Skin Care

13 Worst Foundations

Readers say these foundations will cake up, transfer onto your clothes, turn your face orange, and ruin the rest of your makeup

by Stephanie Shum

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The biggest mistake women make with their face makeup is wearing the wrong shades for their skin tone. The second biggest mistake? Wearing one of the foundations on this list. Even if you've found a shade that perfectly matches your skin tone, it won't do much good if the formula is blotchy, cakey, or makes you break out.

Skip ahead to see the 13 worst foundations now.

Fixing the second problem is easy -- you just need to keep reading. And to help make the search for the right foundation shade a little easier, here are some tips from Napoleon Perdis National Educator, Rebecca Prior:

• Determine whether you have pink or yellow undertones by placing silver and gold jewelry against your skin. Regardless of your personal preferences, try to figure out which color looks more harmonious with your skin. If gold looks better, you have yellow or warm undertones, and if silver looks better, you have pink or cool undertones.
• Match the foundation color (light, medium, or dark) to your cheeks, because that's where you need the most coverage.
• Have another shade of foundation for summer. Even though you may not notice, your skin tone does change enough to warrant a new shade for the season.

Now, see why readers would rather go face makeup-free than wear any of these foundations.

Image via Imaxtree

SEE NEXT PAGE: No. 13: mark Face Xpert Flawless Touch Makeup, $10

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products mentioned

mark Face Xpert Flawless Touch Makeup

6.8

Maybelline New York Dream Liquid Mousse

6.7

Rimmel London Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation

7.4

Benefit Some Kind-A Gorgeous

5.5

Rimmel London Stay Matte Foundation

5.7

CoverGirl Clean Liquid Makeup, Oil Control

6.1

Revlon Beyond Natural Skin Matching Makeup SPF 15

6.3

CoverGirl & Olay Simply Ageless Foundation

6.1

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Glow Sheers

5.6

Physicians Formula CoverToxTen50 Wrinkle Therapy...

5.4

Maybelline New York SuperStay 24 Hour Makeup

5.7

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Older comments

Loved the info

by Laurahdz Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 03:48PM Report as inappropriate

I have to disagree with Cover Girl's "Clean Makeup." It saw me through blemish-prone years beautifully and kept oil at bay and imperfections covered.

by GigiSD Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 09:10PM Report as inappropriate

While it is great to know which products are worse, there will always be different foundation preferences for each individual. Different shades, textures, applications, etc. One thing that can be agreed upon, is poor packaging, which can make or break even the "best" foundations sometimes.

by hiddenexpose Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 08:07PM Report as inappropriate