We love bare skin. Tinted moisturiser too. A lick of BB cream and a puff of powder on the T-Zone? That was our makeup happy place for the longest time. But lately we haven’t been looking as fresh as we’d like, and are preparing to face facts: it’s time to up our coverage game and invest in a foundation.

Happily, the latest launches mean we don’t have to forgo the weightless feel, easy blending and real-skin look of our old barely-there base. We now have all that plus full-voltage glow, double the blemish blurring and longer-lasting wear. What took so long?

Something to remember when you’re looking for ‘The One’. Rather than test on the back of your hand, trace a stripe of foundation from the centre of your cheek down to your jaw line. That way you’ll see how it works on the ruddiest and the palest areas of skin.

Click on for the best foundations that will leave you with a fresh but flawless face...