Holy Grail Foundations for Mature Skin to Hide the Deepest Lines and Wrinkles (2024)

We updated this article in February 2023 to ensure all picks tested and vetted by the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab were available, in stock and correctly priced. We replaced the Imani Cosmetics Foundation Stick with Make Up For Ever HD Skin Foundation as we recently tested this product and the former was low in stock.

Your skin changes as you get older, and so should your foundation. While you may have battled acne or oily skin in your 20s, you're more likely to be dealing with dark spots, wrinkles and fine lines in your 40s, 50s, 60s and over. Overall, "your goal should be radiant, glowing skin," says Erica Whelan, a makeup artist in New York City and Los Angeles. Seek out foundation formulas that are "not drying and light, fresh and sheer, with youth-enhancing ingredients when possible," suggests Birgitte Philippides, a makeup artist in New York City.

The Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab is constantly testing the latest foundation formulas, including foundations for oily skin, foundations for dry skin, full coverage foundations and of course, bases for mature skin. They range in formula from liquid, powder, stick, mineral and cream and are evaluated by Lab experts and professional makeup artists on factors like formula quality, application, finish and look and feel on skin. GH Beauty Lab scientists then tally hundred of data points to find the best foundations for mature skin on the market.

Our top picks:

At the end of this guide you'll find more information on how we test as well as pro tips on how to apply foundation on mature skin and what to look for when shopping. Check out the best anti-aging wrinkle creams and best concealers for before and after foundation.

Infused with 10 botanical oils and plumping hyaluronic acid, the GH Beauty Lab test-winning IT Cosmetics tinted cream goes on like a moisturizer, leaving skin soft and glowy. It’s also packed with SPF 50 to protect your face from the sun — the best anti-aging defense of all! It beat 29 other foundations the Beauty Lab’s test and earned the only perfect score for smooth-looking coverage. Makeup artist evaluators found it was one of the best formulas for mature skin.

Created especially for mature skin, this Good Housekeeping Seal star serum foundation from L’Oréal Paris effectively perfects, hydrates and protects skin with a high level SPF. In studies, 83% of women said the lightweight, radiant finish formula doesn't settle into lines or wrinkles and it improved skin hydration eight hours after application thanks to moisturizers like hyaluronic acid.

This Lancôme tinted moisturizer with hyaluronic acid feels like a silky, rich cream on skin, not makeup and is one of GH's beauty director's go-to picks. “It provides the perfect amount of coverage, hiding spots and discoloration without settling into lines or caking, and gives skin a natural-looking youthful glow,” she explains.

With Olay moisturizer swirled right in, this CoverGirl cream compact foundation is the ultimate product for a one-step face. While some cream formulas can feel heavy and cakey, this GH Seal star and Beauty Award winner is lightweight while still offering great coverage. It’s even pigmented enough to double as a concealer. GH Beauty Lab pros like that it feels velvety and blends flawlessly, and the packaging makes it great for keeping in your bag for on-the-go touch-ups.

A GH Beauty Award winner and Good Housekeeping Seal star, Mary Kay’s creamy medium- to full-coverage foundation delivers hydrating and anti-aging effects via ingredients like softening vitamin E, radiance-enhancing niacinamide and smoothing peptides. In a study, over 90% of testers found that it smoothed the look of lines after one week of use and gave skin a luminous finish instantly, per Lab analysis.

When we tested this best-seller in our Lab, it lived up to it's name receiving top scores for leaving skin smooth, spreading easily, absorbing quickly and blending easily. "The name 'HD skin undetectable' is fitting because the foundation has a very light, fresh texture and undetectable feeling on skin," says Chiara Butler, Beauty, Health & Sustainability Lab Reviews Analyst. Testers love that it lasts all day and is buildable. Most were able to cover acne scars although some had to use concealer. "Fantastic product, feels luxurious, light but good coverag," adds Senior Chemist Danusia Wnek.

Giorgio Armani's luxurious foundation balm glides over skin to give full satiny coverage that blurs pores, redness, spots and uneven texture. "This formula really hides everything yet feels silky on skin," GH's beauty director says. Plus, the compact comes with an applicator sponge and a mirror for touch-ups on the go.

GH Beauty Lab senior chemist Sabina Wizemann likes Chantecaille's unique gel-like formula because it won’t settle into fine lines and wrinkles and leaves a fresh, natural-looking finish. The foundation is sheer, but evens out skin tone and is easily buildable if you prefer a more full-coverage look or need to cover a blemish or age spot. While it feels like a creamy skincare product, it’s not tacky or too shiny.

Another of Wizemann's favorites, this Nars tinted moisturizer is ideal for getting a no-makeup, natural look. It’s her go-to product when traveling: "The perfect multi-tasker, it protects with SPF 30, hydrates and keeps my skin tone looking even and glowy," Wizemann says. The cream is easy to apply with your fingers to perfect skin without adding extra heaviness, plus you can easily build up the coverage.

The best hydrator of the GH Beauty Lab's CC cream test, this GH Seal-holding sheer tinted Olay formula improved skin over time, too, including dark spots. According to Lab measurements, it moisturized better than any other CC cream tested, increasing hydration levels by 36% over six hours, and minimized the appearance of brown spots and pores over four weeks.

Chanel's high-end foundation lives up to its legacy: The base imparts skin with an "expensive-looking" glow, restoring lost radiance. "This is one of the best true foundations I've ever tried: It really covers and evens out skin, yet somehow looks natural and luminous," GH's beauty director raves. "It makes skin look perfect, even when it's not."

More than makeup, this buttery L’Oréal Paris tinted balm foundation is boosted with anti-agers like peptides. The light-to-medium-coverage solid formula instantly makes skin look smoother, Beauty Lab data analysis showed.

This is great if you want a flawless face, without a ton of extra steps. CoverGirl’s silky base, backed by the GH Seal, is a triple-duty primer-concealer-foundation hybrid. With just one application you’ll get the coverage of a concealer and, true to its name, it’ll last all day. That’s why it won a GH Beauty Award! Evaluations showed that the blendable formula stayed in place while still feeling light on skin and not looking heavy or cakey.

This waterproof foundation will endure your sweatiest days while offering natural-looking full coverage. “Makeup still looked flawless after having it on all day (98° weather),” says one reviewer. Application is also easy and mess-free, making it great on-the-go.

Makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury’s base delivers medium satin-finish coverage in a lightweight cream that feels more like skincare than makeup. The formulation, a GH Beauty Award winner, is not heavy on skin and gives a lasting glow, GH Beauty Lab pros found.

Tailored to the deepest of skin tones, Uoma Beauty's soft matte foundation in an impressive 51 shades comes in customized formulations for different skin color groups, including rich tan, brown and dark brown. "The most perfectly matching foundation I may have ever had," an Ulta reviewer marveled.

More than just makeup, this GH Beauty Award- and test-winning No7 foundation is infused with skincare ingredients like wrinkle-smoothing peptides and vitamins C and E to firm and brighten skin. It impressed in our Lab’s recent test thanks to a believable radiant finish and the fact that it went on and blended smoothly. Makeup artist evaluator Philippides called it “very impressive” and “flawless.” The medium-coverage pick is also a GH Seal star!

A base that gives a true no-makeup look, lightweight YSL Beauty provides dewy light to medium coverage that stays put, a rare feat for a tinted moisturizer. In GH Beauty Lab evaluations, the GH Beauty Award-winning formula spread well, subtly covered imperfections and evened skin tone. The coverage lasted all day, even on a tester with oily skin, and didn’t irritate another user with very sensitive skin. “I like how sheer it is — it gives a glowy, barely-there look yet evens skin tone.”

With only five ingredients, this mineral foundation was formulated to let pores breathe, which one GH beauty writer says "feels virtually weightless on skin." Powder foundations can get cakey when you build them up, but our writer says, "this one blends naturally with your skin whether you are going for sheer or full coverage. It also lasts all day and won’t settle into fine lines and wrinkles." One reviewer commented, "It makes my skin look youthful, and I am 70 years old."

A skincare and makeup hybrid, Neutrogena's sheer tint is blended with the star anti-aging ingredient retinol, which smooths skin over time. The formula has over 9,000 five-star reviews on Amazon: True to its name, one reviewer said "my skin looked healthier than the day before."