Top 5 Drugstore Foundations

Happy Thursday everyone! I’ve been busy testing drugstore foundations and today I’m sharing my Top 5 Drugstore Foundations!

I have tested as many brands as I could get my hands on; L’Oreal, Maybelline, No7, Physicians Formula, Kiko Milano, Elf, CoverGirl… I have almost tried to buy many more, but I am somewhat restricted by shade ranges with some brands!

I’ve tried quite a few foundations that aren’t readily available in the UK, but I’ve tried really hard to not put them into my Top 5 as you’d have to import them from the US. I have got a notable mention for one foundation that we don’t get here, but that’s because it’s SO good!

I don’t really understand why we don’t get certain foundations here, but oh well. I have a shop I use on eBay who sells almost every foundation that I have my eye on. I just order from her as and when something catches my eye.

We have recently got the L’Oreal Pro Glow foundation which was only available in the US for ages. It’s an Amazon exclusive, but it’s amazing and has made it into my Top 5!

Anyway, I won’t give everything away just yet! Read on to find out which other foundations have made it into my Top 5 Drugstore Foundations!

DISCLAIMER: LookFantastic links are affiliate, all products purchased by me.

No7 Hydra Luminous Foundation – £15 from Boots

This foundation is a great dupe for the Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder foundation, only I find it wears for longer on my skin.

This foundation is lightweight, gives a natural, skin like finish and is easy to blend. It also has SPF15. It’s easy to blend and applies well with a sponge or brush. You can build the coverage up to a high medium or sheer it out. I use a pea sized amount and get a light/medium coverage. It covers some redness and evens out my skin well. The worst acne still needs concealer, but that’s the same with most foundations I wear as I don’t like full coverage foundations.

I don’t find this clings to dry patches. It doesn’t look heavy or cakey and I can get a good 12 hours wear before needing to touch up. It really does give a healthy radiance and your skin looks flawless. This isn’t a super glowy foundation, but it’s more than a satin finish.

Whenever I wear this foundation, I have a good skin day. It’s one of those ones I find myself using if my skin is looking dull or lifeless. It performs like a high end foundation, which is something you’ll find with all of these foundations I’m mentioning.

I wear the shade Porcelain.

Maybelline Dream Satin/Radiant Liquid – £8.99 from Superdrug

I got this foundation as they were in the midst of changing the name/formula and bottle design. It’s still quite confusing as in some shops they have the old packaging mixed in with the new. Others have the new packaging and the bottle looks different, some the bottle looks the same.

As far as I can tell, the formula now has hyaluronic acid and collagen, but other than that it’s the same. I was seriously impressed with this foundation when I first tried it. Every time I wear this, I’m impressed with how well it wears and how beautiful it looks on the skin.

You literally cannot tell you’re wearing this. You can’t see it on the skin either and it lasts for a good 14 hours on me. It’s hydrating and doesn’t cling to dry patches. Although this is advertised as a radiant foundation, I find it not as glowy as the No7 Hydra Luminous.

This would be perfect for no makeup, makeup as you can build the coverage. I sometimes do a super light layer with a bit of concealer, mascara, blush and lip balm and I’m ready to go. It just gives me a little bit of confidence as it evens out my skin. It’s great for days where you don’t want a full face. This foundation is a solid medium coverage, but you can sheer it out and go super natural with it.

I wear shade 02 Fair Beige.

L’Oreal Paris Infaillable Pro Glow Longwear Foundation – £12-£19 depending on colour from Amazon

I have no idea why each colour is a different price currently, but when I bought this foundation, it was £11.99 for every colour.

I was so glad when this finally arrived in the UK because I’d heard such good things about it! Obviously I ordered it as soon as I saw it had arrived at Amazon!

Happy to report that this lives up to the hype for me. It is goreous! It’s a very liquidy formula, but is super blendable. It’s lightweight, radiant and long wearing. I do wish they would expand the shade range though. There’s only 12 shades currently.

I can’t vouch for it lasting 24 hours like it claims, but it does last 14-15 hours. It’s the lightest consistency in my Top 5 Drugstore Foundations and even though the others are not hard to blend, this is ridiculously easy to blend.

I feel like if there was a scale of foundation coverage, this would fall slap bang in the middle. Some foundations are a light/medium or a heavier medium. This reminds me of the Lancome Miracle Air de Teint, which has been discontinued. It doesn’t have the same powdery finish, but in terms of constistency and how it blends, it performs similarly.

I am on an eternal hunt for something that is a replacement for the Lancome and I haven’t found a 100% match yet, but this is close in terms of performance. However, the finish is different. This is definitely radiant, the Lancome is more matte.

I wear shade 201 Classic Ivory.

L’Oreal Paris Infaillable 24hr Freshwear Liquid Foundation – £10.99 from LookFantastic

This foundation is the highest coverage out of all of my top 5 drugstore foundations. You can build this up to full coverage, but it’s flexible enough that you can sheer it out to medium. This won’t sheer out to a light coverage, but if you want light coverage you probably won’t be looking at this foundation!

This foundation has a satin finish. It looks gorgeous and it’s for those days where you want to do a full face of makeup! It comes in 26 shades, which is pretty good for a drugstore foundation.

I wear this foundation if I’m going to be having a looooong day. I’ve never tried to wear it for 24 hours, but it does do a full day and it’s waterproof and transfer proof. It really is transfer proof as well. Many foundations claim to be, but a lot of them aren’t. This was the first L’Oreal foundation I tried and it made me want to try more!

I wear shade 015 Porcelaine.

Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation – £12.99 from Boots

When we finally got Physicians Formula in the UK, I was beside myself with excitement! I had been desperate to try the brand for years.

Now, the shade range of this foundation is not great. Although, I’ve found on the Physicians Formula website that they do have a broader range, it’s just not available in the UK.

I had to get the shade LC1 and it is dark… and not cool. I can make it work since it isn’t full coverage and I love this foundation so much that I continue to wear it even though it’s a little dark and the smell is horrific.

If you are sensitive to scents, you will not like this foundation. It smells very strongly, it’s like paint thinner. And… you can smell it on your skin for a good hour after. BUT this foundation does look beautiful and lasts so well on me. It’s the longest wearing out of the foundations I’ve mentioned today.

I love the fact this has a doe foot applicator, it’s really easy to blend and is quite thin and lightweight. The finish is natural leaning on slightly radiant. It is a good medium coverage, does a great job of evening the skin out. It doesn’t break down during the day, or look heavy and cakey and has SPF20. If you have dry patches, it can slightly exacerbate them, but it’s not horrific. It isn’t one of those foundations that shows dry flakes you didn’t even know you had. It just clings to the bits you know are dry.

I wear shade LC1.

And now, one notable mention to another Physicians Formula foundation. You can order it from the US and I tried to not mention anything that wasn’t available easily in the UK. However, this is just too good not to mention!

Physicians Formula Natural Defense Sheer Line of Defense Foundation – £9.40 from eBay

This is the lightest coverage foundation I’ve mentioned today, but it’s the perfect Spring/Summer foundation. It’s gorgeous and so long wearing. This has SPF30 which is the highest of the foundations I’ve mentioned today. However, I would always advise adding your SPF separately before makeup.

This is seamless on the skin and very natural looking. The packaging is travel friendly as well. The way this wears away is gorgeous. Some foundations start to separate and look heavy as they wear away, this one sort of disappears, but you can never tell. It doesn’t sink into pores either.

This is another foundation that I grab when I want a no makeup makeup look. You aren’t going to be able to build this up to medium or full coverage, but you can do two layers. It’s a high light coverage and does even out your skin beautifully.

I so hope this foundation comes to the UK eventually as it’s brilliant and I’d highly recommend it. It is so good, I just had to mention it in this round up of my Top 5 Drugstore Foundations!!

That’s it for my Top 5 Drugstore Foundations, what are some of your favourites?