Summary: Well People’s newly launched Skinforia Serum Foundation is a lightweight foundation with a light to medium buildable coverage that dries down to a satiny, skin-like finish. The product was great for my combo-to-oily skin — it didn’t make me look slick by the end of the day, the way many products do. Its buildable, long-wearing formula makes it perfect for casual, everyday wear.

What I love: 

  • Skinforia’s coverage was exactly what I like: A light-medium coverage that’s highly adjustable, great for casual and formal settings alike.
  • The foundation has a long-wearing formula, looking almost the same at day’s end as it did in the mornings.
  • The brand has great sustainability specs — they’re verified by EWG and Fair Trade.
  • At $30, the product is on the affordable end when it comes to non-drugstore foundations.

Things to keep in mind:

  • At $30, it’s still pricier than drugstore options.
  • Dry-skinned folks or those who use intensive actives like tretinoin, exercise caution. The foundation was great for my combo oily skin, but I had to wear a nice and hydrating moisturizer underneath.

I’ve been testing and writing about foundations for years. I’ve tried a lot of makeup products (to the benefit of my friends and family, who get to keep my extras).

“It’s a light-ish coverage foundation with hydrating, good-for-your-skin ingredients like squalane and birch sap.”

Not only do I know what I like when it comes to foundations, skin tints, tinted sunscreens, and the like — but I also know how different products stack up to one another, in terms of consistency, application, shade matches, and where they fall on the spectrum from dewy to matte finishes.

So I was thrilled to test out Well People’s most recent launch: Their Skinforia Serum Foundation. Pegged as a “tinted serum,” it’s a light-ish coverage foundation with hydrating, good-for-your-skin ingredients like squalane and birch sap.

Since it has a fairly affordable price point and great sustainability certification, I was curious how the foundation would actually hold up from a performance perspective.

About the brand

Well People was one of the first heavy hitters in the clean beauty space. Formerly W3LL PEOPLE, they launched in 2008, founded by a makeup artist and a dermatologist. In 2020, e.l.f. acquired the brand, proving that clean beauty was no longer a trend, but an investment. 

Well People has over 100 EWG-verified products, meaning that they meet some of the highest clean standards in the beauty industry. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit comprising scientists, policy makers, and lawyers who help consumers make more informed choices about the products they buy. Well is also Fair Trade certified, ensuring they engage in ethical manufacturing.

“Well People has over 100 EWG-verified products, meaning that they meet some of the highest clean standards in the beauty industry.”

Some of the brand’s best-selling products include a tinted lip oil, a stick highlighter, a powder foundation, a mineral SPF, a lengthening mascara, and a stick concealer/foundation hybrid—the latter three of which I also got to test out. More on that below.

Putting the foundation to the test

I was happy to find out that the brand wasn’t lying about Skinforia’s skin-like finish — it really did make my complexion look like my skin, but better.

“It really did make my complexion look like my skin, but better.”

I tested shade 16, Light Neutral, which you can see is a shade or so too light for me. But because this isn’t a full coverage foundation, you have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to shade matching. While the Light Neutral shade looks a little pink on their website’s imagery, it was a true neutral in natural light — not too cool, not too warm.

A pea-sized amount of product gives you a light coverage perfect for running errands or heading to the office. A pearl- or dime-sized amount gives you a more medium coverage for events or nights out (or if you just prefer medium coverage day-to-day). You can see here approximately how much product I’ve been using to achieve a sort of in-between, light/medium coverage, but you can easily use more or less to adjust your coverage however you’d like.

A hand holding a bottle of Skinforia serum foundation in shade 1.4 Fair Neutral, with a wooden floor in the background.
A hand with a drop of beige liquid foundation on the back, shown against a wooden surface in bright sunlight.
I tested the Skinforia serum foundation in Fair Neutral; on right, you can see the amount I typically use for coverage.

I like to squeeze the product onto a finger or the back of my hand instead of my face directly, so I can see exactly how much product I’m using. Then, I dot it around my face and blend it out with a damp sponge. The product has a good slip and spreads easily, without the need for rubbing or tugging with the blending sponge.

A person with short, wet, dark hair and light skin is standing indoors near a sliding glass door, looking at the camera with a neutral expression.
A woman with short brown hair and light skin stands outside near a yellow wall, wearing a black shirt and looking at the camera in natural light.
Here is my bare skin on left; this is my skin wearing only Skinforia on right.

All-day wear

This foundation was fantastic for my combo/oily skin, giving my complexion a satiny finish rather than a dewy one (dewy finishes often turn greasy by the end of the day for me).

While the formula was great for my oily T-zone, I had to exercise caution to make sure it didn’t dry out my drier areas like my cheeks. When I used my typical lightweight gel moisturizer in the morning, my cheeks felt a bit dry and tight by the end of the day. So the lightweight gel moisturizer no longer cut it in terms of moisturization under my Well People foundation—especially because I’m currently using adapalene gel (a strong retinoid).

“While the formula was great for my oily T-zone, I had to exercise caution to make sure it didn’t dry out my drier areas like my cheeks.”

So I switched to using a hydrating serum and a thicker moisturizer in the mornings before applying the foundation, and that worked beautifully. Ilia’s Barrier Build Cream is one of my favorites — it’s intensely hydrating but doesn’t leave a greasy finish, which means it works well under makeup. Especially this serum foundation.

A person with short, straight brown hair and light skin is standing outside near a yellow house, looking at the camera and wearing a black shirt.
A woman with short brown hair and a black shirt takes a selfie outside near a yellow building on a sunny day.
The foundation worked well for all-day wear, though I did have to adjust my other product use around it to prevent my cheeks from getting too dry.

When I used the foundation alone, it came off easily with the one-step cleanse I do in the evening after a day of light makeup — Osea’s Ocean Cleanser gets the job done well and doesn’t leave my skin feeling either stripped or still dirty. 

The packaging, in my opinion, is good but not great. It’s easy to dispense the right amount of product and keep the container clean. But the egg-shaped container was a little awkward because it won’t stand upright when it’s uncapped — thankfully, the product didn’t spill out when I placed the bottle uncapped on the counter to finish applying.

A hand holding a white WELL PEOPLE container against a wooden floor background.
A hand holding a white Well People bottle with a nozzle, positioned over a wooden floor and a textured beige rug.
The only thing I didn’t *love* was the roundish package, making the product unstable when set down.

A full face of Well People products

I tested out three other Well People products with this foundation: Their Daygleamer Mineral SPF, their Supernatural Complexion Stick Concealer, and their Expressionist Lengthening Mascara.

The Daygleamer SPF went on really nicely — while it takes a minute to blend into your skin, once you work it in, you’re left with a smooth, dewy finish that’s great under makeup. Throughout the day, the SPF made my skin look neither greasy nor dry and flaky, which I find is a hard balance for mineral sunscreens (they’re usually one or the other on my combo skin). 

“The Daygleamer SPF went on really nicely — while it takes a minute to blend into your skin, once you work it in, you’re left with a smooth, dewy finish that’s great under makeup.”

But when using a medium-coverage amount of Serum Foundation over the SPF, after a while it did start to look a bit cakey on the driest parts of my face. And note that when wearing both products together, I couldn’t remove it all without a double cleanse (starting with a cleansing balm, then finishing with Osea’s cleanser).

A woman with short brown hair and light eyes wears a black top, cream sweater, and wireless earbuds, standing outdoors on a sunny day with houses and power lines in the background.
Woman with short brown hair and white earbuds stands outside with eyes closed, smiling slightly in sunlight, hand touching back of her head.
My full face of Well People products throughout the day! Here I’m wearing Their Daygleamer Mineral SPF, their Supernatural Complexion Stick Concealer, and their Expressionist Lengthening Mascara.

The Supernatural Complexion Stick is a hybrid concealer/foundation. For a concealer, it gives a pretty light coverage, but I appreciated how it kept the oil on my skin at bay on the sides of my nose and under my eyes. I liked it even better as a foundation — apply as much or as little as you want and buff it out with a damp sponge for a light to light/medium finish similar to the Serum Foundation’s.

“I appreciated how it kept the oil on my skin at bay on the sides of my nose and under my eyes.”

The Expressionist Lengthening Mascara was not too subtle but not too intense, either. It’s easy to layer to customize your look, and it had good staying power — it didn’t flake off under my eyes the way a lot of mascaras do. I didn’t love the shape of the applicator, since it didn’t separate my lashes as much as I would have liked.

Check out our other editor’s review of Well People’s Expressionist Curling Mascara, which we liked even better!

Final thoughts

If you’re in the market for a light-ish coverage foundation, I can honestly highly recommend this one — from its price point to its clean beauty specs to its all-day wear.

“If you’re in the market for a light-ish coverage foundation, I can honestly highly recommend this one.”

It’s not going to give you full coverage, but it gives you a fantastic your-skin-but-better finish (and honestly, natural coverage tends to look so much better anyway) without feeling heavy or cakey. This is the next generation of foundations.

THIS STORY IS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR FRIENDS AT WELL PEOPLE

Natalie Gale is a Boston-based freelance journalist. Since 2022, she has been reviewing the top sustainable home, wellness, fashion, and beauty products, sharing her honest opinion on the best finds. When she’s not writing about art, food, or sustainability, you can find her biking to the farmers’ market, baking, sewing, or planning her next Halloween costume. Say hi on Instagram!