Your Complete Guide to Navigating Makeup while Avoiding Acne and Textured Congestion

We love makeup. It can be a fun hobby, a way to enhance your favorite features, and make occasions more special. But makeup can also be the main contributor to your never-ending textured bumpy skin, or the all-too-occasional, “occasional” breakout.

So often we see makeup targeted to cover and disguise acne and texture. The ironic thing is, usually it’s that exact makeup product that is contributing to the breakouts in the first place! We want you to love your skin without makeup, but also to be able to wear makeup everyday if that makes you feel good. You don’t have to sacrifice makeup for clear skin, but you do have to follow some guidelines and toss out makeup that has ingredients that just won’t work.

If you wonder if your makeup is to blame for blackheads, bumps, pimples or cysts – it probably is! So follow along with us as we scout out and test acne-safe makeup formulas! Today is all about foundations and BB creams. 

Most of you know our top favorites to recommend – NARS Sheer Glow and BareMinerals Loose Original Powder Foundation – but here are some more safe ones and five common ones we see wreak havoc on skin (so avoid these, obviously!). 

Acne-Safe Foundation/BB Cream Options:

  • Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation

  • Becca Evermatte Shineproof Foundation 

  • Dior Forever Undercover Foundation 

  • NARS Natural Radiant Longwear 

  • YSL Touche Éclat Le Teint Foundation SPF 22

  • Burt’s Bees BB Cream w/ SPF 15 

  • TarteAmazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 20

Comedoegenic Foundations/BB Creams TO AVOID:

  • CLINIQUE Acne Solutions™ BB Cream SPF 40

  • Origins Pretty in Bloom SPF 20 Longwear Foundation 

  • Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick 

  • LAURA MERCIER Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 20 - Oil Free

  • BareMinerals Complexion Rescue 

MAKEUPCassie Fehlen