On 8 September 2017, Fenty Beauty launched in 1,600 stores across 17 countries, with a 91-SKU line. The number that people remember is 40, the count of shades in its Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation. One day, one shelf, forty options for one product. Nobody had to be told the conversation had changed.

I like to think of the twenty-odd years around it as a slow swing. Estée Lauder's Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup debuted in 1997, with Elizabeth Hurley as its first face, as an oil-free, long-wear soft matte foundation. Armani's Luminous Silk arrived in 2000, when matte full coverage was the look, and Pat McGrath worked with the brand on a featherweight formula. Then came the skin tint. Ilia's Super Serum Skin Tint launched in 2020, and by 2021, according to BC Business, it was its retailer's number one foundation. The story is coverage first, then radiance, and now something in between.

My case for foundation makeup today is that you should pick the job, not the brand, and judge it at hour six. So I sort by finish. The trick with the first grid, the sheer skin tints, is that they are the easiest way in. Summer Fridays' Sheer Skin Tint with Hyaluronic Acid + Squalane and Saie's Glowy Super Skin Tint are the ones to try if you do not like feeling made up. Hourglass's Veil Hydrating Skin Tint Foundation and Armani Beauty's Golden Hour 24HR Lightweight Skin Tint are the polished pair, and REFY's Skin Base is a gel version.

Glossier's Perfecting Skin Tint, Sephora Collection's Reveal The Real and MAKE UP FOR EVER's Super Boost are the everyday ones. Start with one pump, fingertips, and no more until you have checked the mirror.

One rule for serum bases: swatch at the jaw, in daylight, then walk around for ten minutes before you decide. These formulas look sheer in the bottle and go a little different on the skin, so the shade that looks right in the bottle is not always the one that looks right at noon.

Tower 28's Swipe Serum Foundation is the one with medium buildable coverage. Danessa Myricks Beauty's Yummy Skin Soothing Serum Skin Tint is the soothing, skincare-adjacent one, and ILIA's Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 is the one that started a lot of the conversation. Ciele's tint & PROTECT brings SPF 50+ into a medium coverage serum foundation, which suits anyone who wants one step less in the morning.

L'Oréal Paris makes two: the Age Perfect Radiant Serum Foundation and the True Match Nude Hyaluronic Tinted Serum. They are the friendliest way to try the category if you are not sure about it. LIXR Beauty's Skin Shake is a bi-phase formula, which is a polite way of saying you shake it. ISAMAYA's Color Correcting Skin Tint Serum is the odd one out and the most interesting, because it aims to correct colour and tint in one go.

A pairing I like: a serum foundation on the face and a dab of concealer only where you need it. Less product, better skin.

What I would skip: a serum tint on the night you need a base to survive a wedding. That is a job for the next grid.

A habit worth borrowing: take a daylight photo of your face at hour six, not hour one. That is the only honest review a foundation gets, and it is the reason I trust the long-wear names on this list more than any swatch.

Estée Lauder's Double Wear Stay-in-Place Lightweight Longwear Matte Foundation comes from a line with a real history. NARS's Natural Radiant Longwear Full Coverage Foundation and Gucci's 24 Hour Full Coverage Luminous Matte Finish Foundation are the two with some light in them, for people who want coverage without looking flat. tarte's Amazonian clay 16-hour full coverage soft matte foundation is the classic clay option, and Too Faced's Born This Way Undetectable Medium-To-Full Coverage Foundation is aimed at the undetectable finish.

Laura Mercier's Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Waterproof Foundation and ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr's Turn Up the Base Full Beat Waterproof Liquid Foundation are the two for heat and tears, and the latter is the one for a stage or a wedding. Anastasia Beverly Hills' Impeccable Blurring Second-Skin Matte Foundation finishes the row with a blurred, matte look.

A pairing I like: full coverage only through the centre of the face, then a skin tint at the edges so there is no line. It reads as one face.

What I would skip: full coverage matte on dry, flaky skin. It will show every patch, and no primer forgives that.

Try this: draw three stripes on the face, then blend with your fingers, not a brush. Fingers warm the stick, and warmth is what makes it melt into skin.

Westman Atelier's Vital Skin Foundation Stick is the one I think of first, since the brand offers sixteen or more shades beyond its first. Dior's Forever Skin Perfect 24H Multi-Use Foundation Stick has the name to match its ambitions, and Hourglass's Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick is another stick worth a swatch. Charlotte Tilbury's Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint Hydrating Foundation Stick leans lighter and dewier.

Fenty Beauty's Eaze Drop Stick Blur + Smooth Tint Stick Foundation is the reminder that the brand that opened this piece is still in the game. LYS Beauty's Triple Fix Blurring and Hydrating Skin Tint Foundation Stick, Ami Colé's Skin-Enhancing Lightweight & Blurring Foundation Stick and BASMA's The Foundation Stick round out a row that is good for a bag, a gym locker or a desk drawer.

A pairing I like: a stick on the areas that matter, then a light tint of the same shade family across the rest.

What I would skip: a stick on unmoisturised skin. It drags, and a foundation you have to fight is not a quick one.

I think most people should start with a skin tint, learn what they actually like, and only then move up to serum or full coverage. The rest of it is a matter of the day you have, not the shelf you shop.

If you have one event a year, get a long-wear foundation for it. If you want a quick morning, get a stick. And judge every one at hour six. In 2017, Fenty put forty shades on the shelf in a single morning. You get to spend the next few weeks finding yours. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Born This Way Concealer, Plus Full Coverage Alternatives and Brushes and Westmore Beauty Body Coverage Perfector, From a Hollywood Makeup Dynasty.