Foundation for acne scars

Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation has the best record for acne scars: 22 of 24 shoppers said it covered them and smoothed over the texture. We could not confirm an Amazon listing for it, so the best pick sold on Amazon is Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation at 24 of 27. Each record counts just shoppers who said they have acne scars or marks.

  • 254 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Feb 2014 to Jun 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it cover acne scars? What shoppers with acne scars said
  1. Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation 24 said either way
  2. NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation 22 said either way
  3. Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation 27 said either way
  4. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation 19 said either way
  5. Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick 24 said either way
  6. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream 34 said either way
  7. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation 18 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for acne scars showing through. 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 Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation 22 of 24 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture
Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation Best pick on Amazon Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation 24 of 27 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Six of the seven foundations have records of 83% or better, so the choice may come down to shade range. Hard-to-find shades come up in 15% of IT Cosmetics reviews, against 6% for Clinique.

The ranking, product by product

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

1

Laura Mercier

Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation

22/24 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture

22 of 24 shoppers said it covered their acne scars, the highest share on the page at 92%. Across all 30 of its reviews, 47% praise the coverage, but wear time is split, with 20% saying it lasts all day and 20% saying it wears off fast.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 47%
  • Lasts all day 20%
  • Controls oil and shine 13%
  • Looks like skin 13%
  • Buildable 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Wears off fast 20%
  • Not enough coverage 13%
  • Too expensive 13%
  • Hard to find a shade 7%
  • Feels drying or tight 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 22 of 24
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination12 of 14
  • Oily3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light7 of 9
  • Light-medium to medium5 of 5
  • Medium-tan to tan4 of 4
By age (reviewers who gave one)
  • Under 4012 of 14
  • 40 and over3 of 3

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

2

NARS

All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation

20/22 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture

A close second: 20 of 22 shoppers said it covered their acne scars. Of its 30 reviews, 50% praise the coverage and 27% say it looks like skin, but 13% say it clings to dry patches.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 50%
  • Looks like skin 27%
  • Lasts all day 17%
  • Covers dark spots 13%
  • Good value 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Clings to dry patches 13%
  • Wears off fast 7%
  • Separates or breaks up on oil 7%
  • Not enough coverage 7%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 20 of 22
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination7 of 8
  • Oily6 of 7
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light4 of 4
  • Light-medium to medium7 of 7
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 4
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked11 of 13

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

3 Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation

Clinique

Even Better Makeup Foundation

Best for finding your shade

24/27 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture

Across all 51 of its reviews, 25% mention an easy shade match and 31% praise the coverage. 24 of 27 shoppers said it covered their acne scars, and complaints stay small, with 8% calling it cakey or heavy.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 31%
  • Easy shade match 25%
  • Looks like skin 22%
  • Covers redness 16%
  • Buildable 14%

What buyers complain about

  • Not enough coverage 8%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 8%
  • Hard to find a shade 6%
  • Oxidizes or turns orange 4%
  • Too shiny or greasy 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 10 of 13
  • Sephora 14 of 14
4 Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

Too Faced

Born This Way Foundation

Best for easy blending

17/19 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture

Of its 30 reviews, 33% say it blends easily, 30% call it buildable and 27% say it looks like skin. 17 of 19 shoppers said it covered their acne scars, though 10% say a shade was hard to find.

What buyers praise

  • Blends easily 33%
  • Buildable 30%
  • Looks like skin 27%
  • Easy shade match 23%
  • Good coverage 23%

What buyers complain about

  • Hard to find a shade 10%
  • Not enough coverage 10%
  • Too shiny or greasy 7%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 7%
  • Clings to dry patches 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 17 of 19
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination11 of 11
  • Oily2 of 3
  • Dry2 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light5 of 7
  • Light-medium to medium7 of 7
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked10 of 11
5 Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick

Hourglass

Vanish Foundation Stick

20/24 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture

Shoppers like this foundation stick for its coverage (43% of its 30 reviews) and how easily it blends (17%). 20 of 24 shoppers said it covered their acne scars, with scattered complaints such as 10% saying it wears off fast and 7% calling it cakey or heavy.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 43%
  • Looks like skin 20%
  • Lasts all day 17%
  • Blends easily 17%
  • Works on combination skin 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Wears off fast 10%
  • Separates or breaks up on oil 7%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 7%
  • Shows pores 7%
  • Too expensive 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 20 of 24
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination12 of 14
  • Oily6 of 8
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light11 of 13
  • Light-medium to medium6 of 8
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked11 of 13
6 IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream

IT Cosmetics

CC+ Cream

Best for covering redness as well

27/34 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture

More shoppers stated an outcome for this one than for any other foundation here, and 27 of 34 said it covered their acne scars, the weakest record on the page. Across all 53 of its reviews, 43% praise the coverage and 23% say it covers redness, but 15% say a shade was hard to find.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 43%
  • Covers redness 23%
  • Blends easily 13%
  • Covers dark spots 13%
  • Comfortable on dry skin 11%

What buyers complain about

  • Hard to find a shade 15%
  • Too shiny or greasy 9%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 6%
  • Breaks skin out 4%
  • Clings to dry patches 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 10 of 14
  • Sephora 17 of 20
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination10 of 10
  • Dry5 of 6
  • Oily1 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light10 of 11
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 5
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked6 of 7
7

NARS

Sheer Glow Foundation

15/18 say it covered their acne scars and smoothed over the texture

Of its 30 reviews, 27% say it looks like skin and 27% praise the coverage, but 13% call it too shiny or greasy. 15 of 18 shoppers said it covered their acne scars, matching Hourglass's share, but that record rests on a smaller group than any other foundation here, so it ranks last.

What buyers praise

  • Looks like skin 27%
  • Good coverage 27%
  • Buildable 20%
  • Easy shade match 17%
  • Lasts all day 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Too shiny or greasy 13%
  • Not enough coverage 13%
  • Too expensive 7%
  • Wears off fast 7%
  • Oxidizes or turns orange 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 15 of 18
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination11 of 12
  • Dry2 of 3
  • Oily2 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light9 of 10
  • Light-medium to medium4 of 4
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked12 of 14

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

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 71,360 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for acne scars showing through and read the newest matching reviews, up to 40 per product and store, posted between Feb 2014 and Jun 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 most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

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

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  2. NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  3. Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation Ulta and Sephora (51 reviews counted)
  4. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  5. Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  6. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream Ulta and Sephora (53 reviews counted)
  7. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which foundation works for acne scars?

Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation has the best record (22 of 24), followed by NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation (20 of 22) and Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation (24 of 27). Each record rests on a modest group of shoppers, so small gaps between neighbors mean little.

Does foundation cover acne scars?

Often, going by what shoppers with acne scars or marks said: the records here run from 79% to 92%. Foundation covers scars without changing them. Coverage depends on the shade match and how much you apply, so test the shade in daylight. For painful or lasting breakouts, ask a dermatologist.

Which of these foundations are sold on Amazon?

Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation, Too Faced Born This Way Foundation, Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick and IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream have official Amazon listings, sold by the brand or by Amazon itself. Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation is the best pick sold on Amazon at 24 of 27. For Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation, NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation and NARS Sheer Glow Foundation, we could not confirm an Amazon listing.

Does IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream cover acne scars?

Mostly. More shoppers stated an outcome for it than for any other foundation on the page, and 27 of 34 said it covered their acne scars, though that is the weakest record here. Across all 53 of its reviews, 15% say a shade was hard to find.

Related problems

Foundation Foundation for dark spots Top pick: IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream 251 buyer reports Foundation Foundation that doesn't break you out Top pick: Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation 359 buyer reports Concealer Concealer for acne and blemishes Top pick: Huda Beauty FauxFilter Matte Concealer 297 buyer reports Face primer Primer for large pores Top pick: NYX Pore Filler Primer 247 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews 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.