If you have acne-prone skin, you have probably spent hours searching for the best foundation to cover acne, the best foundation for oily skin, or how to cover spots without your makeup looking cakey. Chances are, you’ve tried more than a few foundations along the way too.

I completely understand. As someone who struggled with acne for years, I wanted makeup that made me feel more confident without looking like I was wearing a mask. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I trained as a makeup artist before becoming a nutritional therapist. I spent years learning how to create coverage that looked natural whilst helping people feel more confident in their skin.

So, as someone who has been on this journey too, I’m here to tell you that it is possible to cover breakouts whilst still keeping your skin looking like skin.

Before we get into the products themselves, I think it’s important to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with using makeup to help cover blemishes and make yourself feel your best. At the same time, I always encourage people to work on addressing the underlying causes of their acne through the right skincare, nutrition and lifestyle support so they can achieve healthier skin in the long term. And that’s something we can actually do together in our 1:1 sessions.

A few of the products in this blog are not ones I would necessarily recommend using every single day. They’re products I reserve for special occasions because they help makeup last longer and create a more flawless finish, rather than actually give your skin any benefit. So whether you have a wedding, a night out, an important event, or simply want your makeup to stay put all day, these are the products I personally reach for. There’s no affiliate links here by the way, just genuine product recommendations

Start with Your Skin Prep

A good base makes all the difference when it comes to how your makeup looks and how long it lasts. I see a lot of tutorials that overload the skin with loads of skincare products and primers – I honestly think it’s just for views on social media, no one needs that many products, and it never actually looks good in real life. Less really is more when it comes to a flawless base that lasts all day. So let’s start with my favourite base products for oily and acne-prone skin.

Bioderma Sébium Pore Refiner

I use Bioderma Sébium Pore Refiner mainly on the areas where I tend to get oilier, mostly on my T-zone.

It helps blur the appearance of pores, control excess oil and mattify the skin. The result is a smoother canvas for foundation and better makeup longevity throughout the day. It does contain salicylic acid and mineral oil, which is why I would not personally use it every day. Instead, I save it for occasions when I really want my makeup to stay put and look its best.

Hourglass VANISH AIRBRUSH PRIMER

This primer is definitely more of an investment, but it is one of those products that genuinely lives up to the hype.

The Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Primer creates an incredibly smooth finish and somehow blurs your skin and really makes it look flawless. I tend to apply this across most of my face and then use the Bioderma Pore Refiner specifically through my T zone. But if you were to buy one product, you can use it everywhere.

It’s formulated with microspherical powders that help minimise the appearance of pores and fine lines while absorbing excess oil. And it will make your makeup last all day when you use it. One of the reasons I love it is that it is free from parabens, sulphates, alcohol, phthalates, talc, gluten and mineral oil – so it is something you can use on a daily basis if you really need to.

My Favourite Foundation for Acne-Prone Skin

When you’ve got acne you’re often told you need the fullest coverage foundation possible. And yes, while it can cover blemishes in the quickest and easiest way possible, a lot of people find that heavy foundations doesn’t feel great and draw even more attention to the skin.

Personally, I much prefer a foundation that looks like skin, so if you do too, keep reading!

Lisa Eldridge Seamless Skin Foundation

If I could recommend just one foundation for covering acne, this would be it. The Lisa Eldridge Seamless Skin Foundation offers buildable coverage, which means you can keep it light across most of the face and build additional coverage where you need it.

The shade range is also incredible. I have genuinely never had a foundation match my skin tone so perfectly – which helps the foundation live up to its seamless name, you literally can’t detect it on the skin. Although it works well for most skin types, I do love it for oilier skin because it has more of a matte/natural finish and is self-setting, meaning you often don’t really need much powder on top.

I wore this foundation on my sister’s wedding day and it photographed beautifully. It lasted all day, felt lightweight and made my skin look flawless without you being able to tell I had foundation on. Lisa created this with her red carpet clients in mind and you can honestly tell. It’s incredible. If your skin tends to be a bit drier or dehydrated, I’d recommend using the Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré underneath as a primer and moisturiser.

The formula is also free from fragrance, essential oils, alcohol and parabens. It’s cruelty-free and gluten-free too.

I don’t actually have any close-ups from my sister’s wedding to show you how it looked on the skin. But these photos are from another event – excuse the weird poses, but they’re the only photos I have where you can see how natural the foundation really is!

The Secret to Covering Acne Naturally is a Good Concealer.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is expecting the foundation to do all the work.

The reality is that a more natural-looking base usually comes from using a medium coverage foundation and then pinpoint covering blemishes with concealer. These are the concealers I’ve used for years and they’ve never let me down. They were the ones I’d use on my clients when I was working as a makeup artist too!

MAC Studio Finish Conceal and Correct Palette

If you are dealing with active breakouts, this is one of my favourite products.

The MAC Studio Finish Conceal & Correct palette contains full coverage concealers along with colour correcting shades, allowing you to customise your coverage depending on the type of blemish you are covering. For red spots, I would use the yellow-toned shades (the NC shades such as NC20 or NC25).

For post-inflammatory pigmentation that has started healing and appears more grey or cool-toned, the pink and peach-toned NW shades can help neutralise the discolouration. The creamy texture is very useful if you have any dry patches or healing scabs from picking your skin. Don’t worry, no judgement, I’m still bad for picking my skin so again, I know this concealer works on those areas.

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Complexion Perfector

If your skin is oilier, the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Complexion Perfector is another good option. It’s a great concealer to help cover acne. It used to be called Secret Camouflage Concealer, and for ages I couldn’t find it anywhere. I was so worried it had been discontinued and I couldn’t really find anything to replace it 100%, it really is the GOAT concealer (I think so anyway). So you can imagine how relieved I was to see it’s just been revamped and is back again.

Like the MAC palette, it contains colour correcting shades, but it dries down more effectively and tends to stay put on oilier areas of the skin – great for those big shiny spots that you think will never be covered!

Honestly, let the concealer do most of the work for you. I know it takes a little longer but the finish will have you feeling so much more confident if you don’t like that full coverage foundation feeling. And if you want to learn more about pinpoint concealing or makeup tips to cover acne in general, make sure you’re following my Instagram, TikTok or subscribe to my YouTube channel! Link here for a video on how to do it: Concealer Tips.

My Go-To Setting Powder

Once you have perfected your base, setting everything in place is key. There’s loads of good powders out there, but if I had to recommend one, it would be this.

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

Despite trying countless powders over the years, I always come back to this one.

The Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder is an ultra, finely-milled powder that helps to absorb oil and controls shine for up to 24 hours. It also doesn’t add any additional coverage to the skin so if you needed to, you could keep adding but you won’t really get shiny once you add this one.

I do like using a powder puff to gently press the powder into the skin, as this really helps to seal it in, and you’ll see that your skin starts to look even more blurred and perfect when you do this.

One very important tip – avoid sweeping or rubbing a brush across your face in places that you’ve concealed. This can easily rub off the concealer you’ve just spent ages applying and making look perfect. Pressing powder into the skin instead helps lock everything in place while maintaining coverage.

Those are my favourite base products! I’ll be writing more about other products I’m loving.