Are You Looking for a Way to Appear More Fresh and Rested?
The best dewy foundation is going to provide precisely that kind of look. It’s the type of makeup that gives your complexion a youthful, fresh, natural appearance of a flawlessly rested and moisturized skin.
The dewy formula finish uses natural oils that reflect light on the facial surface to create the desired radiance. It provides a lovely look, especially in well-lighted areas. Moreover, the best dewy foundation gives your complexion the vibrancy, necessary to appear youthful and fresh.
However, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, as there are too many skin types, conditions, and particular needs. We have curated a list of the best foundations for a dewy look to help you define and choose the best one for you.
So, shall we start?
The 10 Best Dewy Foundations
1. Skin Foundation SPF 15 by Bobbi Brown
Coming from one of the most beloved, established cosmetic brands in the market, this water-based, oil-free formula can nothing but deliver. It provides undetectable coverage enriched by a fresh, hydrated glow for the most natural skin-like finish.
This luxury, weightless, long-wearing foundation also hydrates, minimizes pores’ appearance, and conceals imperfections. On top of all, there’s broad-spectrum UV protection. The formula is easily buildable from light to medium, available in a wide range of shades for all skin tones.
The Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation is paraben-free, phthalate-free, sulfate-free, sulfite-free, gluten-free, and contains no animal-derived ingredients. The formula is ideal for normal to oily skin types, but suitable for anyone who wants a water-based, oil-free foundation.
One of the best foundations for the dewy look is so lightweight that it easily sinks into the skin within seconds, instantly helping to plump, moisturize, and boost skin’s glow.
Additionally, hydration power keeps your skin looking and feeling fresh, keeping the coverage stable all day, with a natural finish. This formula is enhanced with light-reflective optic ingredients to give skin natural luminosity.
2. Sheer Glow Foundation by Nars
The sheer, buildable foundation from Nars offers a natural-looking finish that flawlessly evens skin tone. It leaves your complexion hydrated, softer, and smoother.
Sheer Glow Foundation also improves the skin’s brightness and texture. It’s an ideal choice for the evening makeup, providing a satin appearance of the complexion with a natural, lightweight glow. Since it’s available in a global shade range of 40 shades, it’s easy to find a perfect skin tone match.
This formula intensely hydrates the skin with Glycerin, one of the provenly effective and well-known humectants. It works to attract and hold the moisture from the environment, preventing dryness, and ensuring all-day hydration.
Vitamin C derivative brightens your skin and diminishes the look of discoloration. This powerful antioxidant also protects against the damage caused by free radicals.
Last but not least, extract or Turmeric, a ginger family plant, improves skin radiance, and evens skin tone.
3. The Etherealist Skin Illuminating Foundation by Kevin Aucoin
This luxurious, moisture-packed foundation provides a lightweight, medium coverage with a natural, luminous, airbrushed finish.
The Etherealist Skin Illuminating Foundation delivers shine-free, comfortable wear. With the proprietary blend of ingredients, it boosts hydration while maintaining a healthy moisture barrier.
This foundation creates a cushiony feel and flawless appeal. It features high-definition pigments and light-diffusing particles that work together to perfect your skin’s appearance. The lightweight formula secures medium coverage with a natural semi-satin finish.
Related: check our article about best cushion foundations!
The Etherealist Skin Illuminating Foundation is available in 16 shades, allowing you to find an ideal match for your skin type. Also, it’s dermatologist tested and safe to use.
If you aim for a light, daily natural look, apply this foundation to the center of your face and blend outward. For an airbrushed finish, use a foundation brush.
4. Synchro Skin Glow Luminizing Fluid Foundation Spf 20 by Shiseido
With Synchro Skin Glow, it’s easy to achieve a lasting, natural-looking brilliant glow that lasts the whole day. This smart, hydrating foundation from the famous Japanese lab works with your skin’s condition to secure a dewy, shine-free glow.
Advanced Sensing Technology synchronizes with your skin’s tone and moisture levels throughout the day. As a result, your perfected complexion will never look cakey or develop dry patches. Additionally, all visible fine lines and the appearance of pores are reduced.
The Synchro Skin Glow provides buildable, sheer to medium coverage with a luminous finish. Like with all the best foundations for a dewy look, its texture is lightweight, serum-like, allowing you to feel like you’re wearing nothing at all.
This foundation contains a unique Super Bio-Moisture Network, which prevents an uneven finish caused by dryness and delivers 8-hour hydration. Other ingredients on the list include Argan Oil, Cranberry Seed Oil, and Yuzu Seed Extract to support this moisturizing effect. Finally, there is Wild Thyme Extract that provides powerful antioxidant benefits.
5. Double Wear Nude Water Fresh Makeup SPF 30 by Estee Lauder
The lightweight, water-light tinted fluid from Estee Lauder is a cult-favorite for a reason. This long-wear makeup moves comfortably with your skin, making it appear fresh, natural, healthy, and even-toned. In addition, you don’t feel it at all; it’s like having a bare face.
The formula includes a proprietary moisture complex of red fruit extracts, including watermelon, lychee seed, and apple. Consequently, the Double Wear Nude foundation takes care of your skin instead to just mask the imperfections. It will instantly and continuously hydrate from early morning to late at night.
Furthermore, this foundation is rich with SPF 30 and antioxidants. It creates an invisible shield to defend your skin against environmental damage from both UV rays and pollution.
A vast selection of shades provides a perfect match for all skin tones. For best results, don’t pour makeup but cover the opening with your finger instead, and flip the bottle upside down.
This way, you will get the right amount of foundation for light-to-medium coverage. If you want to build it more, repeat the process.
6. Skin Feels Good Foundation by Lancôme
The lightweight foundation from Lancôme is infused with antioxidants, hydrating, oil-free, with SPF 23. This formula is ideal for a “no makeup” look, as well as heavier ones like buildable and baked.
A large selection of warm undertones, olive undertones, neutral undertones, and cool undertones covers almost all skin types and colors. Skin Feels Good is available in 11 shades, suitable for all from normal to oily skin, or combination to dry skin.
Related: check our article about best powder foundations for dry skin!
The best foundation for dewy look will never clog your pores or aggravate sebum glands, and this one delivers.
This foundation is enriched with moringa seed and hyaluronic acid to nourish, hydrate, and protect. It locks-in moisture to secure all-day hydration. At the same time, it works to protect skin against free radicals and environmental pollutants.
Skin Feels Good’s oil-free formula leaves your complexion velvety smooth with a radiant glow.
7. Even Better Glow by Clinique
Even Better Glow from a world-renowned cosmetic brand works great for all skin types. Moreover, it comes in whooping 30 shades, to match virtually any skin undertone.
This foundation is dermatologist-developed. The formula aims to instantly perfect and improve your skin’s look, providing glow and natural radiance. The appearance of your skin’s texture immediately improves, while the lightweight fluid secures a spectacular, luminous finish.
A natural-looking radiance comes from subtle illuminating pigments featured in the formula. Alongside those, vitamins C and E help to create a brighter, more even-looking skin tone. Broad-spectrum SPF 15 helps to protect your face against dark spots, sun damage, and pollution.
Related: Best Illuminating Primers
Even Better Glow is rich in stay-true pigments that won’t change color once applied to your skin. It glides smoothly, non-streaking, and non-settling. As a result, you will get flawless, undetectable coverage, which is sweat and humidity-resistant.
The formula is suitable for all skin types. It’s non-comedogenic, ophthalmologist tested and appropriated for contact lens wearers.
8. Touché Eclat Le Taint by Yves Saint Laurent
The spectral radiance of Touché Éclat made it the most sought-after foundation by YSL Beauty. The improved formula provides more flawless coverage than ever while covering all signs of fatigue.
This luxurious weightless foundation delivers medium buildable coverage and a radiant, luminous finish. The liquid formula is suitable for all skin types, from dry and normal, to combination and oily.
Related: Best Foundations for Combination Skin
Enriched with the stimulating power of Ruscus Extract, it energizes skin by stimulating micro-circulation and targeting dullness. At the same time, vitamin E provides antioxidant benefits to combat free radicals and instantly improve skin brightness and luminosity. Finally, a blend of sunscreen ingredients delivers SPF 22 to ensure sun protection.
This formula is free of phthalates and mineral oil. It hydrates and protects your skin, leaving a weightless finish while offering eight hours of a refreshed, radiant look.
9. Makeup Infallible Pro-Glow Foundation by L’Oréal
Infallible pro glow foundation is lightweight and creamy, providing long-lasting medium-coverage that glides smoothly and finishes with a glow. The hydrating formula with SPF is ideal for normal to dry skin.
The Infallible foundation is professionally formulated to deliver an expertly polished look that lasts for hours.
This breakthrough long-wear makeup from L’Oréal allows the skin to breathe; therefore, it is suitable for wearing morning-to-night. Its oil absorbers resist sweat, water, and transfer while the ultra-thin liquid allows for smooth application. Additionally, the SPF blend of ingredients protects your face from all harmful elements.
The color stays true and blends in evenly, so your makeup looks fresh all day. For a professional touch, use a foundation brush or a blending sponge. As a result, this non-comedogenic formula will not pill or dry out your complexion.
Makeup Infallible is available in 30 colors and undertones to provide an ideal match to any skin hue.
10. LUX Liquid Foundation by BaeBlu
This vegan-friendly, gluten-free formula is made with natural, organic ingredients, featuring no artificial colors, preservatives, or fragrances. This cruelty-free makeup also doesn’t contain harsh chemicals, parabens, or pore-clogging ingredients.
Related: check our article about best cruelty-free foundations!
The advanced formula of the Lux Liquid foundation provides healthy, youthful, flawless skin. It glides and blends smoothly. As a result, you get balanced, non-greasy coverage and healthy-looking complexion.
New, upgraded packaging replaced original plastic bottles that could not recycle. Hence, the new bottles are eco-friendly, made with 100% recyclable materials.
BaeBlue foundation carries a certificate from the Leaping Bunny Program. This means it was never tested on animals or formulated with ingredients tested on animals.
The organic compound of Lux Liquid makes it suitable to use even on problematic skin. Acne scars, blemishes, Rosacea, dark circles, and sunspots will all disappear under the coverage.
Related: Best Foundations for Rosacea
Expert’s Answers For Readers’ Questions
A dewy finish foundation formula is rich in natural oils and humectants to reflect light and create radiance. Dewy looks are also often described as glowing, healthy, and luminous. Celebrities like this kind of finish, as it provides a starry, red-carpet glitzy appearance.
The dewy look requires proper preparation and a lot of moisturization to help your skin reflect the light. Make a sheen base with a primer. Use a highlighter, but try to skip the loose finishing powder. If necessary, use it only on your problematic, oily zones. Finally, a gel-cream blush in a warm color will add a pop of warmth, helping you look healthy and glowing.
The Best Dewy Foundation is Just One Step
To achieve flawless skin, you need more than just the proper makeup base and coverage. Your complexion must be healthy enough and not dry, dehydrated, or uneven. Otherwise, you might find yourself with the result quite the opposite to what you desired.
Adding a shine onto an oily skin can make it look greasy. In addition to selecting the best dewy foundation, it’s essential to cleanse regularly, exfoliate, and moisturize. Such good habits will help you to achieve the dewy look that looks great and lasts long.
In the end, with a bit of luck, your complexion might improve so much that a dewy look will become your natural one.
Joan S. Wilson is a lifelong makeup and skincare enthusiast. She used to work as a makeup artist for 5 years. Joan is always curious and wants to learn more when it comes to makeup and skincare. She tries her best to make other people’s skin health better. This is why Joan is so passionate about writing articles on beauty topics. She always looks for products that are high-quality, dermatologist-tested, and does that it says on the label. In every article, she shares her knowledge to make your life healthier and happier!