Foundation for dark spots

IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream has the best record for dark spots: 50 of 51 shoppers said it covered theirs, and more shoppers stated an outcome for it than for any other foundation here. NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation follows at 23 of 24 and Too Faced Born This Way Foundation at 22 of 23, while Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick has the weakest record here at 18 of 24. Each record counts just shoppers who said they have dark spots.

  • 251 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Jun 2013 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it cover dark spots? What shoppers with dark spots said
  1. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream 51 said either way
  2. NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation 24 said either way
  3. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation 23 said either way
  4. Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation 21 said either way
  5. Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Foundation 24 said either way
  6. MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation 22 said either way
  7. Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick 24 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for spots 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.

IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream Best record IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream 50 of 51 say it covered their dark spots See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

The first four foundations each drew just 1 failure among the shoppers who stated an outcome, against 5 for Fenty, 5 for MAKE UP FOR EVER and 6 for Hourglass. People tend to write about a problem when it happens to them, so read the records as comparisons, not promises.

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 IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream

IT Cosmetics

CC+ Cream

Best for easy blending

50/51 say it covered their dark spots

Across all 57 of its reviews, 68% praise the coverage, 28% say it blends easily and 26% say it lasts all day. 50 of 51 shoppers said it covered their dark spots. Price is the complaint that comes up, at 4%.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 68%
  • Blends easily 28%
  • Looks like skin 26%
  • Lasts all day 26%
  • Covers redness 19%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 24 of 25
  • Sephora 26 of 26
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination15 of 15
  • Dry3 of 3
  • Normal3 of 3
  • Oily3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light9 of 9
  • Light-medium to medium7 of 7
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
2

NARS

All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation

Best for covering acne scars

23/24 say it covered their dark spots

23 of 24 shoppers said it covered their dark spots. Among all 30 of its reviews, 60% praise the coverage and 20% say it covers acne scars. Complaints are scattered, with 10% calling it streaky or patchy.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 60%
  • Lasts all day 23%
  • Easy shade match 20%
  • Covers acne scars 20%
  • Looks like skin 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Streaky or patchy 10%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 7%
  • Clings to dry patches 7%
  • Too expensive 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 23 of 24
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination11 of 11
  • Oily4 of 4
  • Dry3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light4 of 4
  • Light-medium to medium4 of 4
  • Medium-tan to tan6 of 6
By age (reviewers who gave one)
  • Under 408 of 8
  • 40 and over3 of 3

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

3 Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

Too Faced

Born This Way Foundation

Best for all-day wear

22/23 say it covered their dark spots

Wear time is a strength: across all 29 of its reviews, 31% say it lasts all day and 45% praise the coverage. 22 of 23 shoppers said it covered their dark spots. Complaints are small, with 7% saying it doesn't cover enough and 7% saying a matching shade was hard to find.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 45%
  • Lasts all day 31%
  • Easy shade match 21%
  • Looks like skin 21%
  • Blends easily 21%

What buyers complain about

  • Not enough coverage 7%
  • Hard to find a shade 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 22 of 23
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination11 of 11
  • Normal5 of 5
  • Oily3 of 4
  • Dry3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light7 of 8
  • Light-medium to medium8 of 8
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
  • Deep4 of 4
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked5 of 6
4 Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation

Clinique

Even Better Makeup Foundation

Best for buildable coverage

20/21 say it covered their dark spots

Coverage and shade matching stand out: across all 45 of its reviews, 27% praise the coverage, 24% say a matching shade was easy to find and 18% call it buildable. 20 of 21 shoppers said it covered their dark spots. Complaints are small, including 4% who say it doesn't cover enough and 4% who call it too shiny or greasy.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 27%
  • Easy shade match 24%
  • Lasts all day 18%
  • Buildable 18%
  • Looks like skin 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Not enough coverage 4%
  • Settles into lines 4%
  • Streaky or patchy 4%
  • Too shiny or greasy 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 7 of 8
  • Sephora 13 of 13
  • Brand site 4 of 4 shown, not counted
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light5 of 5
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
5

Fenty Beauty

Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Foundation

19/24 say it covered their dark spots

A weaker record than the four above it: 19 of 24 shoppers said it covered their dark spots. Across all 30 of its reviews, 17% say it doesn't cover enough, though 27% say it looks like skin.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 27%
  • Looks like skin 27%
  • Lasts all day 23%
  • Easy shade match 23%
  • Blends easily 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Not enough coverage 17%
  • Hard to find a shade 7%
  • Breaks skin out 7%
  • Clings to dry patches 7%
  • Looks cakey or heavy 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 19 of 24
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination11 of 14
  • Normal3 of 4
  • Oily2 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light4 of 5
  • Light-medium to medium5 of 6
  • Medium-tan to tan6 of 9
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked9 of 12

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

6

MAKE UP FOR EVER

HD Invisible Cover Foundation

17/22 say it covered their dark spots

Blending is the praise here: across all 30 of its reviews, 23% say it blends easily and 23% praise the coverage. The record is 17 of 22, behind the first five. Complaints include 7% who say it oxidizes or turns orange and 7% who call it too expensive.

What buyers praise

  • Blends easily 23%
  • Good coverage 23%
  • No breakouts 17%
  • Looks like skin 17%
  • Buildable 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 7%
  • Oxidizes or turns orange 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 17 of 22
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination7 of 10
  • Normal4 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light2 of 3
  • Light-medium to medium6 of 8
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 4
By age (reviewers who gave one)
  • Under 407 of 10
  • 40 and over5 of 6

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

7 Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick

Hourglass

Vanish Foundation Stick

18/24 say it covered their dark spots

This foundation stick has the weakest record here at 18 of 24. Across all 30 of its reviews, 43% praise the coverage, but 17% say it shows pores and 10% say it wears off fast.

What buyers praise

  • Good coverage 43%
  • Looks like skin 20%
  • Lasts all day 17%
  • Easy shade match 17%
  • Buildable 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Shows pores 17%
  • Wears off fast 10%
  • Too expensive 7%
  • Not enough coverage 7%
  • Redness shows through 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 18 of 24
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination10 of 14
  • Oily2 of 3
  • Normal3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light8 of 12
  • Light-medium to medium5 of 6
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked9 of 12

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 94,745 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for spots showing through and read the newest matching reviews, up to 40 per product and store, posted between Jun 2013 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 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. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream Ulta and Sephora (57 reviews counted)
  2. NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  3. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation Sephora (29 reviews counted)
  4. Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation Ulta and Sephora (45 reviews counted)
  5. Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  6. MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  7. Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick Sephora (30 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which foundation covers dark spots?

IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream has the best record (50 of 51), followed by NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation (23 of 24) and Too Faced Born This Way Foundation (22 of 23). The last three on the list each drew several failures.

Does foundation get rid of dark spots?

No. Foundation covers dark spots but doesn't treat them, and the records here are what shoppers said about how well each one covered theirs. How well it covers also depends on the shade match and how much you apply, so test the shade in daylight. A spot that changes shape or color, itches or bleeds is worth showing to a doctor.

Does Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Foundation cover dark spots?

Often, but not as reliably as the first four: 19 of 24 shoppers said it did. Across all 30 of its reviews, 17% say it doesn't cover enough, though 27% say it looks like skin.

Which of these foundations are sold on Amazon?

IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream, Too Faced Born This Way Foundation, Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation and Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick have official Amazon listings, sold by the brand or by Amazon itself. IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream is the leader and the best pick sold on Amazon at 50 of 51. For NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation, Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Foundation and MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation, we could not confirm an Amazon listing.

Related problems

Foundation Full-coverage foundation Top pick: COVERGIRL Simply Ageless Wrinkle-Defying Foundation 335 buyer reports Concealer Concealer for dark spots Top pick: Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Concealer 218 buyer reports Foundation Foundation for redness Top pick: Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation 267 buyer reports Foundation Foundation for acne scars Top pick: Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation 254 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.