We Tested 30 Foundations on Dry Skin. These 13 Are the Best.
The face makeup that leaves parched skin looking so soft and silky.
Reviewed by Sabina WizemannBeauty Lab Director
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As someone with extremely dry skin, finding a foundation that flawlessly glazes over tight, itchy patches and inflammation while feeling good on the skin and lasting all day can feel like locating a needle in a haystack. The goal is finding a base that seamlessly disguises facial redness and blurs away any telltale signs of irritation.
"[Anyone] who has dry skin should pick a foundation that will make skin look moisturized, fresh and luminous," says makeup artist Erica Whelan. But some face makeup can actually do the opposite, drying skin further, clinging to flaky patches and worst of all, irritating skin.
The best foundations for dry skin not only give a smooth, satiny finish, but include skin-loving ingredients that provide hydration to keep your skin looking and feeling smooth. Our analysts in the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab recruited a panel of professional makeup artists to test 30 different foundations, tallying up and ranking data from over 990 questions to find the best.
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Perfect Glow Flawless Foundation
Coverage: Sheer to medium | Shades: 40 | Finish: Radiant | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Glycerin, magnesium sulfate
This foundation blew away the competition in Lab testing: It earned a perfect score for having the smoothest texture, and got top scores for being easily blendable and providing smooth, nearly undetectable coverage.
Expert notes: This is a favorite of numerous editors in the Beauty Lab who say it blends into skin seamlessly to give medium coverage and a silky finish that works well on both dry and mature skin. One word of caution: it contains alcohol from the included fragrance, which makeup educator Rose Siard said, "over time, has proven drying for my skin type, which is balanced to dry."
Tester notes: Testers and pros alike loved that it seamlessly glides over skin and perfects complexion without making it look like you're wearing makeup, but the trade-off is that the texture is a bit drippy.
RELATED: 22 Best Foundations for Mature Skin
COVERGIRL Clean Invisible Foundation Makeup
Coverage: Sheer to medium | Shades: 24 | Finish: Natural | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Glycerin
This fragrance-free and budget-friendly formula earned high marks for applying evenly and blending well, even from testers with dry skin.
Expert notes: While it's not the most hydrating formula on the market, it won't make matters worse: 96% of testers agreed it's non-irritating, and the brand says the "non-drying" formula is suitable for sensitive skin.
Tester notes: Testers loved the sheer, no makeup-makeup coverage. "I liked that it had enough pigment to even out my skin and make it uniform, but it didn't look like I was wearing makeup," said one. "It seamlessly blended into skin and easily camouflaged redness while still letting freckles show through," said another.
Keys Soulcare It's Like Skin 2-in-1 Concealer + Tint
Coverage: Light | Shades: 40 | Finish: Radiant | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Squalane, niacinimide
A past GH Beauty Award-winner, this tinted moisturizer blurs imperfections while brightening skin, leaving a dewy finish that testers said, "looks natural and soft" — even on mature skin and noticeable pores.
Expert notes: The light coverage formula goes on with a doe foot applicator for easy, precise application. The main drawback is that it may be too light coverage for those looking for more opacity in their foundation.
Tester notes: It "did a nice job of covering blemishes," said one, who liked how it "evened out my skin tone and covered dark circles" without looking too heavy.
Laura Mercier Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Waterproof Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Shades: 30 | Finish: Natural | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Camelia seed, vitamin E, cacao extract
One of my all-time favorites, this foundation is lightweight and radiant — perfect for year-round wear. It’s long-wearing and waterproof enough for summer, yet hydrating and breathable for winter. The only potential downside is that the dewy finish might be too much for those with combination skin, but a touch of powder easily balances it out.
Expert notes: "I really love this foundation — it's excellent for drier skin types," said Siard. "It's lightweight yet well-pigmented, gliding smoothly over dry patches and adhering evenly to the skin." The brand's online shade match tool returned the perfect match when we tried it, which makes shopping for it online easy.
Tester notes: "It doesn't irritate my eczema-prone, sensitive skin and doesn't cling onto dry patches. It makes my skin look completely airbrushed with a satiny, blurred finish that looks so soft."
Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Medium Coverage Liquid Foundation
Coverage: Medium | Shades: 30 | Finish: Natural | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Glycerin, hyaluronic acid, rose flower oil, water
An industry favorite with a wide shade range and ingredients that'll actually help to improve dryness over time, experts agreed this foundation makes skin look satiny, although it does contain synthetic fragrance and comes at a high price point.
Expert notes: In Lab evaluations, pro evaluators all agreed that this silky smooth foundation felt "satiny" on even dry skin types — "dewy but not too dewy," raved one, making it ideal for normal to dry skin.
Tester notes: Testers especially loved the texture, saying, "It feels like a light beauty balm." In tests, it subdued redness, gave true medium coverage and lasted all day without making dry skin look (or feel!) drier.
IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Foundation Full Coverage Moisturizer with SPF 50+
Coverage: Full | Shades: 12 | Finish: Radiant | SPF: 50+ | Key ingredients: Glycerin, babassu oil, lemon, lime and orange peel oil
Full-coverage foundation can be intimidating for the dry skinned among us, but of all the products we tested, IT Cosmetics' foundation got perfect scores for providing smooth, even coverage on dry skin. It scored highest for mature, dry and sensitive skin and created a dewy, satin-like finish.
Expert notes: Our pros wished the shade range was more inclusive, but loved that this 2-in-1 product has a high SPF to better protect your face from the sun. For best results, apply it with your fingers or using a sponge atop a hydrating moisturizer.
Tester notes: Our testers loved that it dispensed the exact right amount of product and blended easily over skin, but didn't love that the product is fragranced.
RELATED: The Best Face Moisturizers to Hydrate Very Dry Skin
Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Care & Glow Foundation with SPF 27
Coverage: Medium | Shades: 30 | Finish: Natural | SPF: 30 | Key ingredients: Glycerin, hyaluronic acid, mandelic acid
A favorite of multiple GH editors, Lancôme's hydrating formula blends seamlessly, even onto dry complexions.
Expert notes: "This formula is infused with skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid, so it feels softening and gives skin a natural-looking dewiness but still provides great coverage," says Senior Beauty & Style Director April Franzino, who swears this foundation makes her dry skin feel more hydrated.
Tester notes: "This is one of the most lightweight bases I've tried. It doesn't feel heavy to wear yet still gives great, skin tone-evening coverage that's easy to build up. Plus, the glowy finish is beautiful."
Coverage: Medium | Shades: 51 | Finish: Natural | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Glycerin, fermented arnica, hyaluronic acid, squalene
GH beauty pros love this skin-improving formula from Haus Labs. It's made with skin-friendly arnica to help minimize redness over time as well as nourishing ingredients like hyaluronic acid and squalane to help soften dry spots. The dewy, true-medium coverage makes skin look glowing without cracking or oxidizing throughout all-day wear.
Expert notes: "I love the texture and how it's both thin and pigmented," said Siard. "The formula works well for drier skin, but the undertones within the range can be confusing when trying to find a perfect match," adding that the tones tend to lean warm.
Tester notes: This is my personal favorite foundation to not only disguise dryness, but treat it as well. I actually look forward to applying it. It comes in an impressive 51 shades to match virtually all skin tones. "I’ve never found a foundation that matches my skin tone and neck as well as this one," said one GH editor. It's pricey, but we think the skincare-packed formula is worth it.
L'Oreal Paris Age Perfect 4-in-1 Tinted Face Balm Foundation
Coverage: Light to medium | Shades: 8 | Finish: Luminous | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Glycerin, hyaluronic acid
A GH Beauty Award-winner, this balmy base has smoothing, hydrating and anti-aging properties. While its main claim to fame is firming and smoothing skin, it's also formulated with proven hydrators like glycerin and hyaluronic acid, making it great for anyone with dry skin and fine lines.
Expert notes: Our Beauty Lab evaluations showed it instantly made skin look smoother, perfect for anyone suffering from visible dryness, flaking or cracking.
Tester notes: "I appreciate that it is neither heavy nor sticky, as one might expect from balms. The formula feels almost whipped when you apply it to your face, gliding effortlessly. It is light and sheer, and I found it easy to apply, whether using a brush, sponge or even fingers. Sheer yet buildable, I love it for achieving an everyday, natural look for my hydration-seeking mature skin."
ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 Foundation
Coverage: Light | Shades: 30 | Finish: Radiant | SPF: 40 | Key ingredients: Squalane, niacinimide, hyaluronic acid
If you want a foundation that's packed with skin-friendly benefits, opt for this multi-tasking skincare-makeup hybrid that combines niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and squalane to hydrate and soften skin, plus skin-protecting SPF and buildable light coverage. The dropper allows you to better control how much foundation you use.
Expert notes: "This product leans more towards hydration, making it a great choice for drier skin," said Siard. "However, it's important to note that it's a skin tint offering less coverage and has limited versatility." If you're looking for full coverage, this likely isn't the pick for you.
Tester notes: "I’ve found it very easy to blend and build up," says one tester. "The end result is a super dewy finish."
Coverage: Sheer to medium | Shades: 13 | Finish: Radiant | SPF: 15 | Key ingredients: Glycerin, hibiscus, vitamins A, C, E
This drugstore buy goes on smoothly and leaves a dewy, satiny finish on dry skin. It's packed with firming and brightening ingredients and has anti-aging benefits to smooth fine lines and blur imperfections so it actually improves skin while you're wearing it.
Expert notes: In our Institute's research, professional makeup artists said it works best for dry, sensitive and mature skin types. Experts love that it can provide buildable sheer or medium coverage and ranked it highly for ease of use and performance.
Tester notes: "I like how the formula easily glides on the skin and can be built up from sheer to medium coverage; it feels light on the skin and leaves it blurred and silky to the touch."
Lisa Eldridge Seamless Skin Enhancing Tint
Coverage: Sheer medium | Shades: 20 | Finish: Dewy | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Glycerin, Prickly pear seed oil, sunflower seed oil, squalane, vitamin E
Award-winning makeup artist Lisa Eldridge's eponymous brand delivered in a recent Beauty Lab test, earning perfect scores in nearly every category, including applying easily, blending evenly, providing smooth, long-lasting coverage and making skin feel hydrated.
Expert notes: Pros said this innovative skin tint is "nothing like I've tried in the past," adding that though it has the familiar liquidy texture of a traditional tint, it is slightly fuller coverage without being obvious, though it's not a buildable formula. "It is medium coverage and has a super natural finish — not too glowy or matte."
Tester notes: "This skin tint is amazing! It melts into skin and gives such a beautiful but imperceptible finish. It leaves my skin slightly glowy, covered and perfected, but looks like the texture of bare skin. It's beautiful!"
Yves Saint Laurent NU Bare Look Tint Hydrating Skin Tint Foundation
Coverage: Light | Shades: 20 | Finish: Radiant | SPF: None | Key ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, glycerin, mallow
True to its name, this barely-there skin tint is made with hyaluronic acid, glycerin and mallow to hydrate and boost skin's glow.
Expert notes: This foundation gave skin light, dewy coverage that lasted all day in Beauty Lab evaluations.
Tester notes: Testers found that the light, gel-like formula spread easily and subtly blurred imperfections while evening skin tone. "I liked the dewy light coverage I get with this tinted moisturizer-like formula," said one tester.
How we test foundations
The Good Housekeeping Institute's Beauty Lab regularly tests foundations for ease of use, coverage ability and smoothness of application. To find the best foundation for dry skin, we rounded up over 190 products and narrowed down the field to 30 based on each product's claims, price and availability, with formulations ranging from liquid to powder to cream.
For products that make skin moisturization claims (think BB creams, CC creams and tinted moisturizers), we use a Corneometer, a device that measures changes in skin's hydration, to see how well (and if) they really moisturize.
We then recruited a panel of makeup artists to evaluate these 30 different high-end and drugstore foundations (with masked labels to remove brand bias). Our experts ranked each product's performance on criteria like buildability, blendability and smoothness.
How to find the best foundation for dry skin
✔️ Skincare prep: First and foremost, a good skincare routine is key to flawless looking foundation. Try layering on a hyaluronic acid serum before a hydrating face moisturizer. Our Beauty Lab pros suggest applying SPF separately and layering foundation on top since foundations that contain SPF can be less hydrating.
✔️ Coverage: Whelan says that when it comes to foundations, sheer to medium coverage options are best. Fuller coverage formulas might accentuate dryness.
✔️ Finish: "Finish" refers to the way foundation appears on the skin once it's fully set and dry. For dry skin, we recommend steering away from matte finishes that can make dry skin look even drier and instead opt for radiant, dewy or luminous finishes.
✔️ Ingredients: "Look for complexion products that use moisturizing in their marketing copy," said Siard, who recommends seeking these ingredients: "hyaluronic acid, glycerin, shea butter, ceramides, jojoba oil, squalane." Humectants like hyaluronic acid and glycerin to draw water into the skin and make it look more plumped and hydrated; lipids, such as ceramides, can maintain skin moisture levels and protect skin from environmental factors and aggressors; and moisturizers and conditioners, such as shea butter, make skin feel smooth to touch and help prevent moisture loss.
What kind of foundation is best for dry skin?
Whelan says liquid or lightweight cream formulas with a water base will help keep skin hydrated as the day goes on instead of accentuating (or worsening) dryness. When you suffer from dry skin on the face, "it’s best to avoid powder makeup, which can make skin appear drier and emphasize flakes and cracks," says Whelan.
What's the best way to apply foundation to dry skin?
The golden rule of makeup for dry skin: "Overall, less makeup is more on a dry complexion," Whelan says. "Too much caked on can make your face look more parched." As for application, "I recommend using a dry, dense brush and employing pressing motions rather than pulling ones for optimal results," says Siard.
And when your skin is dry, what you apply before makeup is just as key as the makeup you use, so be sure to always moisturize skin first. And go one step further: "If you layer on a moisturizing makeup primer, your face will be smoother no matter what type of foundation goes on top of it," Mally Roncal, a celebrity makeup artist in NYC, explains.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
The Good Housekeeping Institute has been testing products since 1900. Today, the chemists, scientists and engineers in the Health, Beauty & Environmental Sciences Lab carefully and rigorously evaluate beauty, haircare and skincare products to find the best products on the market that actually work.
This article was written by Jessica Teich, who gathered Beauty Lab findings and supplemented with her own field testing and research. She also spoke with Mally Roncal, a celebrity makeup artist and founder of Mally Beauty, Erica Whelan, a professional celebrity makeup artist, and Rose Saird, a makeup educator.
GH Beauty Lab Senior Chemist Sabina Wizemann led testing for this article, analyzing and distilling the data from her last cross-category test of foundations. Sabina has touched, researched, tested and evaluated thousands of beauty products for almost a decade.
Jessica (she/her) is the director of editorial commerce and product reviews with over a decade of experience as a product tester, reviewer, writer and editor of beauty and lifestyle content. Previously she was the beauty editor at USA Today's Reviewed where she launched the Beauty vertical and tested hundreds of products and has covered trends for publications like The Boston Globe and The New York Times. You can usually find her sorting through piles of beauty products — and testing the best ones on camera.
Sabina (she/her) is the director of the Beauty, Health & Sustainability Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she has overseen skincare, haircare and makeup testing since 2012. She also reviews applications, substantiates claims and evaluates products for the GH Seal and the Beauty Awards and Sustainability Awards programs. She has a B.S. in chemistry from Ithaca College and more than 16 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical and personal care industries.
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