Foundation that doesn't look cakey

MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation leads with 23 of 29 reviewers saying it looks smooth and not cakey, and it is sold at Sephora. The best pick sold on Amazon is ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint at 12 of 18. Shares are lower here than you might expect, since people tend to bring up cakeyness when it happens to them.

  • 256 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Apr 2015 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Does it look cakey? What buyers said
  1. MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation 29 said either way
  2. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation 28 said either way
  3. ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint 18 said either way
  4. NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation 27 said either way
  5. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ 45 said either way
  6. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation 28 said either way
  7. Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Natural Matte 15 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for cakeyness. 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 MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation 23 of 29 say it doesn't look cakey See it at Sephora
Best pick on Amazon ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint 12 of 18 say it doesn't look cakey Check price on Amazon

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

MAKE UP FOR EVER

HD Invisible Cover Foundation

Best for coverage

23/29 say it doesn't look cakey

40% praise the coverage and 33% say it lasts all day, though 10% say it wears off fast. Ranked on Sephora reviews alone.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 40%
  • Lasts all day 33%
  • Easy shade match 20%
  • Buildable 17%
  • Controls oil and shine 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Too shiny or greasy 10%
  • Too expensive 10%
  • Wears off fast 10%
  • Clings to dry patches 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 23 of 29
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination10 of 14
  • Oily3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light12 of 12
  • Light-medium to medium1 of 4

How often it comes up: about 1 in 12 of this product's 13,594 store reviews mention cakeyness.

See it at Sephora

Share of 30 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

2

NARS

Sheer Glow Foundation

Best for buildable coverage

20/28 say it doesn't look cakey

30% like the coverage and 23% say it builds up well. 13% say it wears off, and 7% have trouble finding a shade.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 30%
  • Buildable 23%
  • Lasts all day 20%
  • Comfortable on dry skin 7%
  • Easy shade match 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Wears off fast 13%
  • Hard to find a shade 7%
  • Clings to dry patches 7%
  • Too expensive 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 20 of 28
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination12 of 16
  • Dry3 of 6
  • Normal4 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light13 of 20
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 4
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked9 of 13

How often it comes up: about 1 in 10 of this product's 5,423 store reviews mention cakeyness.

See it at Sephora

Share of 30 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

3

ILIA

Super Serum Skin Tint

12/18 say it doesn't look cakey

26% say the shade match is easy and 26% like the coverage. On ILIA's own site, 14 of 15 say it looks smooth, against 9 of 14 at Ulta, and brand-site reviews are not counted.

What buyers praise

  • Easy shade match 26%
  • Good coverage 26%
  • Buildable 16%
  • Lasts all day 11%

What buyers complain about

  • Too shiny or greasy 16%
  • Hard to find a shade 11%
  • Too expensive 11%
  • Breaks skin out 11%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 9 of 14
  • Sephora 3 of 4
  • Brand site 14 of 15 shown, not counted

How often it comes up: about 1 in 28 of this product's 16,069 store reviews mention cakeyness.

4

NARS

All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation

17/27 say it doesn't look cakey

37% praise the coverage, but 10 of 27 reviewers who mentioned cakeyness said it looks cakey despite the weightless name. 10% say it settles into lines.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 37%
  • Lasts all day 13%
  • Buildable 13%
  • Easy shade match 13%
  • Comfortable on dry skin 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Too shiny or greasy 10%
  • Settles into lines 10%
  • Wears off fast 10%
  • Separates or breaks up on oil 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 17 of 27
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination7 of 12
  • Oily4 of 6
  • Dry3 of 5
  • Normal3 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light8 of 16
  • Light-medium to medium4 of 6
  • Medium-tan to tan4 of 4
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked12 of 18

How often it comes up: about 1 in 9 of this product's 4,403 store reviews mention cakeyness.

See it at Sephora

Share of 30 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

5

IT Cosmetics

CC+ Cream with SPF 50+

26/45 say it doesn't look cakey

The most reviewers weighed in on this one, and 26 of 45 said it doesn't look cakey. 53% praise the coverage.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 53%
  • Lasts all day 13%
  • Good value 6%
  • Buildable 6%
  • Easy shade match 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Separates or breaks up on oil 9%
  • Settles into lines 9%
  • Feels drying or tight 6%
  • Hard to find a shade 6%
  • Wears off fast 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 17 of 27
  • Sephora 9 of 18

How often it comes up: about 1 in 20 of this product's 30,738 store reviews mention cakeyness.

See it at Ulta

Share of 47 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

6

Too Faced

Born This Way Foundation

17/28 say it doesn't look cakey

30% like the coverage and 23% say it builds well, but 13% say it separates and 13% say it settles into lines.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 30%
  • Buildable 23%
  • Lasts all day 20%
  • Easy shade match 13%
  • Comfortable on dry skin 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Separates or breaks up on oil 13%
  • Settles into lines 13%
  • Feels drying or tight 10%
  • Wears off fast 7%
  • Hard to find a shade 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 17 of 28
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination8 of 13
  • Normal4 of 5
  • Oily3 of 5
  • Dry2 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light7 of 15
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 4
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
  • Deep2 of 3

How often it comes up: about 1 in 8 of this product's 15,107 store reviews mention cakeyness.

7

Lancôme

Teint Idole Ultra Wear Natural Matte

8/15 say it doesn't look cakey

It has the weakest record here at 8 of 15, and 20% say it feels drying. 40% do praise the coverage.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 40%
  • Lasts all day 20%
  • Flattering on mature skin 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Feels drying or tight 20%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 8 of 15
  • Brand site 3 of 5 shown, not counted

How often it comes up: about 1 in 76 of this product's 10,904 store reviews mention cakeyness.

See it at Ulta

Share of 15 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 96,238 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for cakeyness and read the newest matching reviews, up to 30 per product and store, posted between Apr 2015 and Sep 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. MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  2. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  3. ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint Ulta, Sephora (19 reviews counted)
  4. NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  5. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ Ulta, Sephora (47 reviews counted)
  6. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  7. Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Natural Matte Ulta (15 reviews counted)

People asking about it on Reddit

  1. Why does all liquid / any foundation look so cakey r/MakeupAddiction, Jun 2023, 89 comments
  2. Looking for a glowy foundation that won’t look cakey. Which one would you recommend? r/Sephora, Dec 2023, 82 comments
  3. What’s the best FULL coverage, but not cakey, foundation?? I have been having a struggle lately r/MakeupAddiction, Jul 2023, 67 comments

Questions buyers ask

Which foundation doesn't look cakey?

MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation has the best record here at 23 of 29. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation follows at 20 of 28, then ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint at 12 of 18.

Is there a foundation on Amazon that doesn't look cakey?

Yes. The best pick sold on Amazon is ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint at 12 of 18. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation is sold there too, but 11 of 28 reviewers who mentioned cakeyness said it looks cakey.

Does Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear look cakey?

It can. 7 of 15 reviewers who mentioned cakeyness said it looks cakey, which gives it the weakest record here.

Does NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation look cakey?

For many reviewers it does. 10 of 27 Sephora reviewers who mentioned cakeyness said it looks cakey, and 10% say it settles into lines. It does earn praise for coverage, from 37% of reviews.

Related problems

Concealer Concealer that doesn't look cakey Top pick: IT Cosmetics Do It All Radiant Concealer 251 buyer reports Setting powder Setting powder that doesn't look cakey Top pick: Fenty Beauty Invisimatte Setting Powder 314 buyer reports Foundation Foundation that doesn't settle into fine lines Top pick: Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation 555 buyer reports Foundation Foundation for dry skin Top pick: MAC Studio Radiance Face and Body 484 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.