Top 5 High End Foundations (for all skin types!)

Hiya guys, hope you’re having a good week! After sharing my Top 5 Drugstore Foundations last month, I’m finally sharing my Top 5 High End Foundations! I have been testing foundations for months and I have SO many favourites, it’s been almost impossible to get it down to my top 5 Holy Grails.

As well as the fact, foundations keep being released that then push my favourites down the list!

I could easily have made this a top 10, but I really wanted to share the best of the best because when you’re investing in an expensive foundation, you don’t want ones that are just “great” – they need to be extraordinary.

I’m not over complicating things by going top 5 matte, top 5 radiant. These are my top 5 because of their performance and how they look on the skin. My type of makeup is to look like me, but evened out and healthy looking. I grade a foundation on how natural it looks on the skin.

I get some people love matte full coverage, but I don’t, so it wouldn’t be fair of me to try and share a top 5 of something I don’t like.

In this Top 5 High End Foundations round up, I’ve also tried to choose foundations which will work for all skin types. I think the true test of something that is Holy Grail status is it working on every skin type.

So, without further ado, let’s get into my To 5 High End Foundations!

*FYI my skin type is combination/sensitive.

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

GUERLAIN L’ESSENTIEL NAUTRAL GLOW FOUNDATION – £44 from John Lewis

This is the most expensive foundation in my Top 5, but it really is worth the price tag. It is beautiful. Lightweight, radiant and long lasting. I get 16 hours wear with this and it makes my skin look luminous and fresh. It’s not heavy or cakey and it wears away beautifully. It gets dewy on me after about 13 hours.

Coverage wise, you can get a solid medium or sheer it out to light coverage. You won’t be able to get full coverage with this. It applies well with a brush or sponge and blends in quickly.

This product does have fragrance in, so if you’re sensitive to that maybe give this a miss. I don’t normally like fragrance, but I haven’t had an issue with this foundation breaking me out.

I think this foundation is hydrating, it doesn’t cling to dry patches, but it’s not overly dewy to the point oily skinned people won’t love it. It’s a great all rounder. It covers spots and general redness well and doesn’t cling to those dry patches you didn’t know you had! Normal, dry or oily, this will look beautiful on the skin.

There are 30 shades, which for Guerlain, is amazing. They usually don’t have the biggest shade range. However, the deepest shade isn’t the deepest I’ve seen. So, the problem I find always still occurs: there are loads of shades for light/medium skin tones.

The packaging is beautiful and feels very luxurious. As it should for the price! It’s a heavy glass bottle with a pump and a plastic lid. The plastic doesn’t feel cheap at all. I wouldn’t say this is the most travel friendly foundation, but I have taken it on an overnight stay and it was fine. I’m not sure how it would fare on a plane.

SCORES:

• Longevity: 4/5
• Buildability: 4/5
• Application: 4/5
• Shade range: 3.5/5
• Packaging: 3.5/5

TOTAL: 19/25

LANCOME TEINT IDOLE ULTRA WEAR NUDE FOUNDATION – £34 from John Lewis

This foundation has the lightest coverage of my Top 5 High End Foundations, but there’s something about it that I just adore. It’s perfect for Summer, it’s lightweight, breathable, always looks gorgeous on the skin and is a real “put it on and forget it” foundation.

I can get about 15 hours of wear with this and it doesn’t get dewy enough to powder. It’s advertised as a matte foundation, but I would say it’s very skin like with a tiny bit of matte. It’s not a full on matte.

Coverage wise, this is light coverage. You can build it a little bit, but it won’t go to full on medium. This evens out your skin, covers light pimples and general redness. However, if you have angry red spots, it won’t cover them. I love that this lets my skin come through. My freckles are still present, but this just perfects my skin. I never have a bad skin day when I wear this foundation. Even if you have drier skin I don’t think you’ll have a problem with this. Don’t be scared because it’s described as matte, it’s really not!

Again this product is fragranced. It’s not the best fragrance and it’s quite strong, but it dissipates on aplication. I’ve never had issues with this irritating my sensitive skin.

This foundation, although leaning on the matte side, is actually quite hydrating. I don’t find that it clings to dry patches or sinks into any fine lines or pores. It glides onto the skin and is probably the easiest to apply out of this Top 5.

There are 40 shades of this foundation, which is great. The balance of light, medium and deep shades is pretty even and the darkest shde is pretty deep. I think Lancome do a great job with their shade ranges and are pretty inclusive.

This foundation is in a plastic squeezy bottle. It’s super travel friendly and pocket sized. The plastic doesn’t feelt cheap and is rigid, so if something presses on it in your makeup bag it won’t explode everywhere!

SCORES:

• Longevitiy: 4/5
• Buildability: 2.5/5
• Application: 5/5
• Shade range: 4.5/5
• Packaging: 5/5

TOTAL: 21/25

DIOR FOREVER SKIN GLOW FOUNDATION – £37 from John Lewis

For years Armani’s Luminous Silk was my absolute Holy Grail foundation. It was what I compared every other foundation to. Then I bought this foundation. I never thought another foundation could come close to Luminous Silk, but this one truly does. It wears just as well, it looks stunning on the skin.

This wears for 16-18 hours on me. It gets dewy at around 14 hours, but I still love the way it looks when it’s dewy, so I usually don’t bother powdering. This is a glowy foundation as the name suggests, but it just gives you the most healthy glow. It’s very skin like and doesn’t ever look heavy.

Coverage wise this is a high medium that you can build to pretty full. It is highly pigmented and easy to blend. To get fuller coverage I use a brush. This covers all my redness and a lot of my old, fading acne. The angriest of spots will show through a little bit, but it covers quite well.

This product has a light fragrance, it’s not offensive and you can’t smell it on the skin.

I find this foundation hydrating, it never feels dry or tight on my face and it doesn’t enhance enlarge pores or dry flakes. If you have dry bits that you can’t see, it does slightly make them more noticeable. It’s easy to apply, it’s a thicker, creamy consistency, but it is easy to work with. I have some foundations where you dot it on and it just kind of sticks there., I don’t get that with this. I love that this is radiant without being too radiant for those of us with oily skin.

There are 30 shades of this foundation, but only 3 are what I would call deep which is pretty disappointing. While there are colours for my lighter deep skinned girls, if you’re really deep skinned, you may not be able to find a shade. The majority of the shades are light/medium and the pale shade is not that pale. I have shade 0N and while in their photo it shoes it being fair, in reality, it’s quite warm toned and dark. It works for me, but it’s not a perfect match. I do wish they had paler and deeper shades in this range as the foundation itself is outstanding.

Packaging wise this comes in a heavy glass bottle with a pump and plastic cap. It feels solid and nice in the hand. The pump works well and doesn’t splatter. I haven’t tried travelling with this one yet (thanks virus!) but I am always careful travelling with glass bottles. I do prefer plastic for travel, but this foundation is so beautiful I might make an exception!

SCORES:

• Longevity: 5/5
• Buildability: 4/5
• Application: 5/5
• Shade range: 3/5
• Packaging: 4/5

TOTAL: 21/25

ESTEE LAUDER FUTURIST HYDRA RESCUE FOUNDATION – £36 from John Lewis

I was so pumped when this foundation came out. I’d heard so many good things about it from people in the US (we had to wait weeks in the UK) and I’m so glad it lives up to the hype. This is a very runny product, but intensely pigmented. A little goes a long way!

This lasts around 14 hours on me, it gets dewy at the 10 hour mark and I need to powder. This stuff does not budge at all though! I wore a mask over this last week and got really hot underneath. I was fully expecting to see foundation on the inside of my mask, but not a thing! I’ve actually done a full review of this foundation, which you can find here.

This is a medium-full coverage foundation. It’s probably the most radiant of all of my Top 5 High End Foundations. You can sheer it out to a good medium, but it is easily a high-medium with one layer. This covers almost everything in one layer. It really packs a punch!

This product has fragrance, it’s a very light scent that isn’t over powering and you can’t smell it on the skin.

This foundation is VERY hydrating. The most hydrating foundation I own. If you have very oily skin, I would advise powdering. It is also the most radiant. It applies like water and never feels dry or tight, it looks good over pores and acne and doesn’t cling to dry patches. I do sometimes notice it on my forehear for some reason and only there. I’ve watched other reviews where they’ve had the same issue, it looks flawless everywhere, but the forehead. It’s barely noticeable and you have to be super close to see, but it does just gather slightly on my forehead.

There are 20 shades in this foundation, which isn’t fantastic. They do seem to have evenly balanced light/medium/deep, but I feel there are gaps all over. Since you can get this to pretty full coverage, you need a good match. Even 1N0 (my shade) is not that pale. It’s quite yellow. I wouldn’t be able to wear this as full coverage without using something to lighten it.

This is my favourite type of packaging. I do love the look of a glass bottle, but they aren’t the most travel friendly, so a tube is preferable. This tube manages to still look luxe in gold and is really soft. The reason I love this even more than the Lancome plastic bottle is the fact it has a pump. I love the fact there will be no waste with this product becaues when it no longer pumps you can cut the tube in half and scrape out every last drop!

SCORES:

• Longevity: 3.5/5
• Buildability: 4/5
• Application: 5/5
• Shade range: 3/5
• Packaging: 5/5

TOTAL: 20.5/25

GIORGIO ARMANI LUMINOUS SILK FOUNDATION – £43 from John Lewis

Leaving the best until last. Even after going through just how much I love all the above foundations, Luminous Silk still has my heart. There’s just something about it. It’s stunning, lasts forever and always looks great. Close up or far away, it never look heavy, it never separates or cakes up. I just keep going back to it.

When I take this off after 16 hours it still looks like it could go on for a good few more hours. It’s the longest wearing foundation I own. It’s luminous, but not overly so. It just looks so skin like.

You can get this foundation to a solid medium coverage, erring on full if you really build it. You can build it well, at my friend’s wedding the makeup artist put 2 full layers on me and it didn’t look heavy or cakey.

Luminous Silk has no discernible fragrance and is oil free.

This is not the most hydrating foundation I own, but it’s hydrating enough and that’s one of the reasons I think it works so well for all skin types. It has that perfect balance of hydration without being shiny. The texture is silky smooth and creamy. It applies very well with a brush or sponge and you have time to work with it.

Giorgio Armani recently expanded the shade range to 40 shades which is great! I haven’t been able to find a photo with all 40 shades, however, the photo belows shows most of them. It also shows the variations well. I sound like a broken record, but again we have lots of medium shades. It’s the only thing I can dock this foundation on because it’s almost perfect everywhere else.

Luminous Silk comes in a frosted glass bottle with a pump and plastic cap. This packaging is beautiful, it looks great on your dressing table! I have travelled all over the place and never had it leak. Of course it would be easier if it was plastic, but the cap is firmly on there and I’ve never had a problem travelling with it.

SCORES:

• Longevity: 5/5
• Buildability: 4/5
• Application: 5/5
• Shade range: 4/5
• Packaging: 5/5

TOTAL: 23/25

ONE MORE NOTABLE MENTION…

Shiseido Synchro Skin Self Refreshing Foundation – £39 from John Lewis

This foundation was in my Top 5 until the Estee Lauder Hydra Rescue came out. It’s a gorgeous foundation, fragrance free, lightweight and buildable. However, it doesn’t last quite as long as some of the foundations mentioned above. It also becomes slightly noticeable on the skin after 10 hours or so as it wears down. I do have to powder this foundation after 10-12 hours.

The finish is very natural, I would say a luminous matte. It never looks flat or lifeless, it blends pretty easily. It’s quite thick, but you have time to work with it.

You can get a solid medium coverage with this foundation. It doesn’t layer that well, it starts to look heavy if you put too much on. However, that first layer you put on? Seamless on the skin, it looks amazing.

I’m not sure on the whole “self refreshing” thing, I don’t really have any lines so I can’t say I’ve seen it magically refresh itself, but it is a great foundation. If Estee Lauder hadn’t released the Hydra rescue, this would have been in my Top 5 High End Foundations!

The shade range is pretty good too for Shiseido. There are 30 shades and they have done a pretty good job with having both lighter and deeper shades. There are 10 deep shades and the deepest is a really beautiful neutral deep.

The packaging is snazzy too – it’s a frosted glass bottle with a pump. However, the pump is in the lid and you twist to open. The issue I have is the fact once you’ve used it, you get leftover foundation on the end and then you twist to shut and there’s no lid to cover that up, it’s just there. Don’t love that!

SCORES:

• Longevity: 3.5/5
• Buildability: 3/5
• Application: 4/5
• Shade range: 4/5
• Packaging: 3.5/5

TOTAL: 18/25

That is it! My Top 5 High End Foundations, these 5 (ok 6) foundations are just amazing. I love them all for different reasons. They all give you that healthy glow everyone is after and are easy to work with. What high end foundations do you love?