The Best Foundations for Every Skin Tone
"Nude" is no longer one shade fits all. And 10 types of beige, sprinkled with a few colors on either end of the spectrum, does not an expansive range make. Since Fenty Beauty launched its foundation range in late 2017, with a whopping 40 shades across the gamut, it's set a new standard for what's considered inclusive. The movement—and sales—it spurred have brought to light the intricacies of what women want in base makeup. Our skin isn't only fair, light, medium, or dark—it could be one of several shades within those general categories. It's cool or warm or something else entirely, and its undertones can be anything from pink or golden to red or olive.
While a small handful of brands had been pushing for inclusion before Fenty came along, the tide seems to be turning, and it’s washing up a broader range of foundation shades from a growing number of makeup lines. That means not only a long-overdue (but still largely lacking) selection of darker hues, but more nuanced gradation throughout the scope of complexion colors too. But while it’s fantastic to have more options, the recent abundance of shades can also make it overwhelming to shop for and find your perfect foundation. That's why we’ve mapped out where our favorite brands really shine within the color spectrum.
1/6The Best Foundations for Fair Skin
Too Faced Born This Way Foundation, $39, toofaced.com
There was a time not so long ago where the fairest shade of any foundation line skewed pink by default—seemingly overlooking the fact that there are other undertones on the lightest end of the spectrum. The fairest shade of the oil-free, hydrating Born This Way, Swan, is refreshingly neutral, though there are several other fair shades in the range that address the needs of those with golden and, yes, pink undertones.Kat Von D Beauty Lock-It Foundation, $35, katvondbeauty.com
This full-coverage, no-touchups-needed option has an extensive range of 30 shades, but it’s a fan favorite for fair skin. Don't be thrown off by the fairest shade names being given numbers that start in the 40s and deemed Light—a term often reserved for a step darker than fair. The color 41 Light is not only the palest in the Lock-It line, it's also one of the palest on the entire foundation market.
2/6The Best Foundations for Light to Medium Skin
Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra-Longwear Foundation, $48, lauramercier.com
This range of weightless matte foundation really shines in the warm and neutral undertones, offering nearly a dozen lighter shades that feature supplementary codes to indicate where on the shade and undertone scale each one falls. (Ecru, a light beige with cool undertones, for example, is 2C1.)Revlon ColorStay Makeup, $13, ulta.com
Olive skin tones have lots of options in this affordable range of 23 shades, which come in combination/oily and dry-skin formulas. A longtime best-seller among drugstore long-wear foundations, it breaks down beige into five different variations—Sand Beige, Natural Beige, Medium Beige, Fresh Beige, and Golden Beige—to get the nuance just right.
3/6The Best Foundations for Medium Skin
Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick, $46, hourglasscosmetics.com
If you have a medium skin tone, you’ll be able to find multiple shades of this waterproof stick for not only foundation, but contour and highlight. Hourglass has nailed the small yet meaningful distinctions between mid-tone shades, leaving fans feeling like their formula has been personalized just for them.Huda Beauty #FauxFilter Foundation, $40, shophudabeauty.com
Huda Kattan has been open about her struggle to find a foundation for her "olive complexion with a very golden undertone," and that frustration led to creating a selection that takes a uniquely detailed look at undertones: considering more than just cool, neutral, and warm, and breaking them down into neutral, beige, golden, peach, rose, and red, as well as combinations.
4/6The Best Foundations for Medium to Dark Skin
NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation, $49, narscosmetics.com
NARS has always been a brown-girl fave, and now there’s even more nuance in the medium-to-dark range, totaling up to 10 shades. Special skin-matching technology makes it even easier to nail the ideal color, which won’t dry out and oxidize into something not-quite-right throughout the day.Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Weightless Foundation SPF 15, $46, bobbibrowncosmetics.com
Bobbi Brown has long been known as a trailblazer in the push for more inclusive complexion-makeup colors. The brand touts 16 medium-to-dark hues within this foundation range, all of which home in on highly specific aspects of skin tone, like coolness, undertone, and deepness.
5/6The Best Foundations for Dark Skin
Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H Long Wear Foundation, $47, lancome-usa.com
Before Lupita N'yongo joined the Lancôme family, the brand had about 20 foundations. Now it has 40, including one of the darkest shades around, 560 Suede C. (N'yongo wears the third-to-darkest 550 Suede C, which was created for her by Balanda Atis, manager of L’Oréal’s Multicultural Beauty Lab.) Its deepest shades have steadily become go-tos for women who never dreamed they'd be able to find not only a dark enough hue, but one that would also match.NYX Total Control Drop Foundation, $14, ulta.com
This recently expanded range was already a drugstore favorite for women of color due to several spot-on darker shades, which feel especially personalized thanks to a formula made to be fine-tuned for custom coverage.Iman Cosmetics Luxury Concealing Foundation, $16, amazon.com
Model Iman created her makeup line in 1994 after 18 years of mixing her own foundation shades on photo shoots. Her newest formula starts at deep tan and is beloved for its versatility, performing as both a full-coverage foundation and a concealer.
6/6The Most Inclusive Foundation Ranges
Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation, $8, ulta.com
This affordable option already impressively spanned the color spectrum with its original 24 shades, but the recent addition of 16 new hues—from Fair Porcelain to Espresso—welcomes women of even more skin tones to find their ideal base. It's proof that you don't need to spend a lot to meet your foundation needs.Fenty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation, $34, fentybeauty.com
It's impossible to talk inclusive without mentioning Rihanna. Her launch of Fenty Beauty and its range of 40 foundation shades not only set the bar for the beauty industry—it sold, putting to rest the idea that there isn't enough demand for expansive foundation ranges. The hues are the result of what Rihanna called "obsessive research," which clearly carried over into the matte, lightweight, filter-like formula.MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation, $29, maccosmetics.com
MAC has long been a go-to for women who couldn't find their colors anywhere else. With more than 50 shades, this powder foundation offers one of the most nuanced ranges out there, with widely fleshed-out variations of cool, neutral, neutral-cool, and neutral-warm colors, some of which, like shoes, come in half-shades, such as NC43.5.Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation, $43, makeupforever.com
Even if you think you know your shade of this practically undetectable foundation, Make Up For Ever encourages fans to get rematched now that the range has expanded to make an even deeper dive into the subtle differences in undertones. Like Fenty and Maybelline, it's got 40 shades total.
