Best Lightweight Foundations 2025

Best Lightweight Foundations 2025.

We highlight the best lightweight foundations for summer and beyond, from barely-there skin tints to the photo-ready foundation that’s a must for wedding season.

Best Lightweight Foundations 2025.

We highlight the best lightweight foundations for summer and beyond, from barely-there skin tints to the photo-ready foundation that’s a must for wedding season.

Finding the perfect foundation is no mean feat, and even once you’ve found ‘the one’, seasonal changes can throw a spanner in the works – particularly once summer rolls around. Of course, we love the long sunny days, endless blue skies and soaring temperatures, but we don’t necessarily love the idea of wearing a full face of heavy makeup on those long, hot days. So, while you don’t necessarily need a specific summer foundation, it’s the perfect time to lighten up your base, just as you would your wardrobe.

Though lightweight foundations are often associated with a sheer, skin-like finish, there are also medium and full-coverage options that feel like nothing on the skin, yet still give you that desired coverage. Whatever you’re looking for in terms of finish, coverage and benefits, we’ve got a lightweight foundation for you.

If you’re looking for the best foundation for summer, read on for our guide to the best light foundations for a flawless look with a weightless feel.

1. Best Sheer Coverage Foundation: NEW Even Better Clinical™ Vitamin Makeup Foundation SPF 50
Coverage: Sheer
Finish: Natural, Radiant
Best for: Dry Skin, Dry Combination, Mature Skin

If you love the idea of a smooth, radiant complexion, but don't love wearing foundation, we've got the perfect base for you. Our new Even Better Clinical™ Vitamin Makeup SPF 50 delivers hydrating, weightless coverage with a sheer, skin-like finish and SPF 50. It’s your skin, but Even Better. This oil-free, vitamin-infused skin tint/foundation provides 12 hours of complexion perfection and protection, all while helping to brighten, energise and hydrate skin. Suitable for all skin types, the sheer coverage instantly perfects without settling, while still letting your natural radiance shine through. Available in 26 flexible shades, which work across a range of skin tones due to the sheer coverage, this weightless, silky formula blends effortlessly, melting into skin for smooth application. We recommend applying sparingly over your favourite moisturiser and SPF, using a brush or sponge to create a seamless finish. You can then build up more coverage with concealer, if liked.

Expert Tip: To give a more matte finish to your sheer coverage foundation, add a light layer of loose powder on top. This helps to set the base and keep shine (and sweat) at bay. Finish with a touch of powder bronzer and our new NEW True Highlight™ Weightless Illuminatorfor the ultimate sun-kissed, luminous summer look.

2. Best Medium Coverage Lightweight Foundation: Even Better™ Makeup SPF 15
Coverage: Medium, Buildable
Finish: Natural
Best For: Oily Combination, Dry Combination Skin

Clinique’s bestselling foundation, Even Better™ Makeup SPF 15 is a great lightweight foundation with buildable medium coverage. The dermatologist-developed formula instantly perfects your skin with 24-hour wear in 39 shades. It’s non-creasing, non-caking and non-settling, giving you that flawless finish with all-day second-skin comfort. In fact, 90%* say it feels weightless on skin and 90%* say skin feels comfortable all day. The buildable medium coverage makes it a great everyday foundation for the summer months and beyond, and it’s also our best foundation for combination skin types. This lightweight foundation is oil-free and non-acnegenic, so it will help balance out oilier areas, while the creamy formula helps to hydrate and smooth dryer areas. It also ticks all the boxes for summer foundations: it’s got SPF 15; it’s sweat and humidity-resistant and it lasts all day.

Expert Tip: If your skin leans towards the oilier side, a mattifying primer is a must. It’ll help rebalance any of the oilier areas, while also ensuring smooth, seamless application. You can also add a dusting of a loose setting powder to reduce the look of visible pores and mattify any residual shine.

3. Best Full Coverage Lightweight Foundation: Even Better Clinical™ Serum Foundation SPF 20
Coverage: Full, Buildable Coverage
Finish: Satin Matte
Best For: Oily Combination, Oily

Want full, flawless coverage that feels like nothing on the skin? Even Better Clinical™ Serum Foundation SPF 20 has it covered. Gone are the days of thick, heavy full-coverage foundations – our innovative skin-perfecting formula gives you the best of both worlds with weightless full-coverage that lasts all day (plus some skincare benefits, too). Available in 42 shades, this serum foundation combines the skin-perfecting coverage of a full-coverage foundation with the power of a serum, built with active ingredients including Clinique’s dark spot-fighting molecule UP302, three types of vitamin C, salicylic acid and hyaluronic acid. It delivers beautifully even, lightweight coverage with a satin matte finish and SPF 20 mineral sunscreen. With a lightweight matte finish, it’s a great summer foundation for oily skin, plus it’s oil-free, sweat and humidity-resistant, waterproof and non-acnegenic. It’s also easily buildable, so you only need a tiny amount over your moisturiser for lighter coverage during the daytime, or add a little more for a flawless finish that’s ideal for summer events and wedding season.

Expert Tip: Preparation is key with a full-coverage foundation like Even Better Clinical™ Serum Foundation. Even if your skin is very oily, make sure you prep and prime skin with an oil-free moisturiser like Moisture Surge™ 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator to ensure smooth application. Another note: less is always more – a little goes a long way with this concentrated perfecting formula, so start with a few drops of product (unscrew the cap and dot on the back of your hand) and build up as necessary.

How to apply lightweight foundation:

When it comes to applying a lightweight foundation, skin prep is the most important step. Start with a thorough cleanse, before applying a gentle liquid exfoliator like Clarifying Lotion to help boost your natural glow. Next, hydrate with your favourite moisturiser – we’d always recommend Moisture Surge 100H as the perfect makeup base for summer, thanks to its nourishing complex of hyaluronic acid, aloe vera bio-ferment and vitamins C and E. Finally, apply a separate SPF to protect your skin from the sun, before going in with your foundation of choice. You can use your fingertips, a buff brush or a sponge to apply, but start with just a tiny amount of your foundation and build up to ensure there’s no excess product. Set with powder for a long-lasting, flawless finish, or apply a spritz of hydrating facial mist for a fresh, glowy finish.

Need more help finding the best light foundation for your skin type? Book in for a complimentary Skin School consultation with one of our expert Clinique Consultants, who will help you pick out the best foundation for your skin type and tone. You can also ask our experts a question any time, anywhere via the live chat bubble at the bottom right of the page.

*Consumer testing on 546 women after 2 weeks of product use.

Updated January 2025.

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