January 11, 2023
By: Ariel Wodarcyk | Makeup.com by L'Oréal
If you have dry skin, you’re probably always on the hunt for the best hydrating foundations. The wrong foundation formula can accentuate flaky patches and fine lines you didn’t even know you had, and can also quickly develop a cakey finish. The best foundations for dry skin offer up a dewy, seamless finish that looks like your skin but better. Some are full-coverage, and some are packed with skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid that help draw moisture into your skin. Read on for the best foundations for dry skin, with varying degrees of coverage and dewiness.
The Best Foundations for Dry Skin
Read on for our favorite foundation formulas for dry skin, from a $10 option from NYX Professional Makeup to a luxe serum-infused pick from Lancôme.
Best Full-Coverage Foundations for Dry Skin
YSL Beauty All Hours Foundation
A “luminous matte” finish may sound like an oxymoron, but that’s exactly what this liquid foundation provides. It’s not matte enough to look powdery or dry, but we wouldn’t call it glowy either — think a satin finish that looks natural yet still conceals every imperfection. The formula is waterproof, transfer-proof and packs hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid and jasmine petal.
Giorgio Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation
This makeup artist favorite gives dry skin a veil of airbrushed, buildable coverage. The oil-free formula blurs imperfections and provides a luminous, candlelit glow that lasts all day.
IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream Illumination Full-Coverage Foundation with SPF 50+
This powerhouse product acts as a full-coverage foundation, a broad-spectrum sunscreen and a hydrating, anti-aging serum in one tube. The flawless finish instantly covers imperfections, while the skincare ingredients work overtime to reduce redness and dark circles.
Best Dewy Foundations for Dry Skin
Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Care & Glow Foundation
This buzzy foundation offers buildable, medium coverage and the benefits of a hydrating serum in one bottle. Infused with SPF 27, it protects the skin while giving it a radiant glow. It contains hyaluronic acid to hydrate and mandelic acid to smooth, leaving a more even, hydrated complexion in its wake.
IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better Foundation + Skincare
Pumped with hyaluronic acid, soothing aloe vera extract and vitamins E and B5, the Your Skin But Better Foundation is a dry skin salvation. The cult-favorite formula has ingredients similar to what you would find in a good serum — only it delivers a medium-coverage finish in 40 shades.
Urban Decay Hydromaniac Tinted Glow Hydrator
Get 24 hours of hydration and a buildable, glowy finish with this luminizing foundation. Inside the skin-softening formula, you’ll find comforting marula oil and kombucha filtrate.
YSL Beauty NU Bare Look Tint
This option is technically a skin tint, but we’d be remiss not to include it in a lineup of products for dry skin. Infused with hyaluronic acid and brightening mallow, it perks up dull skin and delivers a dewy, barely there finish that’s perfect for no-makeup makeup days.
Giorgio Armani Beauty Neo Nude Foundation
The Giorgio Armani Beauty Neo Nude Foundation contains two humectants — hyaluronic acid and glycerin — to pull moisture from the air into your skin and keep from settling into fine lines or dry patches. It’s dewy, lightweight and keeps your skin looking hydrated and plump all day.
MAKEUP BY MARIO SurrealSkin Liquid Foundation
With grapeseed oil and squalane, this foundation hydrates skin and provides a glowy, luminous base. You can apply a light layer for sheer coverage or build it up for full glam coverage.
Kosas Revealer Foundation
Blur texture and smooth the look of pores with this medium-coverage, natural finish foundation. A co*cktail of skincare ingredients, including peptides, hyaluronic acid, squalane and vitamin B5, plump up and hydrate dry skin.
ROSE INC Skin Enhance Luminous Skin Tint Serum Foundation
Best for minimalist makeup days, this featherweight serum foundation provides sheer, natural-looking coverage and all-day hydration. It’s formulated with hydrating squalane and sodium hyaluronate, which visibly plumps up fine lines.
Tower 28 Beauty SunnyDays SPF 30 Tinted Sunscreen Foundation
If you’re tired of mineral sunscreens that feel heavy or leave a chalky cast, you’ll love this foundation-sunscreen combo. The dewy finish evens out dry skin without clinging to flaky patches.
ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 Foundation
More of a tinted serum than a foundation, this popular option protects skin with SPF 40 and deeply hydrates with a blend of squalane, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid.
NUDESTIX Tinted Cover Foundation
Get fresh, natural-looking coverage with this skin-softening foundation. The lightweight formula blurs imperfections while still looking like skin.
LYS Beauty Triple Fix Serum Foundation
For lightweight, light-to-medium coverage, reach for this serum-infused foundation. The clean formula is rich with antioxidants and skincare ingredients like ashwagandha, turmeric and hyaluronic acid.
Best Drugstore Foundations for Dry Skin
L'Oréal Paris Age Perfect Makeup 4-in-1 Tinted Face Balm Foundation
If you’re looking for a product that spreads on the skin like butter and offers light to medium coverage, try this balm foundation. It contains a firming serum that helps minimize the look of fine lines and has a lightweight consistency that melts into the skin. You can dab it on with your fingers, a brush or a sponge — however you choose to apply it, it’s a great go-to for minimal makeup days.
Maybelline New York Fit Me Dewy + Smooth Foundation
A drugstore classic, this SPF-infused foundation leaves a glow similar to one you would achieve from a quick walk outside on a warm day — not sweaty, just luminous. And it lasts, especially if you set key areas, like the T-zone, with powder.
L'Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Glow Foundation
Give dry skin a radiant pick-me-up with this glowy, long-lasting foundation. It stays put for 24 hours and smoothes imperfections with a luminous, medium coverage finish. We give this foundation bonus points for the inclusion of broad-spectrum SPF 15.
Maybelline New York Dream Radiant Liquid Hydrating Foundation
Formulated with hyaluronic acid and collagen, this liquid foundation instantly plumps and hydrates dry skin. Medium coverage evens out your skin without looking cakey.
L'Oréal Paris Infallible Fresh Wear 24HR Foundation
This foundation remains sweat- and transfer-proof all day, making it an element-proof pick for busy work days and long nights out. In addition to its long-wearing claims, it feels lightweight and breathable on the skin, contains SPF 25 and is non-comedogenic. Our editor with dry, sensitive skin swears by this pick for long-lasting coverage.
NYX Professional Makeup Born to Glow! Naturally Radiant Foundation
Give dry skin a lit-from-within radiance with this creamy, buildable coverage foundation. For only $10, it evens out skin and gives it a natural-looking glow.
ColourPop Pretty Fresh Hyaluronic Hydrating Foundation
Reviewers love this foundation for its lightweight feel and natural-looking coverage on dry skin. It glides on smoothly without emphasizing lines or dry patches, and hydrates skin with hyaluronic acid.
Photographer: Chaunte Vaughn
