Foundation that doesn't break you out

Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation has the best record on breakouts: 33 of 43 reviewers who brought it up said it didn't break them out. It did better at Sephora (23 of 24) than at Ulta (10 of 19). After the first two, every foundation here left more reviewers with breakouts than without, and people tend to mention breakouts when they get them, so read the shares as a comparison between products, not as your odds.

  • 359 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • May 2014 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Does it break you out? What buyers said
  1. Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation 43 said either way
  2. Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation 49 said either way
  3. Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation 24 said either way
  4. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ 51 said either way
  5. Tarte Face Tape Foundation 20 said either way
  6. ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint 50 said either way
  7. L'Oréal Paris Infallible 32-Hour Fresh Wear Foundation 24 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for breakouts. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Best record Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation 33 of 43 say it doesn't break them out Check price on Amazon
What stands out

Both Clinique foundations rank above everything else, but the gap is wide. 77% of reviewers who mentioned breakouts said Acne Solutions spared them, against 55% for Even Better.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points buyers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

Clinique

Acne Solutions Foundation

Best for acne-prone skin

33/43 say it doesn't break them out

Strong at Sephora (23 of 24) and weaker at Ulta (10 of 19). Among reviewers who list acne as a skin concern, 22 of 23 had no breakouts. 29% praise the coverage, while 11% call it shiny or greasy.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 29%
  • Easy shade match 9%
  • Controls oil and shine 9%
  • Lasts all day 4%
  • Looks like skin 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Too shiny or greasy 11%
  • Feels drying or tight 9%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 7%
  • Oxidizes or turns orange 7%
  • Clings to dry patches 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 10 of 19
  • Sephora 23 of 24
  • Brand site 1 of 2 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination11 of 12
  • Oily9 of 9
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light13 of 14
  • Light-medium to medium6 of 6
  • Medium-tan to tan4 of 4
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked22 of 23
2

Clinique

Even Better Makeup Foundation

27/49 say it doesn't break them out

40% of its reviews mention breakouts, so this one is close to a coin flip. Reviewers with dry skin fared better (5 of 6) than those with combination skin (2 of 5), but both groups are small.

What buyers praise

  • Looks like skin 21%
  • Good coverage 21%
  • Easy shade match 14%
  • Lasts all day 14%
  • Comfortable on dry skin 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Wears off fast 7%
  • Settles into lines 4%
  • Clings to dry patches 4%
  • Feels drying or tight 4%
  • Oxidizes or turns orange 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 11 of 22
  • Sephora 16 of 27
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Dry5 of 6
  • Combination2 of 5
  • Normal3 of 4
  • Oily2 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light10 of 14
  • Light-medium to medium1 of 3
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked5 of 8
See it at Ulta

Share of 57 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

3

Maybelline

Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation

8/24 say it doesn't break them out

Buyers like the price, with 30% of reviews calling it good value. The trade-off is that 59% say it broke them out. Ranked on Ulta reviews alone.

What buyers praise

  • Good value 30%
  • Good coverage 19%
  • Easy shade match 15%
  • Lasts all day 15%
  • Buildable 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Too shiny or greasy 11%
  • Wears off fast 7%
  • Hard to find a shade 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 8 of 24
  • Brand site 0 of 1 shown, not counted
See it at Ulta

Share of 27 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

4

IT Cosmetics

CC+ Cream with SPF 50+

13/51 say it doesn't break them out

Coverage is the draw, with 45% of reviews praising it. More reviewers weighed in on breakouts here than on any other foundation, and 38 of 51 said it broke them out.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 45%
  • Lasts all day 13%
  • Looks like skin 9%
  • Comfortable on dry skin 9%
  • Easy shade match 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Hard to find a shade 13%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 11%
  • Too shiny or greasy 7%
  • Clings to dry patches 5%
  • Too expensive 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 5 of 25
  • Sephora 8 of 26
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination3 of 12
  • Dry0 of 4
  • Oily1 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light3 of 16
  • Light-medium to medium2 of 5
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked2 of 9
See it at Ulta

Share of 55 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

5

Tarte

Face Tape Foundation

4/20 say it doesn't break them out

Breakouts were the main story: 16 of 20 reviewers who brought them up said it caused them. People who like it point to coverage (30%) and staying power (22%).

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 30%
  • Lasts all day 22%
  • Easy shade match 13%
  • Doesn't transfer 9%

What buyers complain about

  • Transfers onto masks or clothes 13%
  • Too shiny or greasy 9%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 9%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 4 of 20
  • Brand site 1 of 6 shown, not counted
See it at Ulta

Share of 23 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

6

ILIA

Super Serum Skin Tint

7/50 say it doesn't break them out

7 of 50 reviewers who mentioned breakouts said it didn't cause them, the weakest record here. 11% say finding a shade was easy, but 9% call it too expensive.

What buyers praise

  • Easy shade match 11%
  • Looks like skin 8%
  • Good coverage 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 9%
  • Too shiny or greasy 8%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 6%
  • Wears off fast 6%
  • Clings to dry patches 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 6 of 21
  • Sephora 1 of 29
  • Brand site 4 of 7 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination1 of 16
  • Dry0 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light1 of 15
  • Light-medium to medium0 of 6
See it at Ulta

Share of 53 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

7

L'Oréal Paris

Infallible 32-Hour Fresh Wear Foundation

4/24 say it doesn't break them out

Ranked on Ulta reviews alone. Reviewers like the coverage (37%) and the easy shade match (26%), but 4 of 24 said it didn't break them out.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 37%
  • Easy shade match 26%
  • Lasts all day 15%
  • Good value 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Wears off fast 7%
  • Oxidizes or turns orange 7%
  • Feels drying or tight 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 4 of 24
See it at Ulta

Share of 27 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 73,829 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for breakouts and read the newest matching reviews, up to 30 per product and store, posted between May 2014 and Oct 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that Amazon sells from the brand and that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else links to the store page, unpaid.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts and link to the product pages, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation Ulta, Sephora (55 reviews counted)
  2. Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation Ulta, Sephora (57 reviews counted)
  3. Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation Ulta (27 reviews counted)
  4. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ Ulta, Sephora (55 reviews counted)
  5. Tarte Face Tape Foundation Ulta (23 reviews counted)
  6. ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint Ulta, Sephora (53 reviews counted)
  7. L'Oréal Paris Infallible 32-Hour Fresh Wear Foundation Ulta (27 reviews counted)

People asking about it on Reddit

  1. My fellow acne prone girlies, what foundation does not break you out? r/Sephora, Aug 2023, 218 comments
  2. Best foundation for acne prone sensitive skin? r/Sephora, Jul 2023, 83 comments
  3. Foundation product suggestion for dry, acne prone skin! r/Sephora, Feb 2024, 85 comments

Questions buyers ask

Which foundation doesn't break you out?

By the reviews we counted, Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation: 33 of 43 reviewers who mentioned breakouts said it didn't cause any. Among reviewers who list acne as a skin concern, 22 of 23 had no breakouts. Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation follows at 27 of 49.

Does Clinique Even Better Makeup break you out?

For a good share of buyers it does. 22 of 49 reviewers who mentioned breakouts said it broke them out, and 21% of its reviews say it looks like skin.

Does Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless break you out?

Often, by these reviews. 16 of 24 Ulta reviewers who mentioned breakouts said it broke them out, even though 30% of its reviews call it good value.

Why do so many foundations look bad here?

People tend to bring up breakouts when they happen to them, so the share who say a foundation worked runs lower than you would see in every review of a product. Compare the products to each other and don't read the percentage as your own odds.

Related problems

Foundation Foundation for oily skin that lasts Top pick: Revlon ColorStay 504 buyer reports Foundation Foundation for dry skin Top pick: MAC Studio Radiance Face and Body 484 buyer reports Foundation Foundation that doesn't look cakey Top pick: MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation 256 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through "Check price on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.