Sensitive skin can be one of the most annoying things – creams, serums, and cover-ups meant to help sensitive skin can often make it inflamed or break-up, leaving you at square one again. I know tons of people, including myself, who have spent hundreds of pounds on trial and error on foundations for sensitive skin in the vain hope of finding the holy grail that won’t make their skin react!
One of the most difficult things to find foundations for sensitive skin simply because of versatility, the ingredients, how thick it is, and a whole load of other factors. I feel your pain, and so here are five tried-and-tested foundations for sensitive skin that didn’t make my extremely sensitive skin react, break out, or do a combination of both!
The first one of the foundations for sensitive skin I recommend is Urban Decay’s offering. This was the very first liquid foundation I bought that gave me coverage but wasn’t so heavy it broke me out. It was a major breakthrough. It comes in 26 shades, a good quarter of which focus on darker skin shades, and blends out beautifully. It also comes with buildable coverage so can be worn both in the day and on nights out. Even with two layers on, I never felt it on my face, which is always a plus. Finish off with a spritz of Urban Decay’s famed setting spray, and go forth!
This foundation’s big sister, the Double Wear, normally gets all the attention, but it is the ‘light’ version of the iconic foundation that works for me. Because it isn’t full-coverage, the ingredients don’t feel heavy on the skin, and it is surprisingly good coverage when you build it up. It also comes with SPF 10 which doesn’t irritate my skin – always a good thing in my book! These foundations for sensitive skin also sits comfortably on my skin without creasing in my face’s dry ideas (combination skin problems!) or encouraging the oily areas. However, it does only come in 6 shades which is a big problem considering the shade ranges of the other foundations on this list, so that’s worth considering.
This is the only powder foundation I will make an exception for, and that’s only because it’s BareMinerals. I bought foundations for sensitive skin when I was 16 at the height of my acne and my skin was so sensitive I cried when taking my makeup off because it was so inflamed. The coverage isn’t brilliant, but this is much more of a natural-look foundation than the others, and the gentle formula means you will never have to worry about your skin reacting. This foundation is always a good back-up for sensitive skin where others fail! Also, it comes in 30 shades.
Lancome’s foundation comes in an impressive 40 shades and, much like BareMinerals’s foundation, has won awards. At first glance it seems like a sensitive skin person’s nightmare – it claims to last for 24 hours without needing any retouching, which brings to mind lots of chemicals that will cause sensitive skin to react. I am glad to say that this is not the case! Whilst I haven’t worn the foundation for 24 hours (never wear makeup to bed, people!), it has never irritated me, and it does give the skin a really nice dewy look without being oily. It is also more of a full-coverage foundation for sensitive skin if that’s what you’re looking for.
This foundation is a little cheaper than the rest of the offerings on this list and is the one I mostly use at the moment. It does give your skin a lovely, healthy glow with a subtle ‘airbrushing’ effect, and is very good in photos as the name suggests, although it does make your face appear paler in photos than in real life, so be wary of flash with it! It comes in 16 shades, which is quite good for a drugstore product, and the packaging is nice and sleek. It feels light and airy on the skin, and once again has buildable coverage depending on what you prefer. Overall, a decent foundation for sensitive skin.
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