Jamie Dorman is New York beauty editor of Lucire.

A new skin

Advances in foundations in the 2010s have made them more skin-like. Jamie Dorman has been putting them to the test, finding four that are as good as the claims

Foundations have always been a catch-22: the more coverage you get, the less your skin looks like, well, skin—until now. Today’s newest foundation formulas have taken the challenge of having skin-like coverage and have passed with flying colours. Here are some of our top breakthrough formulas.

Bare Minerals Bareskin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation
The company known for its mineral powder foundation has made a beautiful first impression in the liquid foundation market. This natural finish foundation has buildable coverage, lightweight texture, and skin care ingredients like jojoba oil and vitamin E. It is formulated without water, oil, silicone, parabens, or fragrance—good news to those with sensitive skin.

Mirabella Skin Tint Crème
This breakthrough water-gel-formula, mineral-based foundation hits all the right marks: full coverage, skin-like luminescent appearance, and a lasting finish. The texture is almost pillow-y when going on and meshes with skin so beautifully: it even made skin look glowing in NYC subway lighting!

Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Fluid Foundation (shown at top)
Another star serum-formula foundation, this boasts the key skin-loving ingredient Pigmento Perfetto, an algæ extract known to fight the production of progerin, a protein that accelerates ageing by encouraging loss of firmness, elasticity, and wrinkles. Not only does this foundation do a lot for the health of your skin, but it also has an ultra-lightweight feel, buildable to full coverage, and a lit-from-within quality. It’s long-wearing, for up to eight hours of beautiful skin.

Sisley Phyto-Teint Expert

This French brand, known for its skin care, really knows how to make a beautifully formulated foundation. This natural-looking, radiant finish foundation has ultra-pure pigments and soft focus powders that give a perfect complexion guaranteed to last 12 hours. It doesn’t stop there though: this foundation is rich in active ingredients such as frangipani blossom to soothe skin, cucumber and vegetable glycerin to moisturize and soften, and gingko biloba extract and vitamin E to prevent free radical damage. •