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The best foundation for aging skin

by Aaron|March 23, 2024
Dear LovelySkin: What is the Best Foundation for Aging Skin?

If you’ve been wearing the same foundation for what feels like forever, it’s probably time to consider a switch. Makeup formulations have come a long way in recent years, and there are various formulas out there that provide coverage with a natural-looking finish and also offer beneficial ingredients for mature skin. When shopping for the best foundation for aging skin, there are specific things you’ll want to look for. Follow along as we share our best tips, including:

Foundation for aging skin: What to look for

When it comes to picking the best foundation for aging skin, there are some things you should keep an eye out for to make sure your skin looks and feels its best.

If you have mature skin that struggles with dehydration, you might benefit from a foundation with hydrating ingredients, such as glycerin, hyaluronic acid or aloe vera. These ingredients can temporarily plump the skin, which helps fine lines look less noticeable. Formulas with emollient ingredients, such as shea butter or jojoba oil, can also help moisturize skin that tends toward the dry side. A foundation formula with silicone-based ingredients, such as dimethicone, can also help create a smooth finish, making them a great choice for mature skin.

If camouflaging skin imperfections, such as scarring, dark spots or discoloration, is a major concern of yours, the best foundation for aging skin will provide medium-coverage to full-coverage. A full-coverage foundation has more highly concentrated pigment to help disguise discoloration and uneven skin tone from bruising and dark undereye circles to dark spots and freckling as a result of cumulative sun exposure.

If you aren’t concerned with camouflaging discoloration, a foundation or tinted moisturizer with sheer coverage might be more your speed. Some formulas even offer anti-aging benefits thanks to the addition of broad-spectrum sunscreen and active ingredients like peptides or vitamins.

You may have heard the best foundation for aging skin is always a liquid foundation versus powder, but that’s a somewhat outdated philosophy when it comes to makeup for mature skin. “There are so many great mineral-based powder makeups out there—jane iredale, Colorescience and others—and liquid ones as well, such as Oxygenetix, that are superb and offer options for coverage, so there really is no hard and fast rule,” says board-certified dermatologist and LovelySkin CEO Dr. Joel Schlessinger.

The best foundations for aging skin: 7 recommendations

That brings us back to the million-dollar question: What is the best foundation for aging skin? Here are seven foundations we love for mature skin:

Glo Skin Beauty Luminous Liquid Foundation SPF 18

Glo Skin Beauty Luminous Liquid Foundation SPF 18

With hydrating glycerin and dimethicone, this liquid foundation glides on for a smooth application and flawless finish. It offers sheer to medium coverage to help disguise uneven skin tone and other imperfections while still letting the natural beauty of your skin shine through. It contains vitamins C and E for an anti-aging antioxidant boost and also both mineral and chemical sunscreens (octinoxate and titanium dioxide) for SPF 18 sun protection. Light-diffusing particles also help leave your skin with a luminous finish.

jane iredale PurePressed Base

jane iredale PurePressed Base

A jane iredale bestseller and must-have favorite of founder Jane Iredale herself, Pure Pressed Base is a mineral foundation that combines concealer, foundation and sunscreen in one step. Made with micronized minerals that create a natural semi-matte finish and can build from sheer to full coverage, this creamy pressed-powder formula doesn’t settle into lines or look cakey like traditional powders. Ingredients such as pomegranate and pine bark extracts provide antioxidant protection while titanium dioxide and zinc oxide provide SPF 20 sun protection. To reduce landfill waste, the Pure Pressed Base comes with a reusable mirrored compact with refillable powder wells you can pop out and replace when they’re empty.

Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Aqua Foundation

Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Aqua Foundation

This new foundation from Koh Gen Do works well on all skin types, including mature skin. It has a serum-like texture that provides sheer to medium coverage and dries to a natural dewy finish. Three signature ingredients help make this foundation especially unique. First, Moist Drop Powder helps hydrate skin by absorbing moisture. Next, Koh Gen Do’s signature T3 oil—a blend of shea butter, olive squalane and jojoba oil—helps provide a smooth, soft finish. Lastly, the brand’s proprietary Gloss Film Powder provides water-resistance for all-day wear and color correction to help achieve a more even skin tone.

Revision Skincare Intellishade Tinted Moisturizer SPF 45

Revision Skincare Intellishade Tinted Moisturizer SPF 45

A favorite of LovelySkin co-founder Nancy Schlessinger, Revision Skincare’s Intellishade is a unique tinted moisturizer that contains more than twenty anti-aging ingredients, making it an excellent foundation choice for aging skin. It provides sheer coverage to help reduce the appearance of redness, dark spots and discoloration and dries to a soft, natural finish. A blend of effective sunscreens—zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, octisalate and octinoxate—provide SPF 45 broad-spectrum sun protection while a trio of peptides helps smooth fine lines and wrinkles over time.

Oxygenetix Oxygenating Foundation

Oxygenetix Oxygenating Foundation

This innovative formula is great for all skin types, but it’s one of the best foundations for aging skin thanks to aloe and Ceravitae, a patented complex that helps support the skin’s moisture barrier to help maintain healthy levels of hydration. “I recommend this foundation to my patients with conditions such as rosacea, eczema and psoriasis because it provides coverage while still allowing skin to breathe,” Dr. Schlessinger says. It comes in a wide variety of shades from fair to deep, making it easy for you to find just the right match.

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics Liquid Mineral Foundation

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics Liquid Mineral Foundation

A blend of innovative silicones and skin-soothing ingredients such as green tea extract give this liquid foundation its silk texture, making it a dream to apply. It features grapefruit extract for a firming effect and naturally derived ocean minerals to help hydrate skin, making it one of the best foundations for aging skin that’s lacking in moisture. If you struggle with redness, you’ll also appreciate that this foundation contains calendula flower and magnolia bark extract to help reduce inflammation and calm redness.

Laura Geller Baked Balance-n-Brighten Color Correcting Foundation

Laura Geller Baked Balance-n-Brighten Color Correcting Foundation

Another brand that’s busting powder foundation myths, Laura Geller has become a favorite in the makeup world. This powder-based foundation is one of our recommendations for the best foundation for aging skin because of its unique blended pigment that’s created by baking liquid pigment on terracotta tiles in Italy until it becomes a lightweight powder. It provides light to medium coverage that blurs imperfections while letting the beauty of your skin show through.

Do your hands deserve some TLC? You can learn more about the best anti-aging hand creams to help improve crepey skin, dark spots, brittle nails and more on the LovelySkin Blog.

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About the Author

Aaron serves as Editor at LovelySkin. Since graduating from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2016 with degrees in Creative Writing and English, he has immersed himself in the beauty industry. When he’s not writing about the latest beauty trends, he spends time cuddling his dogs, scouring antique stores, playing tennis and hiking.

Other Posts by Aaron

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