Uh, Powder Foundations Are Actually Freaking Awesome (2024)

Who has the time to apply liquid foundation every morning?? You need something that you can swirl on in under 30 secs to curb shine and add coverage. Enter: powder foundations, a true game changer for anyone with low-maintenance needs. Powder foundations used to get a bad rap for making your face look chalky and lifeless. But the pressed powders of 2020 are lightweight, easy to blend, and completely natural looking, making their heavy, full-coverage cousins a distant bad memory. Rather than have you play a sad game of trial and error, though, we rounded up the 10 best powder foundations, below, that will revolutionize your makeup routine.

If you didn’t think you could get a bomb powder foundation for under $10, think again. This drugstore powder foundation wears just as well as prestige options and won’t leave you (or your skin) looking flat and dried out.

This powder foundation is the IRL version of the blur tool on FaceTune—the full-coverage, lightweight formula smooths out your skin, making your pores look teeny-tiny. Oh, and it won’t flake on you during the day.

Go ahead and layer on this powder foundation until you get your ideal level of coverage—it will neversettle into fine lines and creases or get cakey. Plus, it's packed with antioxidantsthat helphydrate your skin and protection it from free-radicals during the day.

Now that it's 2020, you no longer have to settle for matte foundations that feel like you're wearing pounds and pounds of makeup on your face. Say hello tothis matte powder foundation—itfeels suuuuper comfortable on your skin, giving you a full-coverage effect without the weight.

If you're dealing withuneven skin tone, breakouts,and excess oil, you need this mattifying powder foundation. Theformula relies on clay to absorb oil, Matrixyl 3000 (a wrinkle-fighting peptide) to smooth lines, and mineral pigments to give irritated skin a soothing layer of coverage.

This all-day shine fighter powder foundationoffers medium coverage that won’t make you look ashy or crepe-y, thanks to its dose of hydratingvitamin F esters and essential amino acids. A little goes a long way, so use a sponge (there’s one included) or foundation brush for a shine-free, flawless finish.

Oily skincan be both a bummer (potential acne) and a blessing (excess oil leads tofewer wrinkles!). But if you're not feeling the shine in your daily life, you canpress pause on the grease with this oil-absorbing powder foundation. Its ingredients list has also been derm-tested to be safe for acne—though, of course, everyone's skin is different—so you can brush and blend without fear.

You're going to be obsessed with this baked mineral powder from MAC, since it contains little pearlized pigments that leaveyour skinwith a natural, believable glow (don't worry—there's zero sparkle or shimmer, here). It’s also surprisingly lightweight, so you'll feel like I'm wearing absolutely nothing on my face—it looks 100 percent natural—which is rare to find in a powder foundation.

With a medium-to-full coverage finish (depending on how you layer it on), this powder foundation conceals virtually anything you don't feel like showing—zits, redness, your deepest secrets, etc.—without budging forup to 12 hours. And that, in my book, is pretty damn major.

If you're still completely terrified of looking like a chalk drawing when opting fora powder foundation, try this ultra-lightweight formula.It settles over your face like a sheer veilto help ward off shine and creasing all day long.