Browse & learn
Makeup without the vocabulary test.
Start with the words if you are new here, or go straight to product search if you already know what you need. Product types are lanes, not rankings: a tint, powder or cream has a job before it has a brand name.
Makeup basics
Eight terms that unlock most of the desk.
These are working definitions, not rules about what you should buy. They are here so a first-time reader can understand the questions the rest of the application asks.
- Finish
- What the surface looks like after application: matte, natural, satin, luminous, glossy or somewhere between them.
- Coverage
- How much visible skin or pigment a layer obscures. Sheer, medium and full describe opacity, not quality.
- Undertone
- The quieter color direction underneath a shade. It helps explain why two colors with the same depth can look different on skin.
- Oxidation
- A visible color shift after application, often described as a base turning darker, warmer or more orange as it sits.
- Pilling
- Small rolls or crumbs that form when layers do not settle together cleanly. It can be a layering, amount, timing or compatibility problem.
- Setting
- Reducing movement after application. Powder, spray, time and application method can all change how a film sets.
- Flashback
- A pale or reflective cast that appears more strongly in flash photography than it does in ordinary room light.
- Film weight
- This desk’s shorthand for how much material a product type tends to add to the face. More layers are not automatically better layers.
When you know the lane
Product search
Search formulas by type, film weight, price and preference. Prices are street bands, not live quotes. A finish is shown only when the name or the type states it — the desk does not guess the rest.
12 shown · ranked against the profile currently on The Edit · 2 of 12 with a stated finish. The rest are not guessed.
12 formulas across 1 lane. 0 of them sit in a lane already in your kit.
- Every formula here lays a film heavier than one layer. Worth knowing before they stack.
- Street bands run under $25 to over $60. Price is not in the fit score and never has been.
ILIA · Serum foundation
True Skin Serum Foundation
Medium coverage that still moves with the face.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedVeganOgee · Serum foundation
Complexion Perfecting Serum Foundation
Organic serum base — sheerable to a tint.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedVeganFitglow Beauty · Serum foundation
Foundation +
Plant-based medium base with a soft-focus finish.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedVeganSappho New Paradigm · Serum foundation
Essential Foundation
Built for close-up light; medium without powder.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedVeganShiseido · Serum foundation
Synchro Skin Radiant Lifting Foundation SPF 30
Technical, unsentimental medium base with real UV numbers.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Luminous· from nameZaron Cosmetics · Serum foundation
Fluid Foundation
Deep and red-leaning bands treated as the center of the range.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedNatura · Serum foundation
Una Liquid Foundation
Biodiversity-sourced botanical base with real availability.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedVeganUoma Beauty · Serum foundation
Say What?! Foundation
Deep-range buildable medium — match first, sheer second.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedVeganCharlotte Tilbury · Serum foundation
Beautiful Skin Foundation
Medium that can sheer — keep the hand light for skin-like.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedArmani Beauty · Serum foundation
Luminous Silk Foundation
Reference luminous medium fluid. One film is the whole argument.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Luminous· from nameNARS · Serum foundation
Light Reflecting Foundation
Light over opacity — sheer on purpose.
Worth considering · 46th of 52 types
Scored as serum foundation, not as this formula — every serum foundation here carries the same 32.
Current· street price bandManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not statedNARS · Serum foundation
Light Reflecting Foundation (sheer pass)
Desk example from NARS. Price is a prestige band midpoint, not a live quote.
Reference example, not a verified formula of this type. The type score is not a finding about this row.
The name overlaps the priced row NARS Light Reflecting Foundation. Overlap is not a verification, and this card is still an example.
Incomplete· tier-band estimateManufacturer evidence was not collected for price, size, shade or INCI. Those stay unknown. A street band or a shade count on the card is not that evidence.
Finish not stated
Watch the hand · 1 referenceThe distinction this page is built on, demonstrated.
Chosen to demonstrate a decision this desk already makes. They are technique references, not endorsements, and a product named inside one is an archive example rather than a recommendation.
Next
Where this goes next
Chosen from your own record: 3 things open at the beginner stage, and what usually follows this page.
Say what your skin is doing
Answer the brief
0 of 8 so far. Every engine weights your own answers. Until they exist, the desk is scoring an average face rather than yours.
Log one worn day
Log a day
0 of 1 so far. What held past hour six is the one fact no formula list can predict for you.
Practice: Use half as much
0 of three mornings settled. The ladder always offers the half-finished rung first.
From where you are on the ladder.
When this is not a makeup question
Nothing is written into another desk without you choosing it. These links carry only the context named on them.
- Skincare Intelligence
Carry your skin, climate, sensitivity and named concerns across so the routine can be evaluated with the same stated inputs the makeup desk used.
- Vanity or Vice · Routines & Ingredients
The order you apply things in, what each film is intended to do, and where the evidence is uncertain — argued long-form rather than scored. This is the reading behind the sequence this desk just gave you.