Building new foundations

Until Glamzilla’s clip, Laura Mercier had been most well known for its Caviar Stick Eye Shadow, Translucent Loose Setting Powder and Honey Bath Body Wash. The near-30-year-old beauty brand is much-loved by many a make-up fan, so it wasn’t all too surprising to see the Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Foundation shoot to fame on social media.

Thanks to the platforms’ power, however, you’ll need good luck if you’ve been looking to buy the Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Foundation: although it comes in 32 shades, a lot of them are sold out online. Designed to “blur the lines between make-up and skin”, the product promises a weightless appearance which airbrushes pores, fine lines and any other imperfections. (If only beauty marketing teams would stop trying to cram every buzz word going into product names to capitalise on social media algorithms, then everything would be perfect in the beauty world.)

Setting aside that it’s one of the longest foundation names ever, the product also promises to improve skin tone and texture in a long-wearing (12 hours) formula, controlling oil while also improving hydration and being humidity/sweat/waterproof.

The latest Laura Mercier foundation boasts high-resolution pigments to enliven the complexion with less product for highly perfecting, cake-free coverage. Meanwhile, blurring bamboo silk powders and a hydro-lipid matrix help balance moisture and shine control, maintaining skin’s optimal state for a healthy-looking, natural finish that lasts all day.

An antioxidant-rich formula of camellia seed, vitamin E and cacao extract all help to defend against premature aging and protect skin from damage caused by environmental and blue-light stressors.

However, if this viral complexion product (which also has a companion concealer — the not surprisingly named Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Concealer, £28.50) is sold out, there are other foundations to try.

The other viral foundation

Before Laura Mercier’s RFWPF, there was (2) Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs Triclone Skin Tech Foundation (£45), an award-winning, high-performance, “clean” foundation, available in an impressive 51 shades, infused with fermented arnica that helps reduce redness. Suitable for all skin types, including sensitive and acne-prone, it offers medium, buildable coverage in a dewy finish. Haus Labs advises to shake the bottle well before application and to apply by blending onto clean, moisturised skin using a brush, fingertips or a beauty sponge. Promising coverage that feels weightless, and just like the Laura Mercier option, it’s a skincare/makeup hybrid, boasting 20-plus skincare ingredients.

The silicone-free option

Scrolling through TikTok videos on the Laura Mercier RFWPF, chances are you’ll find it compared to (3) Nars Light Reflecting Foundation (£32). This innovative blend of makeup and skincare instantly blurs imperfections, smooths the look of textured skin and helps conceal blemishes, dark spots and redness. Nars claims that it visibly improves skin’s clarity after six weeks of daily use, even after makeup is removed.

Powered by advanced skincare ingredients that help defend against environmental aggressors and blue light, it immediately strengthens the skin’s barrier to help maintain its moisture. Suitable for most skin types, including sensitive skin, it offers medium, buildable coverage with a natural finish. The tagline for this foundation, of which there are 36 shades, is that it “acts like skincare; feels light as air”. This is a great option for those who don’t like silicones in their foundations, or know that their skin can’t tolerate them.

The iconic one

Perhaps the foundation that has garnered the most industry awards and accolades over the years, (4) Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation (£45) is a catwalk make-up artist favourite since it launched in 2000. Available in 40 shades, the product’s texture is, as the name suggests, silky and fluid. The formula of the foundation is inspired by the fashion house’s well-loved fabric charmeuse silk. There’s a refined radiance in the formula thanks to its micro-fil technology, which not only helps to give an overall brightening effect and blur out blemishes, but does so without feeling like you’ve got anything on your skin. The formula also has glycerin but is oil free, although it does contain alcohol, which some people find to be irritating on the skin.

The MUA one

Created by renowned MUA Lisa Eldridge under her eponymous brand, the (5) Seamless Skin Foundation is intelligently formulated, skin friendly, long-lasting foundation has a customisable medium coverage that can be dialled up or down. Self setting, it blends effortlessly to smooth and unify skin with a noticeable soft focus effect. The long-wearing formula contains a natural mesh-like ingredient which completely fuses with skin after blending. The final finish is neither dewy or flat matte but something soft and skin-like in between. A vegan formula, it’s also free from alcohol, parabens, talc, fragrance, essential oils, Nylon 12, micro plastics, SPF, D6 and D5.

The affordable choice

(6) L’Oréal Paris True Match Liquid Foundation, £9.99 is one of the most lauded foundations available at a wallet-friendly price point. The formula provides perfect, natural and true-to-skin coverage. Recently reformulated with a new skin-matching technology, which includes up to six different pigments for a more precise match it has around 50 shades, enriched with hyaluronic acid. The formula provides up to 24-hour hydration, while improving skin quality in two weeks.