9 best lightweight foundations for sheer coverage and a natural glow

Is this the best version of It Cosmetics’ iconic CC cream so far? Very possibly. It was instant love from the very first application for our tester, which came thanks to the natural but healthy-looking glow it gave.

Beyond effortless to apply, it blended in seamlessly using a foundation brush and was the perfect shade match. It feels fresh and hydrating on skin, which is down to the added hyaluronic acid, while green tea extracts offers antioxidant protection against environmental damage.

It lasted exceptionally well from morning until night, and it worked to even out overall skin tone, even on slightly drier areas. We also found it didn’t sit in creases under or around the eyes.

Lightweight and easy to blend, this foundation created a flawless canvas super quickly and gave an impressive glow. It felt instantly hydrating, too, which comes thanks to raspberry extract and aloe vera. It has added SPF25 which is a nice bonus, but we’d always recommend wearing a separate sunscreen as well.

Our tester found that the hydration lasted and it didn’t go patchy in any areas that can often be prone to dryness as the day continues. It also felt lightweight and was easy to build up in areas requiring more coverage, too. Plus, it played well with the skincare applied underneath too, and applying both powder and cream products on top didn’t cause any issues with the final makeup looking flawless.

For the price, this product is extremely good and it is definitely on par with foundations that cost a lot more. In fact, we would recommend checking Kiko out generally as its price points across the board are very impressive and its products are of excellent quality.

As the originator of BB creams, it’s only right that Dr.Jart+ leads the way in next generation products. Despite only being available in four shades, the brand claims that it will stretch across a broad range of skin tones, making it more inclusive than it may initially seem. The formula itself combines skincare, makeup and sunscreen in one incredibly pleasing product. A joy to apply with either fingers or a brush, it blends quickly and feels both nourishing and moisturising.

The SPF50 is a welcome addition for our tester (although she did wear her regular sunscreen underneath as well), and the two per cent niacinamide and five per cent glycerin mean this really is an over-achiever in every sense. It lasted well, played nicely with our tester’s other make-up and it was the product that received the most compliments out of all of the ones tested.

Our tester was sold on this thanks to its name alone – what’s not to love about the sound of a “glowy super skin” product, right? Formulated with an impressive blend of hydration-boosting skincare ingredients, including hyaluronic acid, polyglutamic acid and glycerin, it offers medium-weight coverage that can easily be layered up if required. We wore it on one of the few sunny days we had last month and the lit-from-within glow was real – the perfect summer formula.

It feels incredibly lightweight, and we found it wore well throughout the day too. It worked better when we exclusively applied cream products over the top of it rather than powder, but it buffed into skin really nicely. The shade range is impressive too, with an equal amount of lighter and deeper shades across a good spectrum.

The excitement around the launch of Ilia in the UK last year was unlike anything our tester has ever experienced before, and it was this product that was at the centre of the hype. Luckily, that hype is justified and this serum-like skin tint is one of the greats.

While it does have an odd smell upon application, it dissipates quickly, so don’t let it put you off. It’s light but not watery like a traditional serum, and our tester found it actually applied better with fingers than a brush. It’s loaded with “active levels” of skincare, including two per cent niacinamide and seven per cent squalane, plus it offers antioxidant protection and has an SPF of 30.

It covered a couple of blemishes our tester had with minimal effort, and it wore well throughout the day. We did notice a little bit of patchiness around the nose after a few hours, but it easily blended out again.

In essence, this foundation is incredible. It was a long time coming from the namesake brand of Kim K’s makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic, but so worth it.

Lightweight but entirely buildable, skin remains looking and feeling like, well, your skin – just so much better. It blends flawlessly and seamlessly, and it really lasts well. You can just tell it’s been created by somebody who understands makeup, skin and what consumers want and need.

Our tester had it on from 8am until around midnight and it pretty much looked as good in the evening as it did when first applied. It’s hydrating and works just as well with creams as it does powders (we used powder bronzer followed by cream blusher) and we didn’t notice that it oxidised.

If you’re a full-coverage foundation wearer, listen up – and don’t dismiss this before you’ve tried it. The idea of a powder foundation feels a little bit retro, we know, but this modern formula isn’t like the sorts of products you might have tried previously. Incredibly comfortable and lightweight, it provides a full coverage finish almost instantly. It did take our tester a few attempts to apply it successfully and eventually realised it was best used when her skin was thoroughly hydrated, and she found it best using the sponge applicator that it comes with.

The powder itself is finely milled and feels light, and the soft matte finish isn’t flat at all. It did wear well but we found it needed a couple of touch-ups throughout the day around the hairline. While it’s not one that our tester would usually use day-to-day (mostly because she prefers a more glowy finish), she did find that it doubles up well as a setting powder.

A new iteration of the viral KVD foundation balm that took TikTok by storm in 2021, this liquid version also offers a full coverage finish but, in our tester’s opinion, is much easier to apply and wear. Available in an impressive 40 shades spanning a full spectrum of light to dark skin tones, it’s non-comedogenic so we didn’t have to worry about it clogging pores despite the heavy coverage.

Take this as your warning though: a little goes a seriously long way, so pump less than you think you’ll need because – as the age-old saying goes – it’s easier to add more than to take it away. We found less than half a pump was enough to cover our face, making the cost per wear pretty impressive, although it’s worth noting that we found that it dried down to more of a soft matte finish – something we didn’t expect from a serum foundation.

Our tester found that it wasn’t quite as long-lasting as some of the others tested, and if you’re somebody with naturally dry skin, it’s probably best avoided. The first time our tester tried it, she had some dryness and it clung a little bit to those patches. However, on second use we focused on hydrating skin prior to application and didn’t have any issues with dry patchiness.

It’s been a while since our tester has used a Laura Mercier foundation (for a long time her go-to was the iconic tinted moisturiser) but this one didn’t disappoint. We needed around five pumps to cover our whole face, and while it blended nicely, it did need a few minutes to dry down – we found it to be a little streaky so it’s better to stipple it into skin rather than brushing it. However, the colour match was pretty perfect, it felt velvety (but crucially, not like silicone) and it gave a subtle, healthy-looking glow.

As its name suggests, it really is weightless and it covered a couple of blemishes our tester had well without needing concealer. It was long-lasting, too, and didn’t require any touch-ups throughout the day, and the colour stayed true. However, in the future, we would like to see more darker shade options as there seems to be a disproportionately small amount on that end of the spectrum compared to the lighter ones.

Read the full Laura Mercier real flawless weightless perfecting foundation review