Stop wearing foundation?

[TheYuleSpoon]

I've been wearing foundation since I was 14. Over the years I've spent thousands trying to find a one that is a good match for my skin and performs well. I've never found one that is both a great shade and formulation, so I'm ready to give up!

If you've given up wearing foundation do you have any advice? I know I need to find a great concealer for some redness around my nose and under eye dark circles. Probably need to switch to a cream blush as not sure how powder will perform on bare skin?
My skin is combination with a t zone that still gets very oily in the warmer months.

I don't wear any foundation or any type of concealer, any thing on my skin makes it worse so I don't. I also don't feel any pressure to wear any.
If you don't want to wear it don't. There aren't make up police!

I don’t bother with it either, I’m a face toucher! Also, never really understood what happens when you wear foundation and need to blow your nose or wipe it if you sneeze etc. surely you just rub patches of it away and it looks strange (well this has happened to me on the odd occasion I’ve worn foundation), I can’t be arsed with something that you have to be so careful with. My skin is good, clear with no breakouts, even texture etc so don’t feel i need or want anything on it. If I do get the odd spot I stick a bit of concealer over it to balance out any redness and that’s about it.
I am big on skincare though, very diligent with it.

I do wear Clinique City Block which is good and Chanel Vitalumiere for going out and special occasions.

I use concealers and mineral powder. For blush I use bronzers as I have warm undertone. I only use foundation on nights out.

I Switches to tinted moisturiser, just evens out the tone a bit

I'm definitely finding foundation suits me less as I age. A decent primer, concealer and a very sheer stick/crayon blush seems to do the job.

Same with eyeshadow and lipstick, subtle and sheer seems to look better.

I have never found a foundation that didn’t make my skin look worse. It occurred to me that if everyone naturally had foundation covered kin, you’d pay handsomely for the product that removes it to get to the skin underneath, as IMO that usually looks better.
If I want to even things out, I use Bobbi Brown pressed powder, Sunny Beige is a great colour match for me.

I have very oily skin that looks really dull in the winter. I use Bare Minerals powder and just dust lightly over my t zone. It blots up all the oil and just smooths things out. It’s brilliant!

I was dissatisfied with my make up for a long time but was really surprised when I realised (after going make up free for a while) that one of the chief culprits was my foundation. I'd been using Bobbi Brown so it wasn't like it was a cheap n' cheerful fix and it had never occurred to me to question it. When I gave it up I discovered that my skin, while nothing miraculous is actually pretty decent.

Since then I've pretty much given up on make up, apart from lipstick, and my skin's even better. You may not want to go that far but I think it's definitely worth experimenting with using less.

I've got really really fair skin with freckles so would look ridiculous with a heavy foundation. I use a very light foundation - in colour and texture - and also use it very lightly. It usually lasts about a year a bottle!

Many people comment on my skin and say they wish they could get away without wearing foundation. In their eyes I'm not wearing any... I know I am!

I guess the point is, the fashion for an all-covering foundation is what a lot of people think you have to wear if you wear foundation.

I'm well into my 50s now and still wear a light foundation that makes my skin look dewy and fresh. I look at the younger women at work with their heavy (often too dark/orange) foundations and itch to tell them how it ages them.

I agree with a previous poster, it's not an either/or. You can wear a foundation that gives your skin a healthy glow. It really is a case of less is more.

I used to wear foundation every day as even at nearly 40 I still have what I call teenage skin - oily, spot prone, t-zone redness etc. Lovely. However I was starting to find everything a bit cakey, and actually aging my face sitting in eye creases etc that actually looked fresher without product!

I don't wear base day to day at all any more, however I do like nice makeup for nigths out etc. I have started blending my liquid foundation (usually Bare Minerals liquid pro) with there 'skin but better' gel serum thing - the serum on its own just looks shiny and horrible but mixed with the foundation gives a great texture and doesn't transfer - I've tried so many foundations and BB/CC creams but they literally all seam to transfer/not dry down properly, with the exception so far or ELDW (way too heavy for me now) or the Bare Minerals liquid pro which is a current favourite.

I really want to try some Charlotte Tilbury but can't justify the spend while I still have other stuff left...

Do NOT do this all at once!

Those people boasting of not wearing foundation perhaps are lucky enough not to have loads of broken veins in their face and high colouring like me. No treatment that I'm aware of will help those? I look truly awful without foundation and marginally better with. Double Wear all the way.

I wear foundation but just apply to around the nose and under eyes. Thus it becomes concealer.

I use tinted moisturiser (bare minerals), concealer and transparent setting powder over the top.

As I’ve entered my 30s, foundation sits in the fine lines under my eyes and make me looks worse.

I've never liked foundation on me - it always looks unnatural, probably because I'm used to having freckles and I feel weird without them. I like tinted moisturiser (usually Nivea). With a fancier make-up look I usually use either Benefit Georgia powder or a small amount of Benefit PoreFessional primer on top. I'm sure I have lots of what a beauty expert would call imperfections, but luckily for me, I've never had a consultation with a beauty expert so I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to hate about myself, and I just carry on doing what works for me.

Look up Katie Jane Hughes on Insta. She does loads of tutorials but her base is always very light and largely concealer just where she needs it. I've started using her methods more and my skin looks great.

I have this too ☹ so use a few drops of The Ordinary serum foundation in order to tone down the redness. It's the only foundation I've got on with (because it's so lightweight) and colour matches my very fair skin exactly. Yes, the redness is still very faintly there but is a whole lot less visible than if I left my skin bare. I dot onto my broken capillaries and redness which are mainly on and around nose and upper cheek areas and then just blend out. I'm mid 40s so have under eye crinkles too and this doesn't seem to emphasize those like a lot of heavier foundations do. In the summer when not so pale I tend to just use a tiny bit of concealer to even things up.
Does anyone know if any of the green redness cover uppers actually work? I'm a bit sceptical so haven't wanted to part with my cash for something which will just make me look like a sunburnt Kermit!

So many replies, thanks everyone!

Today, in addition to mascara, light blush and lip I'm just wearing concealer around my nose and chin to cover some of the redness. I usually wear foundation every day so I expected to get a shock each time I look in the mirror!

Where do I get tretinoin, is it the same thing as retinol?

Tretinoin is retinol's big brother, it's much more effective, but does come with potential side effects (dryness, flaking, might purge for the first few weeks if you're prone to acne) - if you can ride these out it can have fantastic results.

It's prescription only in the UK so you can buy from abroad, or most people probably use prescription services like Dermatica or Skin + Me - roughly £20 a tube, would last a month or two.

I’ve tried some green primers but they just make me look very pale and still required a base product over the top.. I’m quite olive coloured though so maybe on fair skin they work better?

Drink loads and loads of water
Reduce / remove caffeine, alcohol, sugar
Exfoliate and use serum regularly
Drop your expectations

I don't wear anything on my skin anymore it's such a relief. And personally I believe that the very act of stopping wearing it has massively improved my skin so no need to cover it up

@Vegetablesupreme
I use the (green) Erborian CC red correct for under my nose area – the tiniest amount. Am on my first tube still after almost a year. It does set pale, no green, and whilst I am light skinned, I have yellow undertones and freckles so if I use it on my cheeks it washes me out. I prefer it to concealers though as I have dry skin and practically all are too heavy. The rest of my skin is pretty good so I just use a light shimmer oil and some balm products as blusher-types to give me a healthy glow.

Like a pp, I use very small amounts of light foundation - dabbed on and blended with a beauty blender sponge. If I ever think I put on too much, I just dampen the sponge and blot my face with the sponge until some of it is removed. A tube or bottle of foundation lasts me ages, def more than a year, and I end up chucking it usually as too old.

Two great products used sparingly for those with stuff to cover or oiliness - maybelline 4 in 1 matte (sometimes I mix this with a quite sheeny tinted moisturiser for the perfect in between effect!) and Laura mercier secret camouflage which I think is best applied with a toothbrush shaped concealer brush which can then blend it in.

Do the glossier people think it’s worth it? I have hovered over it many times! Is there a shop in london?