How to Apply Foundation for Oily Skin Types

When it comes to foundation for oily skin (and combination skin for that matter), we know how keeping it on all day with minimal shine and maximum coverage is at the top of the list for those who deal with excessive oil, large pores and blemishes. In this article, we’ll let you in on all the tips and tricks to getting a beautifully matte — but never flat, dry or cakey-looking — finish every time. Keep reading to learn the skincare steps you should take first, how to use matte foundation to your advantage, and how to ensure your foundation looks flawless all day long.

Address Your Skincare Needs First

Before thinking about makeup and foundation for oily skin, you’ve got to first dive into skincare. Balancing your complexion is priority number one. To do so, you’ll want to follow a gentle skincare routine that promotes hydrated skin while reducing excess sebum production, as oily skin types can experience this over production of oil due to a lack of hydration.

Infused with skin-loving ingredients such as ceramides, peptides, and colloidal oatmeal, Confidence in a Cleanser removes oil, dirt, impurities and makeup without making your skin feel dry and tight.

Next, don’t forget to moisturize your skin with an oil-free moisturizer. Confidence in a Gel Cream Oil-Free Moisturizer is our ultra-light, fast-absorbing gel moisturizer made for oily skin types (including combination skin!). That means it goes on, your skin drinks it up and you’re left with a hydrated, yet shine-free, finish.

Choose the Best Foundation for Oily Skin

With your prep work complete, it’s now time to move on to makeup! When trying to find the best foundation for oily skin, it’s ultimately just a matter of finding the formula you love and checking the ingredients to ensure it’ll work for your complexion (and not against it!).

When using liquid or cream foundation, stick to a matte foundation that helps with daily oil control, such as CC+ Cream Natural Matte Foundation with SPF 40, IT Cosmetics’ best CC cream for oily skin. Your full-coverage, color-correcting foundation controls shine for up to 16 hours, delivers a poreless, natural-looking matte (but never flat!) finish and camouflages blemishes, uneven skin tone and facial redness. And you can forget about cakey makeup concerns with this formula! Featuring a hydrating, yet mattifying skin-balancing serum with Air Licium®, a breakthrough ingredient in shine control, CC+ Cream Natural Matte Foundation with SPF 40 is formulated to help instantly blur the look of large pores while absorbing and reducing the look of excess oil.

Why You’ll Love IT

• Skin-Balancing Serum: Air Licium®, lentil seed extract, hyaluronic acid plus SPF 40
• Instantly: Blurs the look of large pores*
• After 8 weeks: Improves the look of bare skin and texture**
• Up to 24HR hydration, 16HR shine control + color wear
• Sweat-proof and humidity-proof

Caption: These unretouched before and after images show how CC+ Cream Natural Matte Foundation with SPF 40 can create the look of a shine-free finish that doesn’t look flat, dry or cakey.

Apply & Blend Your Foundation

Application is super important when it comes to applying foundation for oily skin. For your best matte foundation application, apply one to two pumps of CC+ Cream Natural Matte Foundation with SPF 40 to clean, moisturized skin. Next, use a complexion brush — such as Heavenly Luxe® Complexion Perfection Brush #7 — and start blending the product onto your skin in gentle, sweeping motions.

Continue blending until your foundation is completely smooth and even. If needed, you can apply concealer to areas that may need more coverage. One to try: Bye Bye Under Eye Full Coverage Anti-Aging Waterproof Concealer. For a flawless finish, use the smaller end of the brush to blend around your nose, eyes and mouth.

Set Your Makeup

Setting your foundation is a must if you have oily skin. It not only keeps your makeup in place, but also delivers a matte finish to makeup. To set, we recommend Bye Bye Pores Pressed Setting Powder. This weightless setting powder is designed to blur the appearance of pores and imperfections while delivering a smooth, natural matte finish for younger-looking skin. Plus, it's infused with skin-loving ingredients such as silk, hydrolyzed collagen and antioxidants.

To apply your setting powder, dip your Heavenly Luxe Wand Ball Powder Brush #8 into the compact and gently sweep over your face until you’ve covered all areas. You can go back in with a second layer if you like. Either way, make sure to blend well! For upkeep throughout the day, you can spritz on a makeup setting spray such as Your Skin But Better Setting Spray+.

All done! Now you’re all set to take on the day with a flawlessly matte complexion.

We’ve also rounded up some of the best ingredients for blemish-prone skin. Which ones are you using already?

*With makeup on. Based on an immediate consumer perception test.
**Based on expert grading in an 8-week clinical test with daily use.