In 1995 a 29-year-old named Elizabeth Hurley, on her first modelling job, was introduced as an Estée Lauder spokesmodel. Two years later the brand launched Double Wear with her as its first face, selling what it called a fresh, wear-proof face: oil-free, long wearing, soft matte. That one promise set the terms for what a department-store base had to do. It had to stay put.

I have a soft spot for heritage makeup that keeps reinventing itself without dropping the original idea. The Estée Lauder foundation that made the house's name has now had its first proper reformulation in 29 years, according to Good Housekeeping UK, after seven years of research. The Double Wear Stay-in-Place Longwear Matte Foundation replaces the original formula and comes in 70 shades, up from 57, and the brand claims 36-hour wear and oil control. It also recommends you re-match your shade, which I would take seriously.

The trick is to choose by finish, not by name. Start with Double Wear Stay-in-Place Longwear Matte Foundation if you want the classic, and Double Wear 24-Hour Maximum Cover Camouflage Foundation if you need real coverage, including on the body. The Matte Powder Foundation is the refillable compact, good for touch-ups, with medium-to-full coverage that the brand says lasts 12 hours. For skin that likes a little glow, Futurist Hydra Rescue Moisturizing Foundation SPF 45 is the soft, radiant option, and Futurist Skin Tint Serum Foundation with SPF 20 is lighter still. Re-Nutriv Ultra Radiance Liquid Foundation SPF 20 is the richer one, Futurist Soft Touch Brightening Skincealer is the concealer to pair with it, and Double Wear Sheer Flattery Loose Setting Powder finishes the set.

A half-face test settles most prep arguments: foundation over your current routine on one side, foundation over only a primer on the other. Whichever side holds up at 4 pm wins, and you will know what to spend your attention on.

Double Wear has grown into a whole system. The Double Wear Stay-in-Place 24-Hour Concealer is the natural partner for the liquid, and the Smooth and Blur Primer is my pick for a matte finish. Futurist Aqua Brilliance Watery Glow Primer goes the other way, for skin that wants some light. To set it, the Double Wear Matte Setting Powder Veil is a soft finishing layer, and the Double Wear Foundation Pump is a small piece of kit that makes application cleaner and less wasteful.

Then the skin care under it all. Advanced Night Repair Multi-Recovery Complex Serum, the Advanced Night Repair Eye Lift and Sculpt Eye Cream and Micro Essence Treatment Lotion with Bio-Ferment are the skin care side of the house, and they make sense at night so that your morning base goes on over a routine you have already finished.

A pairing I like: the Watery Glow Primer only on the cheekbones and the Smooth and Blur Primer everywhere else. You get both finishes on one face.

What I would skip: a thick layer of powder over a full-coverage liquid on dry days. Foundation that has to last also has to be thin.

A formula that looks perfect in the store and heavy by noon is telling you something, so swatch it on your jaw in daylight and look again after lunch.

Dior has two, and they are very different. Forever Skin Glow Liquid Foundation 24HR Wear is the luminous one, and Forever Skin Wear Blurring Natural Matte is the soft-focus one. Fenty Beauty's Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Liquid Foundation and NARS Natural Matte Longwear Foundation both aim for a shadowless matte, and the Sephora Collection Best Skin Ever 16 Hour Natural Finish is the easy one to try with no pressure.

NYX's Make 'EM Wonder 24H Soft Matte Foundation is the easygoing one of the group, and Rabanne's Fresh Touch 24H Radiant Foundation brings a bit of polish. Chanel's Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation with hydration and longwear is the skin-first one, going by its name, for days you want hydration along with the hold.

Put a matte liquid like Double Wear on the T-zone and a glow one like Dior's Forever Skin Glow on the outer face. The two meet at the cheekbone and nobody sees the join.

What I would skip: switching to a matte base just for one humid wedding if your skin is usually dry. Keep the formula you know and add a setting spray.

Primer goes on after moisturizer and sunscreen, foundation follows a minute later, and setting spray is the last step. Give each layer a minute to settle and the whole face sits better.

Supergoop's Dewscreen Hydrating Primer SPF 50 and ciele's prime and PROTECT SPF 30+ Smoothing Primer both bring sun protection into the prep step, which saves a layer on busy mornings and keeps the face from feeling built up. Caliray's So Blown Blurring and Hydrating Collagen Peptide Makeup Primer and Jung Saem Mool's Pro-lasting Prep Face Primer with Blurring Finish are for softening texture. Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer is the mineral-minded one of the group.

For the last step, Dior's Backstage Airflash Mist, LYS Beauty's Skin Loyalty Setting Spray and Pat McGrath Labs' Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Longwear Blurring Setting Spray all do the same job in different moods. Line them up on the shelf and you will find the one whose mist and finish you like best.

What I would skip: a blurring primer and a blurring setting spray on a dry winter face. One of them is enough.

The original idea behind Double Wear is still the right one: a base that stays where you put it. The 1997 version was armor, the new one is more careful about skin, and both are a good reason to go to a counter and match a shade in person.

So I would pick one Double Wear liquid, a primer for your skin type, and one setting step, and live with them for two weeks. A 29-year-old on her first modelling job became the face of a foundation that is still on the shelf three decades later. Yours only has to get you from breakfast to the last call of the evening. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Clarins Double Serum Foundation And The 1985 Serum Behind The Name and Natasha Denona Foundation.