The consistency is a light-medium runny liquid, and this gave light coverage. It did leave our skin with a glow, as the Luminate part of its name would suggest, but we instantly had to powder our oily areas. The foundation overall felt like it would slip off the face no matter which primer you use. Given that this is one of the most expensive No7 foundations in the range, we were highly disappointed. Want to see great skin, not foundation? Discover No7 Intelligent Colour Foundation, a lightweight formula so skin-telligent, it blends seamlessly into skin for results that look undetectable and feel unbelievable. Now available in 6 shades, this foundation blurs imperfections with a sheer, buildable coverage that blends effortlessly for a flawless finish. Even though it gave light-to-medium coverage, it covered blemishes well and the shade matched almost exactly. This would be the perfect everyday foundation, it worked well with both primers and gave a lovely natural finish – our skin looked like, well, skin. We did favour the beauty blender application because it gave a smoother-looking complexion, but the difference was marginal. Despite the fact it gave decent coverage with a single application, we did try building it a little more to see how well it would cope and it performed admirably. It didn’t leave our skin looking caked. The No7 Stay Perfect foundation is highly buildable and works well with a silicone primer. It was easy to work into the skin and it gave a natural finish, which we liked.

No7 Essentially Natural Foundation Deeply Honey 6 deeply No7 Essentially Natural Foundation Deeply Honey 6 deeply

Out of all the foundations in this No7 foundation group test, the Essentially Natural foundation gave the lightest coverage. This foundation contains SPF15 and the consistency holds the SPF, which is why there was a slight white cast. We suggest going a shade darker It doesn’t really give full coverage to begin with, which is why you’ll need to build up to that kind of coverage if that’s what you’re after. As a result, the No7 Stay Perfect foundation could be a good foundation to cover all bases – lighter coverage for the day and fuller coverage at night. It also offers true-to-colour shade, even with SPF15. We’re very pleasantly surprised by how well this foundation performed. So much so, it surpassed our previous favourite No7 foundation, the No7 Stay Perfect Superlight Foundation. The Restore and Renew Serum foundation gave us light-to-medium coverage and it masked our blemishes with ease. Over the day, this No7 foundation felt breathable and it sat well on our face without ever settling into our fine lines or wrinkles. It was the only No7 foundation that didn’t sit in any flaky patches on the skin, making this the best No7 foundation for dry skin. What’s more, we didn’t even have to touch up our oily T-zone as much as we expected.

Choosing a foundation colour that matches your skin

I like the EL Futurist Hydra Rescue one - it covers the redness in my cheeks really well but is not ageing around the eyes like Double Wear. Also worth trying Dior Forever. Again it covers well but feels light on the skin and is great around the eyes. Take a look at your bare skin in the mirror in natural light to identify which skin tone you have, ranging from fair, light, medium, medium/rich and rich. You might find that instead of just being one tone, you’re a combination of a few skin tones such as light-medium or medium-rich. If you’re really struggling to work out what type of skin tone you have, ask a friend to help or visit a local beauty counter for assistance. Knowing which skin tone you have will make it a lot easier to determine which foundation colour will suit you most. The result was better when we used a beauty blender however, the Lift & Luminate Triple Action Serum foundation did still cling to dry patches – regardless of whether we were using the silicone primer or the water-based one. Although it was worse when used with the former. Out of all the foundations in this No7 foundation group test, the Essentially Natural foundation gave the lightest coverage

No7 Essentially Natural Foundation Cool Beige by No7 No7 Essentially Natural Foundation Cool Beige by No7

It also worked beautifully with our other concealers, bronzers, blushers and highlighters. Even those not made by No7. The shade matched our skin tone very well and it gave a natural finish. We also loved that it left our skin looking glowing, smooth and most of all healthy. We were unimpressed with this No7 foundation almost immediately. When applied with a foundation brush we could see streaks on top of the skin that clung to dry patches. No7 has, in many ways, changed the game when it comes to affordable, effective skincare and makeup.

Check your undertone

Yet while we’ve previously included No7 products in our various lists of Best Buys, now we’re delving a deeper to not only celebrate the brand’s foundation range but to put the best No7 foundations to the test. This Beautifully Matte foundation held nicely throughout the day and we think it’s definitely better suited for oily skin types. We particularly liked that our T-zone wasn’t oily at the end of the day, which takes some doing. As promised, this foundation truly did give a matte look, although if you apply too much we found that this full-coverage foundation left our faces looking a bit cakey. Foundation is an essential part of any make-up kit. It acts as a base on which you build up your entire make-up look. It can give you a boost of confidence by covering up your imperfections such as spots, blemishes and dark circles and gives your face a blank and even canvas for you to work with. But it can only work its magic if the colour matches your skin tone.