If you were a preteen in the 2000s, chances are one of your core memories is going to the Clinique counter at your local department store. I remember watching my mom get shade-matched while I browsed the different types of makeup, pining over rich lipsticks and luxe eye shadows. In fact, Clinique was the first makeup I ever wore—I vividly remember my mom giving me Clinique mascara and teaching me how to apply it.
For one reason or another, I stopped using Clinique makeup as I got older. But recently, I stumbled on the legacy brand again and thought to myself, Have I been sleeping on Clinique this whole time?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes, particularly when it comes to its tried-and-true foundations. I didn’t start wearing foundation until I was in my 20s, so I never tried the formulas when I was younger, and now I know that I’ve been seriously missing out. Clinique foundations blend smoothly, blur pores and imperfections, and wrap skin in lightweight coverage that looks effortlessly natural. I gave five of its best-selling foundations a spin by applying a different one to different parts of my face and ranking them, saving the best for last.
