As seen on the A/W catwalk by designers like Prada and Donna Karan the Autumn/Winter 2015 skin trend is all about Flawless luminosity, achieving glowing, fresh, dewy looking skin. So, expect the strobing trend to continue through until spring 2016. The key to the A/W trend is keeping the dewiness in the centre of the face pairing with creamy highlighters and creamy blushes on the cheeks. Having dewy radiant-looking skin is something that can be already natural for people with oily skin but we are talking dewy healthy looking skin here, not grease ball. Many of us with Oily/Combination skin feel as if we should only wear matte foundations, and yes many matte foundations are great for helping achieve the total opposite of oily and to mattify the skin. I personally find myself only wearing flawless matte foundations on nights out throughout the colder months, because in the summer i usually favor more sheer-light foundations so that my makeup doesn't slide off of my face. However i find my skin get dryer in the winter time too and matte foundations can cling to my dry patches, not a look i personally like. So i usually find myself gravitating towards satin or Demi-matte finishes. However this year i have decided to follow the years trend and thought i would share all of my foundation recommendations for helping to achieve that flawless dewy look that flatters oily/combination skin. I have also included setting powders which will be needed to help set the oily areas and prevent that unforgiving grease ball look....
YSL Youth Liberator
Despite having oily/combination skin the YSL Youth Liberator foundation is my favourite dewy foundation throughout the Autumn/Winter months and i have been reaching for it for three years now! It has a lightweight texture, which feels almost like a gel lotion consistency. The oil free formula applies smoothly and melts seamlessly into the skin making the skin look more plump and healthy. The formula provides buildable sheer to medium coverage and contains SPF20. It feels hydrating and not at all greasy providing a luminous satin finish that looks like your own skin but more radiant. Who doesn't like the idea of a skin beneficial serum and a foundation mixed together? The only downfalls to this foundation are the lack of colour choices and that it only wears around 5/6 hours, so i would not recommend this for people with really oily skin as it just wouldn't last. I mix a combination of BD40 and B30. The YSL Youth Liberator retails for £38 and is available to purchase from Boots. It retails for $69 in the USA and is available from Nordstrom.
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation
It was not love at first try with this foundation, i was expecting some kind of magical spell that would give me perfect looking skin, and i must say i was left feeling rather disappointed. However i persevered and after the fourth day of wearing the foundation and finding the right products that work well in conjunction with it (primer, powder and the infamous beauty blender), i fell in love and i found myself reaching for this foundation more than any of my others throughout September and October. The foundation is comfortable to wear and doesn't feel at all heavy on the skin. I like that the foundation is enriched with Vitamin C and anti-ageing benefits creating a youthful brightening effect to the skin. It does however need work blending into the skin and though the buffing brush is recommended i personally prefer a beauty blender, as it looks more natural. It is claimed to be full coverage but it is more like medium to buildable full coverage as my freckles still peek through, but it covers up any redness. I would say the foundation wears around 7/8 hours. The Charlotte Tilbury Magic foundation retails for £29.50 from Charlotte Tilbury and will be releasing in the USA March 2016 through Beautylish.
Diorskin Star Foundation
This was another foundation i didn't love until about the 3rd try. Initially it was the slight smell of paint or tip-ex that put me off, but i think it was from where it was new and sealed as the smell has since dissipated. The Diorstar foundation feels wonderfully soft and light while blending seamlessly into the skin. It has a satin slightly-dewy brightening finish and has buildable coverage without it looking too heavy. It is one of my all time favourite foundations. This works brilliant on normal to oily skin especially with a mattifying primer underneath and wears on me for around 7-8 hours. The Diorskin Star Foundation retails for £32.50 and is available to purchase from Debenhams. It retails for $50 in the USA and is available from Sephora.
Nars All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation
The Nars all day luminous weightless foundation is a super light consistency that leaves a flawless almost airbrushed look to the skin. It is long-wearing and oil free making it fantastic for oily skin, i wont go into great detail about this foundation as you can read my in depth review on this foundation here. Its very long-wearing and makes the skin look perfect, however it can cling to dry patches and feel like you have a layer of foundation on the face. I would recommend exfoliating well beforehand and using a pore filling/smoothing primer if you have large pores. The Nars all day Luminous Weightless foundation (what is it with these companies and long names? ) retails for £32 directly from Nars UK and Space NK. It retails for $48 in the USA and is available from Sephora.
Clarins Skin Illusion Foundation
A foundation that was love at first try. It was my first ever foundation by Clarins after years of using their skincare. The consistency is slightly on the thicker side and is somewhere in between a liquid and a cream meaning that a little goes a long way with this foundation. It is aimed at more Normal skin but if used with a mattifying primer and a setting powder i find this foundation beautiful on my skin. Now that i am in my thirties i find my under eyes are more dry with more fine lines and this foundation smooths over them. I love the smell of Clarins foundations it smells so fresh and reminds me of cucumbers. It is more medium coverage and wears around 6 hours. If you have more mature skin i would recommend this. The Clarins skin illusion foundation retails for £27.50 and is available from Boots. It retails for $40 in the USA and is available from Macy's.
Dior Airflash Foundation
Another of my all time favourites, it works beautifully alone or to add a flawless appearance over top of a sheer foundation. The Dior Airflash always leaves my skin with a blurred out perfectly flawless finish making it fantastic for photography. Photoshop who?.... I have airbrush in a can. I find the best way to apply this is by spraying it directly onto a brush ( a dense buffing brush ) and then buffing it into the skin, unless i am using it as a finishing spray then i spray it directly over my foundation ( about 20cm away and with my eyes closed of course ) and proceed to buff it into the skin lightly. It is extremely lightweight but it can look cakey if you do not exfoliate beforehand as it has a kind of a powder finish.
The Dior Airflash foundation retails for £33.50 and is available from John Lewis. It retails for $62 in the USA and is available from Sephora.
Now moving onto the Setting powders that help to keep oil at bay :....
Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
One of MAC's most infamous powders the mineralize skinfinish natural, a lightweight natural setting powder. It doesn't give much coverage which is what i like, it's a light powder that looks very natural on the skin. I find it doesn't help to combat oil at all though so i use a mattifying powder around my t-zone oily areas like my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. If you have extremely oily skin i would recommend that you try mixing powders also. I prefer to reach for this powder to wear over top of my more full-coverage foundations, like the MAC Studio Sculpt or the Becca Ultimate Coverage Complexion Creme. The Mac Skinfinish Natural powder retails for £24 and is available from MAC directly. It retails for $32 in the USA and is available from MAC also.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush
The Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless finish Skin Perfecting Micro Powder is one of the best powders on the market today. It is like the Dior Airflash foundation in powder form. It leaves the skin perfectly flawless looking almost airbrushed. The powder texture is extremely finely milled, therefor it does kick up a lot of dust and gets used up pretty quick. I am in the shade medium which is perfect for my MAC NC25-30 skin-tone and i have gone through two of these powders already in the past year, so that shows exactly how much i love it and use it. I do recommend exfoliating beforehand as i have found this powder to cling to dry patches at times. I highly recommend this powder over lightweight foundations and even alone with just moisturiser for a polished put-together natural look, due to the good colour pay-off. The Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless finish Skin Perfecting Micro Powder ( yes that is a long name ) retails for £33 and is available from CharlotteTilbury.com. It retails for $45 in the USA and is available from Beautylish.
Laura Geller Balance & Brighten Baked Color Correction Foundation
I invested in the Laura Geller foundation after i saw DulceCandy talking about it on her Youtube Channel and i totally agree that the baked mineralised foundation by Laura geller is so so pretty on the skin. I find that it applies best with a medium sized dense brush, to really work and buff it into the skin. It gives the skin a beautiful luminous and healthy, natural looking glow. However, I do find that it can make me oily so i use this to set a matte foundation to help to add a subtle healthy sheen over the top putting life back into my face. I mostly love this powder over top of my Kevyn Aucoin sensual skin enhancers ( when i use them for foundations ) they team beautifully together. I have the shade in medium and i find it perfect when i am a MAC NC30 but currently at a MAC NC25 i find that it is too dark, however the light shade she has looks too pale. I do wish that there were more colour options. The Laura Geller balance and brighten powder foundation is available from companies like QVC, Cult Beauty and House of Fraser it retails here in the UK between £26-28. It retails for $33 in the USA and is available from Ulta.
Hourglass Dim Light
Dim light is a finely milled powder that helps to mimic the lit-from-within glow of candlelight on the face. It helps to bring light and a subtle radiance to the face without looking cakey at all. I use this to set the center part of my face as it has no mattifying properties whatsoever and when used everywhere i would look a bit too shiny and start to look oily within a couple of hours. Hourglass make some of the most finely milled powders on the market i will have to take a look to see if they have any powdered foundations. The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light retails for £38 and can be found through SpaceNK here in the UK. It retails for $45 in the USA and can be purchased from Sephora.
I hope that if you have Oily/combination skin you find this post helpful and realise that you can still achieve that dewy glowing look with products that wont make you more oily.
These are some of the drugstore foundations i have been testing out over the past couple of months, so expect a best of drugstore foundation for oily combination skin on the blog soon...
Despite having oily/combination skin the YSL Youth Liberator foundation is my favourite dewy foundation throughout the Autumn/Winter months and i have been reaching for it for three years now! It has a lightweight texture, which feels almost like a gel lotion consistency. The oil free formula applies smoothly and melts seamlessly into the skin making the skin look more plump and healthy. The formula provides buildable sheer to medium coverage and contains SPF20. It feels hydrating and not at all greasy providing a luminous satin finish that looks like your own skin but more radiant. Who doesn't like the idea of a skin beneficial serum and a foundation mixed together? The only downfalls to this foundation are the lack of colour choices and that it only wears around 5/6 hours, so i would not recommend this for people with really oily skin as it just wouldn't last. I mix a combination of BD40 and B30. The YSL Youth Liberator retails for £38 and is available to purchase from Boots. It retails for $69 in the USA and is available from Nordstrom.
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation
It was not love at first try with this foundation, i was expecting some kind of magical spell that would give me perfect looking skin, and i must say i was left feeling rather disappointed. However i persevered and after the fourth day of wearing the foundation and finding the right products that work well in conjunction with it (primer, powder and the infamous beauty blender), i fell in love and i found myself reaching for this foundation more than any of my others throughout September and October. The foundation is comfortable to wear and doesn't feel at all heavy on the skin. I like that the foundation is enriched with Vitamin C and anti-ageing benefits creating a youthful brightening effect to the skin. It does however need work blending into the skin and though the buffing brush is recommended i personally prefer a beauty blender, as it looks more natural. It is claimed to be full coverage but it is more like medium to buildable full coverage as my freckles still peek through, but it covers up any redness. I would say the foundation wears around 7/8 hours. The Charlotte Tilbury Magic foundation retails for £29.50 from Charlotte Tilbury and will be releasing in the USA March 2016 through Beautylish.
Diorskin Star Foundation
This was another foundation i didn't love until about the 3rd try. Initially it was the slight smell of paint or tip-ex that put me off, but i think it was from where it was new and sealed as the smell has since dissipated. The Diorstar foundation feels wonderfully soft and light while blending seamlessly into the skin. It has a satin slightly-dewy brightening finish and has buildable coverage without it looking too heavy. It is one of my all time favourite foundations. This works brilliant on normal to oily skin especially with a mattifying primer underneath and wears on me for around 7-8 hours. The Diorskin Star Foundation retails for £32.50 and is available to purchase from Debenhams. It retails for $50 in the USA and is available from Sephora.
Nars All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation
The Nars all day luminous weightless foundation is a super light consistency that leaves a flawless almost airbrushed look to the skin. It is long-wearing and oil free making it fantastic for oily skin, i wont go into great detail about this foundation as you can read my in depth review on this foundation here. Its very long-wearing and makes the skin look perfect, however it can cling to dry patches and feel like you have a layer of foundation on the face. I would recommend exfoliating well beforehand and using a pore filling/smoothing primer if you have large pores. The Nars all day Luminous Weightless foundation (what is it with these companies and long names? ) retails for £32 directly from Nars UK and Space NK. It retails for $48 in the USA and is available from Sephora.
Clarins Skin Illusion Foundation
A foundation that was love at first try. It was my first ever foundation by Clarins after years of using their skincare. The consistency is slightly on the thicker side and is somewhere in between a liquid and a cream meaning that a little goes a long way with this foundation. It is aimed at more Normal skin but if used with a mattifying primer and a setting powder i find this foundation beautiful on my skin. Now that i am in my thirties i find my under eyes are more dry with more fine lines and this foundation smooths over them. I love the smell of Clarins foundations it smells so fresh and reminds me of cucumbers. It is more medium coverage and wears around 6 hours. If you have more mature skin i would recommend this. The Clarins skin illusion foundation retails for £27.50 and is available from Boots. It retails for $40 in the USA and is available from Macy's.
Dior Airflash Foundation
Another of my all time favourites, it works beautifully alone or to add a flawless appearance over top of a sheer foundation. The Dior Airflash always leaves my skin with a blurred out perfectly flawless finish making it fantastic for photography. Photoshop who?.... I have airbrush in a can. I find the best way to apply this is by spraying it directly onto a brush ( a dense buffing brush ) and then buffing it into the skin, unless i am using it as a finishing spray then i spray it directly over my foundation ( about 20cm away and with my eyes closed of course ) and proceed to buff it into the skin lightly. It is extremely lightweight but it can look cakey if you do not exfoliate beforehand as it has a kind of a powder finish.
The Dior Airflash foundation retails for £33.50 and is available from John Lewis. It retails for $62 in the USA and is available from Sephora.
Now moving onto the Setting powders that help to keep oil at bay :....
Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
One of MAC's most infamous powders the mineralize skinfinish natural, a lightweight natural setting powder. It doesn't give much coverage which is what i like, it's a light powder that looks very natural on the skin. I find it doesn't help to combat oil at all though so i use a mattifying powder around my t-zone oily areas like my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. If you have extremely oily skin i would recommend that you try mixing powders also. I prefer to reach for this powder to wear over top of my more full-coverage foundations, like the MAC Studio Sculpt or the Becca Ultimate Coverage Complexion Creme. The Mac Skinfinish Natural powder retails for £24 and is available from MAC directly. It retails for $32 in the USA and is available from MAC also.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush
The Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless finish Skin Perfecting Micro Powder is one of the best powders on the market today. It is like the Dior Airflash foundation in powder form. It leaves the skin perfectly flawless looking almost airbrushed. The powder texture is extremely finely milled, therefor it does kick up a lot of dust and gets used up pretty quick. I am in the shade medium which is perfect for my MAC NC25-30 skin-tone and i have gone through two of these powders already in the past year, so that shows exactly how much i love it and use it. I do recommend exfoliating beforehand as i have found this powder to cling to dry patches at times. I highly recommend this powder over lightweight foundations and even alone with just moisturiser for a polished put-together natural look, due to the good colour pay-off. The Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless finish Skin Perfecting Micro Powder ( yes that is a long name ) retails for £33 and is available from CharlotteTilbury.com. It retails for $45 in the USA and is available from Beautylish.
Laura Geller Balance & Brighten Baked Color Correction Foundation
I invested in the Laura Geller foundation after i saw DulceCandy talking about it on her Youtube Channel and i totally agree that the baked mineralised foundation by Laura geller is so so pretty on the skin. I find that it applies best with a medium sized dense brush, to really work and buff it into the skin. It gives the skin a beautiful luminous and healthy, natural looking glow. However, I do find that it can make me oily so i use this to set a matte foundation to help to add a subtle healthy sheen over the top putting life back into my face. I mostly love this powder over top of my Kevyn Aucoin sensual skin enhancers ( when i use them for foundations ) they team beautifully together. I have the shade in medium and i find it perfect when i am a MAC NC30 but currently at a MAC NC25 i find that it is too dark, however the light shade she has looks too pale. I do wish that there were more colour options. The Laura Geller balance and brighten powder foundation is available from companies like QVC, Cult Beauty and House of Fraser it retails here in the UK between £26-28. It retails for $33 in the USA and is available from Ulta.
Hourglass Dim Light
Dim light is a finely milled powder that helps to mimic the lit-from-within glow of candlelight on the face. It helps to bring light and a subtle radiance to the face without looking cakey at all. I use this to set the center part of my face as it has no mattifying properties whatsoever and when used everywhere i would look a bit too shiny and start to look oily within a couple of hours. Hourglass make some of the most finely milled powders on the market i will have to take a look to see if they have any powdered foundations. The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light retails for £38 and can be found through SpaceNK here in the UK. It retails for $45 in the USA and can be purchased from Sephora.
I hope that if you have Oily/combination skin you find this post helpful and realise that you can still achieve that dewy glowing look with products that wont make you more oily.
What are your Must have Dewy foundations and which powders do you like to set your foundation with?
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