Let's Play A Game...aka help me find a good foundation

[Escapefromfundiedom]

Okay ladies...I've been lurking here for awhile and figured some of you may be able to help my current beauty predicament. I have some major, career-significant events to go to in the next month where there will likely be a lot of photography and a lot of long hours on my feet with not a lot of time or space to touch up my makeup. I need to look fab both in person and on camera (video and still) with as little maintenance as possible. Tall orders right?

Here's the deal: I'm under 35 (over 30 ;-)), super sleep deprived (4 kids and a career will do that to you), and my skin cannot decide if it wants to behave like a teenager or a menopausal woman (thanks breastfeeding and weight loss). Things I struggle with:

• Large pores (thanks, Dad)
• Increasingly visible lines around my eyes +  on my forehead
• Weird skintone...not light, not dark, not olive...patches of redness
• Melasma on my upper lip (thanks pregnancy)
• DARK circles undereye
• Skin sensitivity (to products mostly, but sometimes to foods or who knows what)

My current daily (or when I go out) beauty routine is to use Andalou Naturals Age Defying Perfecting Beauty Balm as my moisturizer/SPF/Foundation, followed sometimes by transluscent powder (bare minerals) depending on how oily I am that day, a little swish and sweep of bronzer and blush color from my Pacifica Beauty Solar Complete Color Palette (love!!), some eyeshadow (usually from the same palette), a little eyeliner and mascara. Lips are always just lipbalm or gloss...I usually hate the way lipstick looks and feels on my lips. I am pretty low-effort with makeup normally and feel like a total rookie when I go into places like Sephora.
 

I am mainly looking for the right foundation. I need something that will minimize pores, stay put for the day, not look too heavy in person, look good on camera and...probably most important, won't SINK IN to all my lines, wrinkles and pores and look funky.

So far I've tried with ZERO luck:

• NYX Drop Foundation
• No.7 Airbrush Away Foundation (loved that this felt like not wearing makeup, but sunk into my pores and lines pretty fast and looked nasty after 4 hrs of wear)
• Maybelline Fit Me Dewy+Smooth
• Clinique Even Better Glow Light Reflecting Foundation (drying AF)
• Mac Pro Nourishing Longwear waterproof foundation (HATED it! turned orange in an hr, felt like a truck full of cement on my face)...

So you can see where I might be starting to feel discouraged about options. I need help! Share your wisdom FJ Makeup Gurus! I prefer dewy/glowing finish to matte (which makes me look tired and old and feels dry). Am I looking for something that doesn't exist? I'm willing to drop a decent amount of money for the right stuff and I have a little less than two weeks to my first event to play around (and wait for online order deliveries because my chances of getting to the mall more than once are slim). Thank you thank you thank you in advance!

 

[louisa05]

Dior Star. Stays on, is not too matte, but not too shiny and has really good coverage. I have weirdly sensitive skin as well and no problems with Dior foundations. 

Apply with a beauty blender rather than fingers or a traditional sponge. 

[Alicja]

to minimize pores, i'd suggest using a silicone-based primer or one that says "pore-minimizing". silicone will "fill" your pores and create a smooth surface to work with. primer will also help your foundation stay put. Using a powder will help it stay put also. NARS Sheer Glow is popular, the coverage is sheer but it's buildable and it has a nice, natural finish. I like L'Oreal True Match Lumi as well, but the shade range isn't great. MAC Face and Body doesn't have great coverage (like, barely any at all), but it has a super, super dewy finish and is very moisturizing. The good thing about the coverage is that I can use a generous amount of concealer without looking too cakey. It leaves my skin looking plump and fresh, but I do have to powder or I look like an oil slick. Face and Body's shade range is okay, but I'm pretty pale so I need to purchase the white mixer shade in order to use it again  

I would also suggest a concealer in case foundation isn't giving you the coverage you want. NARS Radiant Creamy is very popular, but I also really like NYX HD wand concealer. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind is a popular drugstore concealer as well. 

If you're buying a drugstore foundation and aren't sure what shade to get, Temptalia's Foundation Matrix is a God-send. It'll help match you up with your shade in a wide variety of foundations and concealers!

ETA: I use either a Real Techniques blending sponge or a stippling brush to apply my foundation, and use the sponge to blend concealer. I like the RT sponge more than the Beauty Blender because it's a lot smoother and softer and I find I get a better finish. 

[Pretzel]

Real Techniques is awesome! 

I heard great things about the ArtDeco foundations, too. And btw, you should never use foundation without a primer. Priming is the most important part of wearing foundation. I like moisturizing primers and silicone based ones. There are correcting primers with a touch of green to correct redness or pimples, but I'm not the biggest fan. I use correcting colors on the specific spot only. Silicone based primers are great but I wouldn't use them every day. I feel like if you tend to have larger pores, they get clogged more easily no matter how well you take off your make up. Every skin needs moisturizing and as someone with combination skin, I prefer hydrating primers above all. 

[Suz8710]

One of my favorite primers is Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I also really like Bare Minerals Original Prime Time. I agree with other posters - primers really do make a difference in how foundation looks on your skin. It's also helped me with preventing foundation from oxidizing.

[Pretzel]

5 minutes ago, Suz8710 said:

One of my favorite primers is Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I also really like Bare Minerals Original Prime Time. I agree with other posters - primers really do make a difference in how foundation looks on your skin. It's also helped me with preventing foundation from oxidizing.

Oxidizing foundation is the worst. That's why I would always recommend testing any foundation on your skin before buying the whole bottle or tube. 

[QuiverDance]

Makeup Forever Ultra HD!

https://www.makeupforever.com/us/en-us/make-up/face/foundation/ultra-hd?sku=7288&CAWELAID=120034560000001184&gclid=CjwKCAjw9qfZBRA5EiwAiq0AbZft8uk2PRPzQMNGh_e1JGmjNuElRCnEbF3tIBuqUbNbIVEOkw-q2xoClwsQAvD_BwE