20 Best Foundations For Dark Skin (2023 Updated)

I bought this on a whim because Tarte changed the formula for my favorite foundation and I can’t stand it anymore. I went with Nars since I love their concealer. I am SO glad I did! First of all, the consistency is nice.

It’s a liquid consistency, unlike most full coverage foundations that come in a thick paste that feels heavy on the skin. little bit goes a LONG way and it feels nice and light on. I don’t even feel the need to use concealer on bright red blemishes and acne scars anymore, because it’s a true full coverage (without looking cakey) foundation.

Better yet, my skin looks totally naturally clear when I wear this! It has a natural matte finish, I always put setting powder over foundation to mattify but sometimes since using this I forget to use powder because my skin has the perfect finish.

I can apply my powder bronzer, blush, and highlight right on top without prepping with some kind of powder. The variety of colors is also great, I found a color that matched my skin perfectly, I do wish the shades were named the same as the concealer tho to take some of the guesswork out of matching them up lol.

I have pretty acne prone skin, but this hasn’t broken me out at all, I know it’s not labeled as non comedogenic, I believe there are a few pore clogging ingredients, but they haven’t irritated my skin at all like something coconut derived might.

If you’re acne prone you may be fine with this one as I am, and many products break me out. Keep in mind I prime my face with a non comedogenic physical SPF before using. I mentioned it doesn’t cake either, typical foundation will cake up in creases like around my nose, and the buildup will lead to acne, this doesn’t happen with this one! It doesn’t transfer to my mask at all throughout the day, and after a long day of singing in my mask at work, the foundation looks good as new.

Most foundations come off after a long day of singing because of all the moisture that gets trapped in the mask, 10/10 buy this now!!!.

I had really high hopes for this foundation. It seemed to be many people’s “holy grail” and the online support recommended it based on my wants/needs. My go-to foundation for years has been the Lancome Teint Idole.

I still like it – I just wanted a change and was hoping to get something even a few dollars less expensive because the Teint Idole has gone up almost $15 in the time I’ve used it. Anyway, I honestly don’t know how people can use this product.

First, I have to fight with it every morning to even get it to spread across my face. It’s thick and streaky and has added at least 10 minutes to my routine as I attempt to smooth it out and stretches to every part of my face.

I’ve used a brush, a beauty blender, and even a drugstore triangle sponge to get a good result and nothing really works. I don’t like to use my fingers, so I do what I can with a brush now and once I get though my entire routine, the overall look of the skin is passable.

I will say that at that point, it looks decent and has good staying power. Next, when I purchased this foundation, I also got the NARS creamy concealer, which I also understood to be a “holy grail” product.

I like to put my concealer / highlight on top of my foundation. It’s impossible with this foundation. Both products lift off the skin when I try to blend. Luckily, my contour doesn’t do the same thing.

But it does seem to be a problem with the foundation and not the concealer (which I don’t love anyway). I’m stubborn, so I’ve continued to use this product, but I’ve finally cracked and bought a drugstore brand until I’m ready to splurge on something new or go back to Lancome.

Still my holy grail. USE YOUR FINGERS TO BLEND and TAKE THE TIME TO FIND THE RIGHT SHADE. I have dry skin but I’m also extremely active so I sweat on my nose sometimes throughout the day/night. I’ll go on a bike ride then head to the beach or a concert, and this sits beautifully on my skin even after slightly sweating on my nose.

My main love is that I can apply a little more under my eyes and it completely reduces inflammation or a “tired” look. It has a pulling effect that I cannot find in any other products besides Huda’s foundation stick.

I’ve also figured out my perfect match to make this blend naturally and stay on for almost 24 hours! I use Nars tinted moisturizer first. Then apply Nars Soft Matte foundation on top. It still feels light for full coverage and I only use an extra amount under my eyes.

I don’t like setting spray or finishing powder. I also bought one shade lighter for when my tan fades, which allows me to apply both shades to certain areas for a more natural look. I struggle with melasma and this full coverage hits the mark for me.

Love love love it!.

When I tell you I am obsessed with foundation, I am not exaggerating. I’ve tried so many, high end and drugstore. My last holy grail was Nars Radiant Long Wear in Punjab. The one thing I noticed was that I could use a little and get full coverage, it always felt like it just would sit on top of my skin.

I have never considered Bobbi Brown before, not sure why, but I found a good match W-046, for light medium skin with yellow undertones. The finish is beautiful! I use Elf Jelly pop primer first. I then first tried to apply it with a brush, it didn’t look good.

I then tried a sponge, as that is what I use with my Nars. That took away the coverage. So, I tried my fingers, and that was the trick! I apply with my hands then I build up with a dry beauty blender by tapping/stippling it on my skin.

It’s medium coverage and builds to full. It takes a little bit for it to dry down, but not where it feels like it’s sitting on your skin. I use Bare Minerals compact mineral veil setting powder in Medium Sheer over it.

It wears long for me, didn’t look like it was that dry matte look, it was natural matt, but still radiant, but not dewy. This feels just like skin, for the coverage I get, I can’t believe it feels so light.

It’s a creamy foundation too, not watery. I didn’t look dull in it, it didn’t settle into lines, or exaggerate pores. I purposely avoid the luminous face products because it seem to exaggerate my texture, which is very light acne scaring.

This foundation does a great job at not drawing attention to it, I mostly have scaring on one cheek. I absolutely recommend this to everyone with a similar skin type as mine.

I’m 27 with good skin but with some visible exhaustion and medium (unfortunately visible) pores. Ive used Chanel foundations since I was in high school, then recently switched to Nars when my working mom exhaustion made my skin look a bit dull.

It didn’t help the issue at all. I finally found my match when I switched to Bobbi brown. I’d already used their priming moisturizer and lip gloss, and was pleased to see that I love the foundation just as much (if not more) than my fave Bobbi products.

My skin looks instantly youthful and brilliant – I’m also quite happy with the color spectrum they offer! If anyone were to ever drop the bottle, then post a repulsive photo of themselves bleeding from it, my recommendation would be to take better care of your products.

The glass bottle only adds to the awesome experience of this product, as long as you aren’t sloppy with it or trying to play catch with it. I can’t imagine why anyone would ever purchase a product for their face that comes out of a plastic bottle, but that’s just me! 10/10 would recommend! I think I’ve found the perfect foundation.

I have always struggled finding a good matte foundation becuz I’ve always been VERYYY oily my whole life but this is the one. I’ve never had a foundation match my skin tone so naturally. The foundation rlly stops me from having my face rlly oily (I’m very VERY oily).

What I love about it is that it rlly stops me from being oily for a long time, I wear it to work (8 hours) and by the end of those eight hours my face is still a TINY bit oily but this is the best foundation becuz other foundations (fenty/ urban decay/Clinique) have always gave me leaving work with a very oily face.

And did I mention it’s very light weight…. Like VERY. Out of all the foundations/tints I’ve ever worn…. this is the lightest. (I’ve worn foundation for almost 10 years now) I also struggle with acne and pimple scars and it doesn’t have full FULL coverage but it is very buildable.

And I love how it has spf so that it also helps with the acne scars. Honestly my new go-to foundation for a long time. It’s light, somewhat full coverage, matte and matte FOR REAL and the finishing looks very VERY natural.

I really hopes this helps my peeps struggling with oily face or acne scar ppl.

I usually use MakeUp Forever HD foundation, or Dior. TarteAmazonian Clay or TooFaced Born This Way. I have combination (mainly dry) skin. I honestly don’t ever wear too much makeup, but sometimes I want a nice medium to full coverage foundation for going out or weddings.

Are usually wear BB creamsI got this foundation at fenwicks and have been using it for few months From the weather my skin has been pretty dry, but I do use a moisturizer/primer, and it helps a little bit.

Overall I notice that this foundation literally comes off after a few hours of wearing it. I’m touching my face right now and the makeup is practically falling off lol. I do feel that this foundation does transfer a lot and you have to do use a lot of face powder or setting power or even bake.

it can feel a bit cakey when using a brush to blend So I mainly use a beauty blender however the make-up artist on the counter said that you need to use fingers to blend in this foundation because of the heat of your fingers helps the foundation This still has amazing coverage and good finish, but idk, guess it depends on your skin type.

Only looks good on me for the first few hours. I definitely prefer TooFaced. I’d still recommend this product depending on the skin type/types of primers you use. Finally I think the best way to use this foundation is to mix it with HUDA beauty faux filter.

So i was really excited to try a Nars product because I’ve heard they’re one of the best foundations out there. Ummmmm. I’m really trying to like it. I haven’t quite figured out what the special sauce is to make it look good and stay put.

I have oily skin so i usually start with a matte oil control moisturizer. But i feel like that combination almost makes this foundation peel its sooooo matte. But only like for 2 hours. it slides a lot for my taste.

Then i started leaving off the moisturizer and applying it different ways to make the coverage even. Fingertips a no go. it dried and was almost impossible to blend within seconds. Foundation brush left streaks which dried funny.

the best application method by far is a damp beauty blender sponge. It gives the foundation just enough moisture to blend and dries quick enough to add another touch up layer if needed. I have bad acne scarring and i was pretty happy with the coverage.

It covers the scars without caking like Dermablend. All in all i like the product. Other reviews say it’s runny. It’s all true. Shake it really well. it still will be runny. Point the pump away from clothes and only depress halfway so you can control it.

I love this nars foundation. It is my favorite out of the brand’s variety of choices to choose from. If I want a luminous look this is definitely my go to foundation because it applies to my skin like a dream.

When applying it I will prep my face with my usual moisturizer, primer, then after applying my foundation finish with concealer, setting powder, bronzer, blush, and then setting spray. It always goes on evenly, and is buildable if you wish to have an extra layer to cover up any small blemishes.

After applying my usual routine of cosmetics everyday, I will honestly say my makeup always looks like a luminous, dewy, glow to my skin. I have never had any complaints about the nars luminous foundation.

Also, no matter what type of skin I have at the time when using this foundation (combination, oily, dry, or sensitive) it has never given me any issues. If you are looking to try a nars foundation , I recommend definitely trying it.

You can go to sephora, they will give you a sample for 10 days to try before you buy, and you can see if you like it. Out of all the varieties of foundation choices for nars this will always be my holy grail go to.

so this foundatino was my first ever fuller coverage nice foundation. i had the bella terra bb cream, and have had some drugstore ones but decided treat mfing TREAT MYSELF and bought this. the shade was pretty well matched at the store but it tendend to wash me out.

nothing to do with the foundation, just a sort of wrong match. my biggest gripe with this foundation is the wear time. i wanted a medium-full coverage foundation that wouldnt break me out and would keep me looking bomb af all day.

while this does have that effect when it has been first applied, it doesn’t stay looking flawless. i tried every application technique i could think of: just a brush, just a beauty blender, brsuh and blender, brush and stippling, hands and brush, hands and beauty blender, primer, no primer, all nighter setting spray, nyx matte setting spray, loose powder, pressed powder, letting everything sit and settled before applying, applying right away.

you get the idea. no matter WHAT i did, this foundation settled into my pores in the least flattering way. while it tended to look amazing, without having a touch up kit it was super difficult. and i would argue that with a foundation at this price you shouldn’t need to touch up every hour.

also, i tend to have drier acne prone skin. this is NOT HYDRATING AT ALL. my skin would get uncomfortably dry and it would wear terribly. wearing a mask with this was a DEATH SENTENCE. it totally destroyed the foudnation.

it was oxidization proof and transfer proof which was a huge plus, but it broke up in the least flattering way i can think of. if you live somewhere that doesn’t require masks or can constantly touch up your makeup, this is for you.

i wanted to love this product so so so badly, but no matter what I did it never got the effect that i was going for. despite everything, i still think that it is a good product. im in-between recommending it and not recommending it but i think i will because of how good the formula is.

Everytime I go to Sephora, the young ladies recommend this foundation for long wearing and full coverage. While I personally think the price is a big high, I am willing to pay if the foundation lives up to what is claims.

I love the jar, long and sleek. I love the logo and the color range is quite fantastic for me being olive/yellowish skintone. I am super oily, but dehydrated. On application, this foundation is high medium/low full coverage foundation.

I can get a great color match compared to my holy grail Estee Lauder Double Wear. This also has more coverage. My dark spots and hyperpigmentation was easy to cover and I dabbed a bit more on those spots that required more coverage.

I used a brush and I will say I do love the look of this foundation on my skin. I powdered with my Too Faced Peach Perfect powder and on initial application, I was truly thinking this would be my new holy grail.

It looked fantastic with a radiance that really made my skin look healthy and youthful. At 2 hours, I was really looking shiny. At 4 hours, the foundation was coming off my face and it was transferring to everything.

Even dabbing with a sponge did not improve the look. For the price, this should last longer on the face. It is going back. PRO: great coverage CON: not long lasting, pricey.

I bought this off the Fenty Beauty site because it was half off, and the original Soft Matte really didn’t work for me, but the color match wasn’t bad. I got shade 145, but since I can’t review that shade, I chose the 480 option.

I have combination skin that gets very oily on my forehead and t-zone, and I have some dry patches on my cheeks. This foundation might be one of if not THE WORST foundation I’ve ever tried. It never fully blended down and remained streaky, even with both brush and sponge.

It pilled on itself at my temples and made this gross gunky line. It separated on my forehead and melted down onto my eyebrows, making my brow hair look gross. But the worst part was how horribly it clung to ANY dryness.

It emphasized dryness I didn’t even know I had?? It straight up made the corners of my mouth and my chin CRUSTY. I was actually laughing because of how bad I looked–you know how in deserts, the parched ground cracks in large patches, with a flaky top layer of dirt? Yeah, my skin looked like that.

I tried to save it with Romand’s blurring powder (made it even worse, lol) and Iconic London’s Prep Set Glow spray, which helped a little, but even then the way it looked was so much worse than any other foundation I had ever put on my face.

I don’t understand what kind of skin type this is made for. The Soft Matte was too drying on my skin and emphasized my dry patches too, but this “Hydrating” one was far worse at that. I can’t imagine this looking good on someone who has dry skin everywhere, but then how would it look good on someone with oily skin when it separated so bad? I am confused.

Clearly it works for some people, and that’s great, but. how? I don’t think I’m going to try Fenty complexion products in the future, since both foundations were fails for me. Thanks for the sand golem look and the laughs tho.

I am not sure why more shades aren’t showing up for me to review, so I just had to pick one to write this. I purchased this in a very neutral, fair shade- one of the lighter options offered. I appreciate what Fenty has done as a whole for makeup so I decided to try this out when my usual foundation was not available in-store one day, and truly, this is the absolute worst foundation I have ever used.

I had to make an account just to write this review. It is just awful. Please do not ever buy this, I gave one star because that’s the lowest I could rate it. My skin has never looked worse. It does not blend at all and it makes sure you can see every single dry bit of skin or every wrinkle.

Even if I did manage to get it to look somewhat decent upon application, within about an hour all of it was just disintegrating off my face and getting patchy, like visibly patchy. Since I have been using this for about a week or two, my face has broken out in the worst acne I have had since I was a teenager.

I look like a monster and am embarrassed to show my face in public, truly. I am trying to use it up because I hate the thought of wasting a whole product and my money, but it’s really hard. Wearing it is just a terrible experience and I cannot wait to be able to use literally any other foundation.

I will say, I did not have this bad of an experience with the original Fenty foundation, so stick to that one if you like the brand, but please, whatever you do in your life, do not buy this. You will regret it.

This foundation is so finicky for me! Some days it looks good, other days it looks bad. I still have not found a way to set this foundation so that it doesn’t crease or get patchy. It may have to do with the fact that’s it’s a “clean formula” I noticed a similar texture to another clean foundation as well.

First off, I love the light powdery smell! I wish it was made into a body lotion lol. Second, the shade match is perfect and looks great at first but then starts to crease. Since the foundation is very moisturizing, it can easily lift and streak.

It definitely needs to be set and dried with a setting spray and powder, otherwise it will start to crease and settle in every fine line and wrinkle if the foundation still has any moisture left in it.

However once set and dry, it can tend to look patchy and cling onto any dry areas of the skin. The original soft matte foundation which I prefer, seems to have a similar finish but fuller coverage and dries and sets almost instantly compared to this one which seems to never dry.

I always find this such a tricky one, as I know so many people love this foundation and it works really well for them. I just find there’s just something about it that doesn’t work for my skin. I have oily / combo skin and I don’t find that it is long lasting nor helps with oil control – I find that for me I end up quite oily after a few hours wear as it’s very hydrating.

I also have a lot of redness so I like a full coverage foundation that can cover that up, but also be sheered out in other areas. I definitely find this to be more of a medium coverage on me. With all that said, I can see why some may like it.

If you’re less oily or have normal / dry skin I think this would be lovely. The hydrating elements would be great for some people, and I could see it being one of those foundations that gets better the longer you wear it.

Equally if you prefer a medium coverage – this would be a great one to try.

I’m always cautious when it comes to concealers, especially as everyone I meet who wears it seems to look flawless, but when it comes to me it’s a completely different story! Being of a “certain age” now, under the eyes is always a concern, I don’t want anything to accentuate the fine lines that are there.

Anyway. back to this product: the applicator is great, unusual in that it has a little reservoir on one side to hold the product and a very fine tip for precision application. After the initial swipe with the applicator, I tend to use my finger to dab it on and blend.

It’s very effective and actually does last all day. It seems to ‘set’ in place, but still moves with my skin. I didn’t find it settled into my creases massively either. After a minute or so of application, I gave it another dab over with my finger and that seemed to blend any little areas further.

Overall a really good product and I would probably buy it again.

Sorry about the long post I just wanted to share where my love affair with Lancôme began✨TEINT IDOLE ULTRA✨ my go to foundation for when I want a full coverage look! For years I have struggled with sensitive skin most foundations would make my skin breakout straight away!!! I would pay makeup artists to do my makeup for a special occasion and before lunch I would see the bumps appearing 🙉 7 years ago as my wedding was approaching I went on the lookout for the perfect foundation for my big day I was on every blog looking up reviews getting samples of foundations and testing them out for the day when I came across Lancôme teint idole ultra! I was SO impressed when the lady from the counter applied it to my skin it was flawless! Covered all my imperfections and had a gorgeous matte finish that I really needed as my skin was quite oily at the time! When it passed the test of withstanding the day without breaking me out I went back to purchase my first bottle (first of many) contacted my makeup artist to let her know I had purchased a certain foundation that I needed her to use for my big day only for her to say ‘omg I love that foundation and use it regularly on my clients it is so beautiful’ Ever since that day it has remained my go-to foundation for special occasions and events 😍😍♥️ it lasts SO well and always get comments and regularly asked what foundation I use! Another thing I really love is at the end of the day is easily removed with the help of my clarasonic which I feel like is really important as so many that I tried was so thick and hard to remove which I hate in a foundation as someone who usually wears a light coverage.

If you haven’t tried it yet I totally recommend you do ♥️✨.

Been wearing this for a few days in the colour Vienna. When I put it on my skin in the morning, its full coverage that gives my skin a beautiful glow without looking greasy. I don’t like the bottle as there is no pump and a little difficult to get the foundation out of the small top.

However, after 5-6 hours the foundation oxides SO BADLY and the colour turns very orange and looks greasy. Unlike other foundations I have used I can dab at my face with tissue, and it will remove the oil without removing the foundation which is good- but I don’t really want to look like a greaseball in the first place- especially when I put powder on before.

I wont be buying this again but I will use the rest of the bottle for when I am going out for short periods. PROS: Initially a beautiful finish, non drying, non cakey, full coverage, no scent, non-transferable.

CONS: Expensive, oxides into orange, SUPER greasy after 5-6 hours, creases in lines, no pump.

I was super excited to try this foundation! It was a little difficult to match because I don’t use the brands that they had listed, so I took my best guess. It was super light on me and did not match at all.

I get it, it’s hard to match when you can’t test it out in person (stores still won’t let you do it in person because of COVID). However, the rest my experience with this was terrible. Any time I would touch any part of my face when I was applying the rest of my makeup, the foundation came off! It also wouldn’t stick in areas under my eyes.

I went to wash it off with my makeup remover pad (just cloth & H20) and then things went further down hill. It wasn’t coming off and just starting sliding all over my face and smearing everywhere. It was like when you try to wash latex paint off with water.

It took twenty minutes of scrubbing to get it to finally come off. I reached out to customer service and asked them if this had ever happened before. It took five days to get a response. Basically, very dry response and said that dehydrated skin could have caused the issue (I use moisturizer twice a day) and they weren’t familiar with my cleansing pad and just told me to use a good soap.

A cloth and water should have been enough to remove a good portion of it, then followed by a good soap would have done the trick. Absolutely. That’s not what happened. So I asked if I could get some help matching it to a better shade so I could exchange it and try again.

They said their policy is all sales are final. This is extremely disappointing. First of all, it is not like we can walk into a store and get the shade matched to us because they don’t allow that since COVID.

Plus, not all Ultas have this foundation. The Ulta in my town has very few of these items. I was willing to overlook the issues with application and removal because maybe it was reacting to something else on my skin (moisturizer, toner, etc) no problem.

But it’s not right to not allow any kind of exchange for a better match to your skin tone! Especially if it has to be done online!! So now I’m just out this money and can’t even use the product. This was such a bad experience, I don’t know if I’ll ever buy from Beauty Bakery again.

Which breaks my heart because I have loved everything else I have tried.

I have dry skin in the winter and some fine lines around my nose/under-eye, which this foundation does settle into + really accentuates any flakes. It’s super full coverage so I’ve been mixing it with moisturizer to make a more medium coverage situation that wears much nicer.

When I first put it on it felt like it accentuated every bump, hair, and imperfection on my skin, but it does settle in, and I’d recommend a good setting powder. Also, pale friends be careful! I have very fair skin.

In most lines I wear the lightest shade, so I went for it here, too, but it is paler than pale! It matches my neck, but not my face or scalp. I don’t mind a super pale face in winter and it’s great if you’re into a more goth look.

I do think this is a beautiful foundation but doesn’t jive with my skin type, unfortunately.

I bought this foundation after seeing it a bunch online and was really excited to try it. I prepped and primed my face like I do with my normal foundation, (except this time I used the baking oil by this brand) and applied this with the blending egg by beauty bakerie and was left with a horrible streaky mess.

I tried a dry egg, a damp egg, a brush, even my fingers and NOTHING blended this foundation out evenly. It became patchy very fast and just overall didn’t cover anything. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt and try the insta bake concealer also, but that just made it worse.

If you’re looking for full coverage and something blendable, try Juvias place. I’d go with literally anything but this foundation. It’s a waste of money and I’ll be returning it.