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2023 Best Foundations For Sensitive Rosacea Skin

by Sandy Taylor

A question that I get asked a lot is: “What are some good makeup for sensitive skin, rosacea, and redness?” I can see why people are concerned. After all, if you suffer from rosacea, you know how difficult it can be to find a foundation that helps minimize the redness and breakouts without irritating your skin and worsening your rosacea symptoms.

Read on to learn what to look for in a foundation when you have rosacea and the best foundations for sensitive rosacea skin that are currently on the market.

Best Foundations For Rosacea List

Since there are so many rules to keep in mind when choosing a foundation for rosacea-prone skin, I did the research for you and found these best foundations for rosacea:

Dermablend Smooth Liquid Foundation

This is one of the best liquid foundations for rosacea. This highly pigmented foundation is fragrance-free, hypo-allergenic, and free of all other rosacea irritants. It has a silky, smooth texture that makes it very easy to blend into your skin without irritating it.

Just one layer provides enough coverage to camouflage all redness and blemishes, and it has a built-in SPF 25 to help you avoid another of the worst rosacea trigger, which is the sun’s harsh rays.

Clinique Women’s Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer

The Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundations is one of the best full coverage foundations for rosacea. Clinique was the pioneer in creating makeup that does not irritate sensitive skin, and this foundation and concealer in one is hypoallergenic and fragrance-free. It comes with a built-in sponge applicator in the lid that can be used to quickly touch-up blemishes on-the-go.

Once you apply it in the morning, it stays budge-proof for 12 hours. It provides medium coverage with a weightless feel that makes it feel like you are not wearing any makeup at all.

Clinique Redness Solutions Makeup Foundation

The Clinique Redness Solutions Makeup Foundation is one of the best foundations for red skin. This foundation is formulated with calming, non-irritating ingredients like:

  1. Astrocaryum Murumuru Seed Butter – Provides natural anti-inflammatory properties that help to soothe irritated skin. 
  2. Poria Cocos Sclerotium Extract – Have anti-inflammatory properties and helps to decrease puffiness. 

This is a medium to full coverage foundation with a natural finish. It is oil-free and contains Clinique’s probiotic technology that helps to strengthen the skin’s moisture barrier. It contains Magnolia Grandiflora Bark Extract, an ingredient that helps your skin defend against UV rays.

This foundation works on dry and combination skin with rosacea. It is paraben-free, phthalate-free and fragrance-free.

Glo Skin Beauty Loose Base Powder Foundation

The Glo Skin Beauty Loose Base is one of the best powder mineral foundations for rosacea. This is a sheer to full coverage foundation that provides a dewy finish.  It’s a good face powder for rosacea that is gentle to the skin with added vitamins A, C, E. These antioxidants help to nourish your skin and fight the effects of free radicals from the body.

It also contains green tea extract, an ingredient that helps to minimize the signs of aging and reduce the appearance of age spots.

This mineral foundation for rosacea is talc-free, paraben-free and cruelty-free. It is non-comedogenic and does a great job of covering redness. It won’t cause irritation and provides broad-spectrum sun protection. There are 9 shades to choose from.

Glo Satin Cream Foundation

The Glo Minerals Satin Cream Foundation is one of the best foundations for oily skin with rosacea.  This is a full-coverage foundation that provides a semi-matte finish, which is great for controlling oil and shine throughout the day. It contains ingredients that will not cause irritation including:

  • Aloe Vera – Have cooling properties that can help sooth the skin.
  • Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract –  Helps to relieve inflammatory skin conditions and calm sensitive skin

This is a highly pigmented and easy-to-blend foundation that feels lightweight on your face. It also contains powerful antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E and green tea extract to help fight against the body’s free radicals. It contains soy-based ingredients

This foundation is Talc-Free, Paraben-Free, and Cruelty-Free. There are 15 shades to choose from.  This is a liquid mineral cream foundation that is non-comedogenic and is a great foundation that covers redness in the skin.

COVER FX Pressed Mineral Foundation

The Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation is one of the best pressed powder for rosacea. If you love the look and feel of a mineral foundation but dislike working with loose powder, then this is a great foundation for you. This pressed mineral foundation has extremely buildable coverage that can go from sheer coverage to full coverage quickly with little effort.

This foundation contains green tea extract powder that is proven to soothe rosacea skin and ease redness and kaolin, which absorbs oil all day long to keep your face shine-free.

Better’n Ur Skin Mineral Foundation

The Better’n Ur Skin Mineral Foundation is one of the best foundations for mature skin with rosacea. It’s made with 100% natural ingredients that won’t irritate rosacea skin. It’s also formulated with natural dewy light reflective sun protection that protects age spots make fine line less visible.

Notable skincare ingredients include:

  • Aloe Leaf Juice – Offers ant-inflammaotry benefits to calm rosacea skin.
  • Olive Leaf Extract – helps to clean pores and absorb excess oils.
  • Rosemary Leaf Extract – has calming effect on skin and anti-oxidant properties.
  • Chamomile Hydrosol – Helps to promote relaxation and calm irritations.

This is a medium coverage foundation that is buildable to full. It dries to a powder like finish. It feels comfortable and not cakey.

This foundation is gluten-free, non-gmo, palm-free, paraben-free and talc-free. It is vegan and cruelty-free.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup

The Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup Foundation is one of the best drugstore foundations for rosacea. This foundation is tested by dermatolgists to not cause irritation to sensitive skin. It contains feverfew, a natural extract with calming properties to help reduce the appearance of facial redness and skin irritations.

It also contain vitamin E and natural soy, which are strong anti-oxidants to help combat the body’s free-radicals.

It’s formulated with titanium dioxide sun protection (SPF 20). It is lightweight and easy to blend.

This is a medium to full-coverage foundaton that is non-comedogenic, oil-free and fragrance free. There are 12 shades to choose from.

Rosacea And Foundations: What You Need To Know

How to Cover Rosacea Redness with Makeup ?

Once you have patch-tested your makeup and know that they won’t trigger rosacea, follow these tips when applying your foundation:

1. Apply a Green Color-Correcting Concealer – Apply a light layer of a green color-correcting skin concealer over your rosacea to help tone down the redness of your skin. A green color-correcting concealer works well here because green neutralizes red.

One of best green concealers for rosacea is the Physicians Formula Conceal RX Concealer (Shade: Soft Green). This concealer can last up to 12 hours. it contains sunflower seed oil, an ingredient that helps to combat skin issues like inflammation, redness, irritation and rosacea. This concealer is hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, paraben-free, gluten-free. It is dermatologist tested and cruelty free.

2. Apply Foundation Over Concealer – Make sure to apply with a clean, soft foundation brush. If you apply your foundation with your fingers, you can transfer dirt and oil to your face that can trigger outbreaks. A makeup sponge may be a little rough on your face, and sponges harbor bacteria.

A soft foundation brush will be the most gentle on your skin and is the most sanitary option, as long as you disinfect it after every use.

3. Apply a Loose Setting Powder on Top of Foundation – Once you have applied your foundation, dust a light layer of translucent finishing powder over it to set it into place and help it last all day long with no touch-ups needed.

One of the best setting powders for rosacea is the Glo Skin Beauty Loose Base which I have discussed above.

How to Hide Rosacea without Makeup

The best way to hide rosacea without makeup is to use a color correcting cream (a.k.a CC Cream). CC creams provide great skin care benefits and typically contain more pigment than a regular BB cream. This makes it an ideal solution for those who want to cover rosacea but do not want to use makeup like foundations or concealers.

One of the best cc creams for rosacea skin is the It Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness Neutralizing Correcting Cream. This is a full coverage CC cream that is formulated with skin-calming ingredients and helps to cancel rosacea redness.

Notable ingredients include:

  • Peptides – Building blocks of proteins that are important for the structure and texture of your skin.
  • Colloidal Oatmeal – Helps to moisturize and soothe your skin.
  • Hydrolyzed Collagen – Helps to enhance the appearance of dry or damaged skin by reducing flaking and improving suppleness.
  • Aloe – Contain anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties to soothe and protect your skin.
  • Avocado – Contains vitamin E to promote skin softness.

This is a long-wear, super hydrating CC cream that is very easy to apply and blend. It won’t crack or crease.

Which Makeup Ingredients Won’t Irritate Rosacea Prone Skin?

After you check the labels of foundations to make sure they don’t contain those common irritants, look for ingredients that can actually soothe rosacea-prone skin and treat flares.

Ingredients that won’t irritate rosacea prone skin include green tea extract, licorice extract, chamomile, tea tree oil, aloe vera, zinc oxide, and colloidal oatmeal. However, if you don’t find those ingredients in a foundation, it doesn’t mean it won’t work well for your skin.

Patch-test any new foundation on a small area of your face to make sure it doesn’t redden your skin or trigger any other rosacea symptoms.

Which Makeup Ingredients Irritate Rosacea Prone Skin?

When choosing a foundation to help conceal the redness and acne breakouts that often accompany rosacea, you need to be careful to avoid ingredients that are known as rosacea triggers.

Makeup ingredients that will irritate rosacea prone skin include alcohol, fragrance additives, menthol, peppermint, and eucalyptus. Many people suffering from rosacea also find mineral oil to trigger flares.

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