Top 6 Foundations for DRY Skin

Hey guys! How are ya today?  I was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers at Live Love Beauty Paradise to do my top foundations for my dry-skinned girls.  Before we dive into the details I thought I would go over some basics about my skin type, skin issues, and preferences in a foundation.  First of all, why do I feel like dry skin gets so little love and attention?  So many skincare and face makeup videos and blog posts I feel like are targeted for oily skin.  While I think in a lot of ways oily skin is harder to manage, I also think that dealing with skin as dry and sensitive as mine can be just as tricky.  Here are some of my deets:

• I have very, VERY dry skin-obviously
• Occasionally (especially closer to the spring and summer) I get oily on my nose and on my cheeks around my nose.
• On the flipside, during the winter and dryer months, I get really dry patches around my nose, jawline, and hairline around my forehead.
• I don't break out very often but when I do, I get cystic pimples on my chin that leave purple scars, and smaller, patchy acne around my cheeks.
• I have prominent redness on my cheeks close to my nose (along with decent sized pores) and vein-y redness between my jawline and cheekbones.
• My skin tone is very pale and pink.  I'm usually the lightest color in EVERY founbdation-so I guess that makes it a little easier to find "the right" shade.
• I usually go for luminous/dewey finish foundations that have a solid medium coverage. However, I pretty much never use a setting powder so I like foundations that set relatively quickly, and are long-wearing on their own.

Alright I think that's everything, let's get started.

1) Loreal True Match Lumi

*I wear the shade: N1-2*

$12

This has been my favorite drugstore foundation for a long time.  I first tried this when I was a senior in high school (when it was brand new) and was so surprised by how much I loved it.  It gives such a beautiful luminous finish that isn't super shiny, but rather makes you look like you're glowing from within.  The only problems I have with this are that the color is slightly too dark for my pale times, and the staying power isn't there unless you set it with a powder-which I don't like doing.

2) Revlon Colorstay Whipped

*My "summer" color is 220 "Sand Beige"*

$12

If you've ever tried this before, you know how fun it is to play with.  The whipped texture of this is interesting because it's not airy, it's actually really dense.  As you can imagine, this kind of texture works really well with dry skin.  It's not drying at all, doesn't feel thick on the skin, and even seems moisturizing.  This finish on this is natural, not dewey, and is very VERY long lasting.  I mean, this doesn't budge or transfer, and because of that, I think oily skin can pull this off as long as you set it.  The only negative thing I have to say about this is that it's unsanitary.  I just dig it out with a q-tip and move on.

3) Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous

*I wear the lightest shade-"Ivory"*

$10

I've already raved about this on my blog before so I won't rave too much more here.  I will say that this seems like a better foundation for oily skin, but it works really well for me as long as I'm keeping up with my moisturizing and skin care.  This dries demi-matte, doesn't budge, and the color is a perfect match.  It's great for transitioning between seasons!

4) Rimmel Lasting Finish 

*I wear shade "True Ivory" (the lightest one, yet again)*

$7

This is a pretty recent purchase for me.  It's a relaunch of the original formula in the tube (you know, the one EmilyNoel83 always raved about?) that is now in a beautiful, pain in the ass glass bottle.  Besides the packaging and pretty restricted shade selection, I really like this.  This is the perfect combination of the lumi and outlast foundations.  It's moisturizing, has medium-full coverage, very long wearing, and smells like roses (forewarning: the scent is pretty strong).

5) Makeup Forever HD 

*I wear shade 110 "Pink Porcelain"*

$43

I have to say that the number one winning factor of this foundation is that this color is the number one best match I have ever found (that also doesn't oxidize).  This foundation has medium coverage with a FLAWLESS natural finish.  This somehow covers all my redness and imperfections while somehow letting my freckles and skin show through.  This is a miracle in a bottle.  I only have gone through samples and have decided I will take the plunge and get it when I have money.

6) MAC Studio Sculpt

*I wear NC15*

$32

I got a sample of this by a suggestion from my friend who said that this is a dream for dry skin.  I have to agree, although I've only tried a sample.  When you first apply this, it has the same coverage as MUFE, but with a more satin-ey finish (which probably could be attributed to its gel-like consistency).  The only reason I would prefer the MUFE slightly over this one is that the color isn't as good a match (NC has yellow undertones, but NW15 is too dark), and this breaks down and gets oily much easier around my T-zone.

If you've made it this far, thanks for sticking with me!  I hope this helped some of you dryer people out there!  Let me know what your favorite foundations are for your skin type in the comments!

Have a beautiful day~