The Best Foundation on the Market Is Only $50 Leave a comment

I have always been a makeup person. When I was younger, I was a competitive dancer, and when we would get ready for competitions, shows, or recitals, we got to wear makeup for the performance. This was my introduction to makeup. Ever since I did my makeup in the dressing room before going onstage for my dance studio’s production of The Nutcracker, I’ve been hooked. The product that I’ve always cared the most about is foundation. After all, that is the base of your makeup look and the number one thing that can really throw your glam off. If the foundation isn’t the right shade, doesn’t blend well with your skin, isn’t full coverage enough, or is too full coverage, you may as well throw the whole makeup look away. Having the right foundation is key. Just like a building’s foundation, it’s the most important part because everything else falls apart without it. 

For my own personal journey with foundation, I had a few hurdles to overcome. 

First of all, I’m biracial, so finding a foundation that is my exact shade without being too orange or too gray has proven to be extremely difficult. However, I refuse to purchase two different shades and mix them together, as it’s important to me to shop beauty brands with a wide shade range and inclusivity in mind. When I find a brand that doesn’t have a shade for me, rather than giving them double the money for two products I have to mix together, I move on to a brand that values customers who look like me. Second, I struggle with acne scarring and discoloration, so I need a foundation that covers imperfections but still looks like skin. Lastly, I have oily skin, so I also need to make sure that the product is mattifying and glowy while not being too dewy so that my face isn’t an oily mess by lunchtime.

This was a lot to ask of one foundation, but I was determined to find one that checked all of my boxes, and luckily for me, I found it. Somewhere along the way while testing every long-wear foundation under the sun, I tried Nars’s Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation in the shade Tahoe and fell head over heels in love. That was it. I had found the foundation that I was going to be wearing for the rest of time.