Out of all of the versions in our hunt for the best No7 foundation, the No7 Stay Perfect Superlight was one of our favourites. Yet while we’ve previously included No7 products in our various lists of Best Buys, now we’re delving a deeper to not only celebrate the brand’s foundation range but to put the best No7 foundations to the test.

Boots No7 Essentially Natural Foundation 40ml - Warm Ivory

No7 has, in many ways, changed the game when it comes to affordable, effective skincare and makeup. Also worth trying Dior Forever. Again it covers well but feels light on the skin and is great around the eyes. Out of all the foundations in this No7 foundation group test, the Essentially Natural foundation gave the lightest coverage. The consistency is a light-medium runny liquid, and this gave light coverage. It did leave our skin with a glow, as the Luminate part of its name would suggest, but we instantly had to powder our oily areas. The foundation overall felt like it would slip off the face no matter which primer you use. Given that this is one of the most expensive No7 foundations in the range, we were highly disappointed.Each No7 foundation was tested on our face with a silicone primer and a water-based primer. We also tested these No7 foundations with a foundation brush and a beauty blender in an attempt to mimic the various combinations we expect you will use and experience. We were unimpressed with this No7 foundation almost immediately. When applied with a foundation brush we could see streaks on top of the skin that clung to dry patches. Out of all of the versions in this group No7 foundation review, the No7 Stay Perfect Superlight was our favourite Take a look at your bare skin in the mirror in natural light to identify which skin tone you have, ranging from fair, light, medium, medium/rich and rich. You might find that instead of just being one tone, you’re a combination of a few skin tones such as light-medium or medium-rich. If you’re really struggling to work out what type of skin tone you have, ask a friend to help or visit a local beauty counter for assistance. Knowing which skin tone you have will make it a lot easier to determine which foundation colour will suit you most.

Essentially Natural Foundation 40ml | No7

The shade came out lighter than expected, which is largely because of its SPF15 rating. The foundation worked well with silicone and water-based primers, and we preferred the look we used with the foundation brush because we felt it gave that bit more coverage where needed. Using a beauty blender gave more of a natural finish, which this foundation is designed to do and is ideal if that’s what you’re going for. This foundation contains SPF15 and the consistency holds the SPF, which is why there was a slight white cast. We suggest going a shade darker Even though it gave light-to-medium coverage, it covered blemishes well and the shade matched almost exactly. This would be the perfect everyday foundation, it worked well with both primers and gave a lovely natural finish – our skin looked like, well, skin. We did favour the beauty blender application because it gave a smoother-looking complexion, but the difference was marginal. The result was better when we used a beauty blender however, the Lift & Luminate Triple Action Serum foundation did still cling to dry patches – regardless of whether we were using the silicone primer or the water-based one. Although it was worse when used with the former. The No7 Stay Perfect foundation is highly buildable and works well with a silicone primer. It was easy to work into the skin and it gave a natural finish, which we liked.

Pharmacy product

We’re very pleasantly surprised by how well this foundation performed. So much so, it surpassed our previous favourite No7 foundation, the No7 Stay Perfect Superlight Foundation. The Restore and Renew Serum foundation gave us light-to-medium coverage and it masked our blemishes with ease. We’re unsure why Boots doesn’t offer the same shade range across each type of foundation, or why it can be so difficult to tell which shade you are in each type. It also worked beautifully with our other concealers, bronzers, blushers and highlighters. Even those not made by No7. Out of all the foundations in this No7 foundation group test, the Essentially Natural foundation gave the lightest coverage