Best foundations for all skin types and coverage

A good foundation is a staple in most makeup routines. Find the right one and you can conceal blemishes, even skin tone, reduce redness and provide a flawless complexion for the rest of your products to be blended into.

However, with so many on the market, finding your favourite base makeup product can be a time-consuming task.

Therefore, we've done the hard work for you and hand-picked the best for a variety of skin types and concerns.

If you have dry skin, you'll want something hydrating that won't leave you looking patchy, if oiliness is your biggest bugbear, a matte formula will keep you from feeling greasy and if you have mature skin, a smoothing, blurred finish will minimise fine lines.

Starting from just £5.70, our round-up features 16 top foundations from affordable to luxurious in sheer to full-coverage formulas, all of which are long-wearing, whether you're looking for a radiant, dewy finish or a matte T-zone.

Best foundations for mature, dry or oily skin

Best foundations for mature skin

Clarins Everlasting Youth Fluid Foundation | £36 from Feel Unique

There's nothing worse than a foundation that highlights fine lines and wrinkles. Fortunately, Clarins have formulated a long-wearing foundation that plumps, smooths and leaves a luminous glow thanks to the infusion of pearls.

No7 Restore & Renew Serum Foundation | £19.95 from Boots

If you're looking for a lightweight formula that won't sink into fine lines and wrinkles, No7 has got you covered. It has buildable, light to medium coverage that gives your complexion a glowy finish. It also contains a cocktail of skin-nourishing ingredients such as vitamin C to brighten and collagen peptides for plumpness.

Trinny London Just A Touch Foundation + Concealer | £28 from Trinny London

Trinny Woodall, as you might have guessed, is the brains behind Trinny London, an extensive range of multi-tasking, stackable makeup and skincare pots. Its foundation-concealer hybrid product is fantastic for travel, but also allows you to customise areas you'd like to conceal, whether that's dark circles, blemishes or all over for a flawless base.

Best foundations for dry skin

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick | £33 from Lookfantastic

This is one of the most popular foundation sticks on the market and for good reason. Available in 43 shades, it delivers medium, buildable coverage and is fuss-free to apply, simply swipe directly onto the skin and buff out with a densely packed brush. Thanks to the formula rich in shea butter and olive extract, it gives a long-wearing, dewy glow to skin with a natural finish.

The Ordinary Serum Foundation | £5.70 from Boots

For budget beauty, The Ordinary takes the top spot. Its serum foundation is a steal for under £6 and has a fluid consistency that's effortless to blend with just your fingers. There are 21 shades to choose from with a semi-matte finish and an SPF 15. It offers buildable coverage too, so you can layer it up to be as sheer or as full coverage as you want.

Clinique Even Better Refresh Hydrating & Repairing Makeup | £31 from John Lewis

Struggling with dry and dehydrated skin? This full-coverage foundation from Clinique is packed with hydrating ingredients such as plumping hyaluronic acid and blemish-busting salicylic acid. There's 30 shades available too.

Best foundations for oily skin

The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation | £18 from The Body Shop

The Body Shop's newest foundation is one of the best lightweight options on the market. It has an impressive 40 shades, is housed in a recyclable bottle, and is made with vitamin E and Community Fair Trade organic aloe vera. It's vegan with medium coverage and delivers a radiant, natural-looking finish.

Fenty Beauty PRO FILT'R Soft Matte Longwear Foundation | £30 from Boots

Few beauty brands do foundations as good as Rihanna. As the name suggests, its matte foundation that helps to maintain a flawless complexion, free from oiliness. Its medium to full coverage, available in 50 shades and won't leave your skin looking flat.

Huda Beauty #FauxFilter Luminous Matte Full Coverage Foundation | £34 from Cult Beauty

For the ultimate full-coverage foundation, Huda Beauty is a go-to. It blurs pores and conceals blemishes with a luminous matte finish, in a long-wearing, transfer-proof and sweat-proof formula so it will hold up no matter how hot or humid the conditions are.

Best full coverage foundations

Erborian Super BB Cream Au Ginseng | £39.50 from Space NK

While not strictly a foundation, this BB cream from South Korean beauty brand Erborian is full coverage and made with acne-prone skin in mind. Infused with ginseng and niacinamide, it reduces the appearance of pores and blackheads, conceals redness while being incredibly lightweight and blends seamlessly.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation SPF 10 | £35 from Feel Unique

Estée Lauder's Double Wear is a cult favourite among full-coverage foundation lovers. There's a huge 60-shade range in warm, cool and neutral skin tones and the matte, oil-free formula will ensure you don't look shiny by the end of the day.

IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF50 | £33 from Cult Beauty

This colour-correcting cream is packed with skin brightening pigments, SPF50 and hydrating hyaluronic acid for a subtle, radiant glow and natural finish that evens out your skin tone. Apply with your fingers for a flawless result. It also contains SPF50+ broad-spectrum mineral sunscreen.

Best foundations for a dewy glow

NYX Professional Makeup Born to Glow Naturally Radiant Foundation | £10 from Boots

This creamy, lightweight foundation delivers an instant dose of radiance to dull skin, providing a light to medium coverage that will have you glowing. For less than £10, it's a brilliant bargain beauty buy and a little goes a long way. If you have combination skin, add a touch of powder to keep oiliness at bay.

Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation | £34 from Charlotte Tilbury

Nobody does dewy like celebrity make-up artist, Charlotte Tilbury. This light-medium coverage foundation adds an instant radiance while hydrating and blurring pores. You can also use the shade matching service on the website to ensure you get a perfect match.

Nars Sheer Glow Foundation | £35 from Space NK

Designed for normal to dry skin, Nars' Sheer Glow is a much-loved foundation in the beauty sphere. With a luminous finish with a satin-like texture, it's smoothing, brightening, and easy to blend with a damp sponge or fluffy brush.

Maybelline Fit Me Dewy and Smooth Foundation | £9.99 from Superdrug

Add radiance to your base makeup routine with this budget-friendly liquid foundation from Maybelline. It's fragrance-free, won't clog pores, has the added bonus of SPF18, and is ideal for dry, sensitive skin.