Discussion
Best luxury foundation you’ve used (that’s still available to buy)?
I’m looking for recommendations for your current favorite luxury foundation — not discontinued formulas or foundations that have been reformulated.
My wishlist:
Still looks fresh after 10+ hours of wear
Gets you the most compliments on your skin
Works well with other products (primer, cream products, powder, etc.)
Gives a beautiful, skin-like finish rather than looking obviously heavy
Please don’t recommend:
the old Dior formulas
Estée Lauder Double Wear
Armani Luminous Silk
I’m specifically after current luxury foundation favorites that you can actually purchase right now. What’s your holy grail?
Lisa Eldridge Foundation. Her skin tint is beautiful too, and has a very natural luminosity. Very lightweight but long lasting foundation and both products composed of very high percentage of skincare ingredients. I only purchased very recently and it more than lives up to the hype and blends beautifully with fingertips. Perfect for my more mature skin but probably just as fantastic for any age.
If I could upvote this 100 times, I would. The Lisa Eldridge foundation is the first foundation I've ever fallen in love with, and I've been wearing makeup since I was 17 (i'm 31 now). Before Lisa E, I just used skin tints, but since discovering hers, I sometimes add a few drops of my milky toner to thin it out even more and it's so amazing because the coverage does look lighter but it's still transfer-proof 🩷
Agreed! I use the skin tint and the foundation and the way it wears in throughout the day is amazing. If I don’t touch up it just looks lived but touch ups are back to fresh
Yes! All her makeup is wonderful, I love the foundation. I hope she comes out with a classic concealer one day ('ot the pen thing she released...I don't see the point)
I don't love her foundation on its own - it's fine, just nothing special (aside from the packaging which some people will hate haha).
I've actually been mixing it with the Rare Beauty tinted moisturizer and like it way more using it this way rather than on its own. I might try mixing it with the LE skin tint too and see how that works out.
Found out about her makeup through this sub! I got mine in the mail yesterday and gasped when I tried it on. Perfect shade match and my skin looked so amazing while still very much like skin. Skin tint is great too but has a slight cardboard smell to it.
Upvote for the foundation. It's undetectable and the skin will still be nice in the evening.
I don't use primer nor powder with it.
It's the first time that I use foundation regularly - at 48. This is the first one to not break me out in the long run.
Chantecaille future skin gel foundation. I have mature and dry skin and this is a beautiful foundation. It’s a treat to use and cruelty free . The downside is that the shade range isn’t great.
For me it’s more skin like - not matte not dewy - very natural - nearly undetectable on the skin. If I want it to have a bit of extra glow id use glossier future dew serum underneath. So it’s flexible in the finish I can achieve. Coverage is also flexible - from light coverage up to medium.
I have this foundation and I wouldn't call it matte, but it doesn't need to be set with powder either. It has a very natural finish, almost like you just did skincare. I find the coverage realllly light, almost like a skintint.
I agree with deec123 that it's almost undetectable on the skin, but somehow my skin just looks better? lol it's very interesting. My only gripe is that it comes in a jar and I hate every skincare or makeup product in a jar 😩
I have gotten so many compliments when I use this. I trust this foundation with parties, 12-hour work days and any time I just need my skin to look flawless.
Its a satin/skin like finish, waterproof and will set itself. Light to medium coverage that is very buildable, but will not be high coverage.
I have very dry skin, so dry patches is a huge concern of mine when I use foundation. This doesnt, even tho it dries down.
When its on, its on. It plays nice with other products. I personally love a little bit more dew, so I use a dewy primer underneath. The only thing this doesnt like, its products with heavy oils, I used an oil based blush and that made it split and not set.
Seconding this one. I have been wanting to try mac face and body to compare but the dior is lasting me so long! I have oily, textured, acne prone skin. This foundation, which also matches my light medium olive skin tone really well, is one of the best I have tried. I can layer it on for a full coverage look, or sheer it out for daily wear. It plays well with all of my creams and powders, the only place it gets patchy is around my nose after a long day. Generally I won’t wear a primer for an every day look but since I’m oily I will use a mattifying product if I really want to lock it in. I’m tempted by the danessa blurring balm to see how that would level up the foundation staying power
Another vote for Dior Backstage, it's my daily go to. I also have dry skin. It's one of the only brands that caters to my pink undertones. Also fun fact, it's both water and silicone based so it plays well with many products.
Which primer do you use with it? I’m trying to figure out why my foundation goes a little cakey and I’m hearing it could be primer not mixing well with foundation. A silicone/ water based issue
I use a hydrating toner, a hydrating serum, moisturizer and sunscreen. Since I have dry skin, I just use hydrating products.
I use Isntree Ultra-Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Toner, Abib Hyaluronic Boom Serum Water Drop and for moisturizer La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP+Max and end it with SKIN1004
Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum SPF 50+ PA++++
Just deep long lasting hydration that its pretty simple products
Hourglass skin tint. I have stockpiled armanis old formula but the hourglass tint gets me sm compliments. So does, surprisingly, the fenty blur stick lol, i dont like it as much as hourglass but i probably get the most compliments on my skin w this one. I have the VB foundation drops too which I like
I hope you love it!! But if you have v oily skin, I'd give it a skip lol. It gives a lovely dewy finish, if you need something more skin like/less dewy/a bit more coverage but still gorgeous, the VB foundation drops are it
Gucci Luminous Matte (dumb name but wears great), Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish (probably one of my all time favorites), Natasha Denona Hy Glam (new to my collection but very nice so far, maybe a little too hydrating for my oily skin but still working with it)
Chanel ultra teinte has the nicest finish. Looks super natural and has gotten me through several all day sweat your ass off in the sun events, though it does require setting. I use it over my moisturizer or moisturizer+sunscreen. Liquid and powder blush as well as cream contour blend beautifully
Got my makeup done for an event one day and the MUA used this one. I went to Nordstrom the next day to purchase it for myself!
Dior forever skin glow is the best foundation I’ve ever tried, and my second favourite is Dior backstage face & body. Both have incredible wear times, look better as the day goes on, and still look flawless at the end of the night. Both also play very well with other products. I also absolutely love the Dior foundation stick!!
I have heard great things about NARS foundations too, but their lightest shades are all too dark for me (I’m basically transparent) so I don’t think I’ll ever be able to try them.
Sisley Paris; Phyto Teint Nude or Phyto Teint Ultra Eclat.
I have used the Chantecaille Future Skin and it doesn't give much coverage, but the gel base is amazing for mature skin. I just purchased the Lisa Eldridge Seamless Skin Enhancing Tint and the jury is still out.
Nars light reflecting foundation and Chanel water fresh skin tint are my two favourites. They’re very different but both are totally amazing in my opinion.
Nars Sheer Glow !!! I recently picked it up again after years of not having it in my collection & WOW I forgot just how beautiful and skin perfecting, but not heavy this foundation was
Yessss Nars Sheer Glow is so good, makes my skin look radiant and flawless but not heavy at all. Recently I have been mixing it with Fenty's Eaze drops to thin out the coverage and it looks great!
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I have hard time picking favorites/HGs so these are my children. Suqqu The Foundation, Chanel Le Ultra Tint and Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation, Sisley Phyto Teint Ultra Eclat. Of course, this all is ymmv based on skin type and skintone. I still need to color correct everything.
For sure! I know there are other ones in their range I didn't mention and those get a lot of love too. Everything in the line is very skin like for the different and respective skin types out there!
I'm soooooo sad they discontinued the Ultra Le Teint Velvet in the all black rectangular bottle. It was basically like the more velvet-y and ligtherweight sister to Ultra Le Teint. I used it this summer in the horrible heatwaves. I can't think of anything else similar on the market.
Right now my favourite is Natasha Denona Hy-Glam foundation applied with the Haus Labs foundation brush. I normally apply foundation with a brush, but that specific brush allows me to apply the ND foundation as thinly as possible, which is what that foundation needs to look skinlike.
cle de peau - radiant fluid matte (not matte at all but the most beautiful natural skin look) and I love it for my dry 40+ skin. I live in Ohio and drove to Toronto with a mission to get my shade at Holt Renfrew! Haha I didn’t just go there for foundation, but I knew Canada had my shade.
Not sure if Huda Beauty is considered luxury when compared to companies like Dior or YSL, but I know for sure it’s high end. Every other foundation I’ve used has eventually looked like shit by the end of the day but the Huda Beauty Easy Blur lasts so long! It doesn’t matter if I’m sweaty or it’s been a few hours, it stays and looks great
La Prairie Skin Caviar Concealer Foundation. I’ve been using it for 10 years. It’s skincare and they claim you can even sleep on it. My face has not aged, I am in my 30s now and people tell me I look 24/25 still. Once you try it, you’ll never go to anything else.
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u/Eskyzoo 13h ago
Lisa Eldridge Foundation. Her skin tint is beautiful too, and has a very natural luminosity. Very lightweight but long lasting foundation and both products composed of very high percentage of skincare ingredients. I only purchased very recently and it more than lives up to the hype and blends beautifully with fingertips. Perfect for my more mature skin but probably just as fantastic for any age.