for me.

It's not at all greasy and it actually stays on my face all day which is a revelation. It is extremely light but has decent coverage. It also is really buildable. It's £36 but you use such a small amount it's totally worth it. I cant recommend it enough.