Over the past few decades, the beauty industry has embraced inclusivity, offering an array of foundations for POC to express their unique beauty with pride and authenticity. Tailored to the diverse skin tones of People of Color (POC), the foundations for POC are crafted to celebrate and enhance the natural beauty of beauty enthusiasts from all walks of life.
From well-established brands to emerging ones, the market now offers a wide selection of foundations that cater to various skin tones, breaking stereotypes related to gender, identity, and color. These foundations not only match different skin tones but also address specific concerns such as hyperpigmentation, undertones, and texture.
With options ranging from matte, dewy, or natural finishes, these foundations for POC are designed to empower and instill confidence. Matching the user's complexion, one can select a shade that is negligibly lighter than their skin’s undertone to give their skin a muted makeover.
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The 7 best foundations for POC, worth splurging on in 2024
For a flawless makeup look, finding foundations for POC can sometimes be tricky. Thanks to the premium quality of myriad lightweight and easily blendable foundations, their good buildup coverage features cater to the on-point makeup look.
Team Sportskeeda has curated a list of the seven best foundations for POC that can make their skin texture even for a lovely makeover.
- Lancôme: Le Teint Particulier: Custom-made Foundation
- Maybelline: Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation
- Fenty Beauty: Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation
- Haus Laboratories: Triclone™ Skin Tech Foundation
- Cover FX: Power Play foundation
- MAKE UP FOR EVER: Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation
- Estée Lauder: Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation
1) Lancôme: Le Teint Particulier: Custom-made Foundation
This Teint Idole Ultra HD foundation with 50 variations in warm, cool, and neutral undertones enables users to create the perfect foundation for their skin tone by customizing the shade, hydration levels, and desired coverage. Easy to use, their makeup foundations for POC blend easily with the fingertips, which also cover blemishes, dark circles, and fine lines.
In 2017, one of the most sought-after makeup brands, Lancôme, launched its inclusive “My Shade, My Power” campaign to honor diversity, featuring 40 women with various skin tones belonging to different ages and ethnicities.
Price: $42 - $60 (Nordstrom)
2) Maybelline: Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation
Maybelline offers inclusivity through its best-seller, Fit Me! Matte + Poreless foundation, which is available in 40 extensive shades at an affordable price. Created to purify unwanted facial pores, this oil-free foundation gives buildable coverage on dark spots, freckles, and sunburns, leaving the skin clean-looking and perfect.
The New York-based brand, being at the forefront of the diversity and inclusivity campaign, collaborated with Shayla Mitchell and Manny Gutierrez, speaking for all identities and ethnicities.
Price: $9.99 (Official Website)
3) Fenty Beauty: Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation
Fenty Beauty's soft matte, long-wear foundations for POC feature climate-adaptive technology to fight heat, sweat, and shine. After application, the user can stay fresh morning or night with this buildable, medium-to-full coverage formula available in 50 boundary-breaking shades.
In 2017, Fenty Beauty took the makeup domain by storm with its myriad foundation shades, specially made for women with diverse skin tones. With this innovative approach, Rihanna, the owner of this beauty label, set a new industry standard, globally known as the 'Fenty Effect.'
Price: $40 (Official Website)
Read more: 7 best makeup products for mature skin
4) Haus Laboratories: Triclone™ Skin Tech Foundation
Triclone™ Skin Tech Foundation is an award-winning, medium buildable coverage, high-performance, clean foundation with proprietary fermented arnica that reduces redness, evens skin tone, and protects from environmental stress.
Suitable for all skin types, including sensitive and acne-prone ones, it replenishes the skin's moisture levels without overhydrating for a smoother, more youthful appearance.
Lady Gaga, an American singer-songwriter-actress, owns Haus Laboratories, a vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand that promotes inclusivity, authenticity, and self-acceptance through its makeup products.
Price: $45 (Sephora)
5) Cover FX: Power Play Foundation
Perfect for skin with blemish-prone, discoloration-prone, mature, oily, sensitive, redness-prone, and large pores, this foundation provides a natural matte finish. The Power Play foundation, available in 40 shades and four undertones, matches a range of skin shades across the spectrum. Thanks to its full-coverage feature, weightless formula, and breathable formula, this foundation provides long-wearing coverage.
In 2017, with the ‘nude is not beige’ campaign, Cover FX, the New York-based, clean, vegan, and cruelty-free beauty label, pushed towards diversity and inclusivity in the beauty industry. This brand lets the user customize products as per the user's preferences, skin tone, skin type, and complexion.
Price: $44 (Official Website)
Read more: 7 best moisturizers for oily skin
6) MAKE UP FOR EVER: Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation
Dany Sanz, who founded The French Beauty in 1984, supports diversity and individuality. Its bestseller, Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation, with 50 impressive shades, offers a genuine match for a range of tones and complexions. This matte foundation conceals dark spots and exudes a sparkling glow within minutes!
Due to its buttery texture, the brand's foundations for POC are sealed with hyaluronic acid micro-sphere and plant-derived lysine powder, which is smooth on the user's skin without making it dry or weighty. Easily blendable with fingertips, this foundation reduces unwanted pores and excess oil, giving the face a polished look for long hours.
Price: $29 (Official Website)
7) Estée Lauder: Double WearStay-in-Place Foundation
Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation is a 24-hour wear, oil-free, sweat-, heat-, and humidity-resistant product in a wide range of shades. It unifies uneven skin tone and covers imperfections with a buildable, medium- to full-coverage foundation. Its high-pigmented and non-greasy formula blends smoothly into the skin without making it feel fatty or greasy.
Estée Lauder's, with this one of its key offerings, has 55 shades across different undertones with a guaranteed perfect match for every complexion, ranging from light, medium, and deep. This beauty brand facilitates a culture of equity, inclusion, and belonging within the company and its communities.
Price: $52 (Amazon)
Read more: 10 Korean skincare products with retinol to add to your routine
Readers and beauty enthusiasts can brighten up their faces and make special moments by using any of these seven foundations for POC. In 2024, they can purchase any of these foundations for POC from their in-house or e-commerce platforms with a click of a button!