5 Foundations You Need To Tame Your Oily Skin

Is there anything worse than looking in the mirror and your oily skin has essentially eaten all your foundation? And then you’re faced with the dilemma of, do I just leave it and hope that no one notices, or do I try and rectify the damage?

We’ve all been there, and we can all have a minutes silence for when you try and powder and it just seems to create even more noticeable patches on your face.

Well, myself and Rebecca have teamed together to bring you the foundations you need, regardless of your skin type. I’m going to do my top 5 picks for my oily gals, and Rebecca is going to help out the ladies with drier skin. So you know the drill, go and check her out, she’s an utter babe.

bareMinerals Original Foundation in ‘Fairly Light’

This is my go-to, everyday foundation and has been for literal years. And that by no means is an exaggeration. The coverage is light to medium, however you can just keep building and building it up to be high coverage without it feeling cakey and without it sending your pores into panic mode.

In terms of holding up against the fountain of oil that is my skin, it does pretty well except around my chin and mouth. However, that only needs a quick touch up throughout the day and you’re back to that ‘my skin is naturally flawless’ look. Don’t you hate those girls?

Rimmel, Lasting Finish Foundation in 200 ‘Soft Beige’

Is it just me who can never really find a decent colour match in Rimmel? It’s either too pink, too yellow or just generally too dark for my snow white skin. Regardless of my pale skin woes, this foundation is a fabulous high coverage for a high street price tag. As for some reason high street brands don’t think we want to be able to conceal whatever it is that needs concealing.

The Lasting Finish range as a whole is pretty damn spectacular, especially if you’re just getting into the world of makeup. The formula is a little heavy on the skin, but to be expected with full coverage. However I think this is the reason that the oils stay at bay for as long as they do, I found that I only had to powder my nose and forehead a little bit and that was the only touchups required.

Over the course of the day it didn’t really flake off, the coverage didn’t diminish too much, however I will say that I am guaranteed a spot if I wear this foundation for longer than 18 hours. It boasts about a 25 hour lifespan, and I’m 99.99999% sure it could absolutely make this mark, however my face would probably rather I didn’t.

Maybelline, Fit Me Foundation in 105 ‘Natural Ivory’

When I was in the midst of having acne I steered clear of all liquid foundations for the best part of 2 years. The thought of my already temperamental pores being deliberately clogged with makeup and potentially create more breakouts was not something I was willing to chance. Until this lil guy.

The foundation is designed for oily skin, and for the £5ish price tag it does a bloody good job. It sits on top of the skin, something that most foundations don’t. It doesn’t automatically sit in your pores, aggravating your oily skin and giving your skin the texture of a golf ball. If I was to put this on in the morning for work, by the time I’d come home there was some slight fading on my oiliest areas but not enough to make me think ‘I’ve been walking around like this all day and I look like this’.

If your skin is struggling and so is your bank account, this would be my first port of call. It’s pretty bloody fab.

Kat Von D, Lock It Foundation in ‘Light 48 Neutral’

I’ve already delved into this gem in a previous post, and my opinions haven’t changed. The coverage is buildable enough to make it high coverage with very little extra effort and it dries completely matte which is a bloody God send.

The foundation claims that it has 24 hour wear without touch ups, however my oily AF skin tends to see this as a challenge whenever I wear this foundation. I can usually make about 12 hours without a touch up, and even then it’s pretty minimal. I will say it does feel quite heavy on the skin, so you’re v aware that you’re wearing makeup. And in all honesty, after 12 hours I’m pretty ready to take it off.

However if you’re in the market for a slightly more luxury foundation, I would certainly give this guy a go. As the difference compared to a lot of high street brands is pretty bloomin’ phenomenal. I will say, if you can go and get colour matched in Debenhams, as I ordered mine online and let’s just say I’ve had better colour matches.

Estee Lauder, Double Wear Foundation in 1N1 ‘Ivory Nude’

Here she is, my hero, my muse, my angel of music. When I say this is the best foundation I’ve ever worn, it’s an understatement. I’d heard the hype like we all had, however because it had been constant and gone on forever, it became like white noise that I pushed quietly to one side. Oh my good god, I’m never going back ever again.

I went into John Lewis with the sole ambition of bringing a bottle to its forever home. I got properly colour matched, and it is absolutely spot on. There will be no neck striping for me anymore, I’ve found the light.

The foundation itself feels super lightweight on the skin, it dries matte but not flat, the coverage is instantly flawless, it doesn’t feel cakey and best of all it stays completely put. Bid farewell to it rubbing off around the neck of your clothes and it transferring to innocents that you have greeted (is there anything more embarrassing that seeing your foundation on someone else’s face?).

And the words every oily gal has dreamed of reading, I didn’t have to touch up once. You heard me, not once. The second it’s on there, that’s where it is living until you tell it it’s bedtime. My oils didn’t shine through at all, it didn’t crack around my mouth of nose, it didn’t start to fade around my chin and every blemish that I wanted concealing never saw the light of day.

This foundation is on the pricier side, however if you can afford to invest I can’t sing its praises loud enough. This is my Holy Grail foundation, and I’m fairly comfortable in saying that this is probably going to be my foundation until the end of time. Y’know, or until they make it so blemishes, redness and eye-bags are completely eradicated. Imagine what that kind of world would be like?