The best lightweight foundations you can buy

Why you'll love it: For lighter coverage that erases imperfections, try the Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation. The packaging will also bring a smile to your face.

The Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation caught my attention because it was delivered to my house in a press mailer reminiscent of a giant McDonald's Happy Meal. Considering I've been a vegetarian for 12 years, it's the closest I've come to reliving that particular joy in a while.

But beneath the super cute outer packaging (the list of ingredients even looks like nutritional information) lies a truly great foundation. It's weightless and very liquidy — seriously, make sure you shake the bottle really well before you dispense it out of the nozzle to avoid spilling everywhere — and sinks into the skin like a dream.

Hello Happy is light-to-medium coverage, which means you can build it up quite a bit without it ever looking heavy. One layer easily covers up my redness. It also diminishes the look of pores, fine lines, and other imperfections. This, the brand claims, is largely thanks to the shea extract in the formula. The effect is like an Instagram filter on your face, no photo-editing apps necessary.

"I have a few light acne scars and this foundation masks them completely," Allure's Jesa Calaor wrote. The editors at Byrdie, New Beauty, and PopSugar also love this foundation, and it has a 4.1 rating on Sephora based on more than reviews.

Pros: Lightweight, blurs pores and imperfections, buildable up to medium coverage

Cons: Easy to spill out too much, limited options for darker shades

Buy the Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation from Sephora for $29

Why you'll love it: The Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick gives you comfortable-to-wear full coverage in an easy-to-control stick application.

Have you ever applied way too much foundation to your face? It's one way to take your look from "seamless" to "streaky mess" real fast. The Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick is actually difficult to over-apply, despite the intense pigmentation. It comes in triangular stick form that allows you to tailor the coverage exactly where you need it most.

This is one of the only full-coverage foundations I've ever enjoyed wearing. I smear one triangle of foundation on each cheek and on my forehead and chin. After blending out with a sponge or flat-top foundation brush I'll go back and add a little more on areas where redness or blemishes show through. The effect is comfortable, fairly weightless, and long-wearing (it's waterproof).

Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick has a 4.4 rating on makeup review community Influenster (based on more than 7,800 reviews) and comes recommended by publications like Allure, Glamour, and Refinery29. Revelist said the foundation "contains double the amount of pigment versus traditional foundations" and "adjusts to your body temperature to effortlessly blend," although I personally found it a bit stickier than more liquidy foundations.

Pros: Buildable up to full coverage, easy to control application, 34 shades, waterproof

Cons: Takes a bit of effort to blend, expensive

Buy Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick from Sephora for $46

Why you'll love it: Packed with hyaluronic acid, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint is a nondrying foundation that plumps and perfects your complexion.

The foundation offerings at drugstores are getting better by the day, and Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint is my personal favorite. It's billed as a tint but it offers coverage that's a bit higher than the Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint, though still comfortable to wear and natural-looking.

The formula contains moisturizing, skin-plumping hyaluronic acid. Although this product is hydrating, it's also oil-free and noncomedogenic, which means it shouldn't clog your pores. The applicator is a huge doe-foot that makes it easy to apply more product to the areas that need it and keep things light in other spots.

That said, this form of applicator is probably not the most hygienic since it cannot be cleaned and isn't as air-tight as pump bottles. For that reason, it might not be an ideal pick for the acne-prone. But, it is a great pick for dry skin thanks to the moisturizing ingredients. The finish is dewy but not too much.

"The hyaluronic acid [in the formula] instantly binds the product to your skin and creates a more realistic, skin-like finish," makeup artist Neil Scibelli told Real Simple. Editors at InStyle, Total Beauty, and Allure, where the product was a Best of Beauty winner in 2017, also sing its praises.

Pros: Contains hyaluronic acid, lightweight, buildable, affordable

Cons: Doe-foot applicator isn't the most sanitary, not a wide shade range

Buy the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint on Amazon for $10.65

Why You'll Love It: The Nudestix Nudies Tinted Blur Stick employs "soft-focus mineral technology" to blur imperfections and even out skin tone with minimal coverage.

Stick foundations tend to be drier than liquid formulas, but the Nudestix Nudies Tinted Blur Stick goes on super creamy and blends into a lightweight matte finish. The product uses what Nudestix calls "soft-focus mineral technology" to even out skin tone and blur the appearance of pores and blemishes.

I love the portable, compact tube packaging. The small size of the tube makes it easy to spot-conceal zits or under-eye circles, or you can blend all over the face for a wash of light coverage. It literally feels like there's nothing on your face — I usually forget I'm even wearing it. The Tinted Blur Stick is about as sheer as Glossier Skin Tint but is matte instead of dewy.

"[B]efore using the Tinted Blur Stick, I had no idea just how skin-like a product could truly look and feel," wrote Elite Daily's Bella Gerard. Beauty experts at PopSugar, New Beauty, Refinery29, and Revelist are also big fans.

The product has a 3.8 star rating at Sephora, based on 227 reviews. "It blurs pores and skin and offers what I'd call very light, but slightly buildable coverage. It essentially makes your skin look like skin, but better. The finish is natural/matte, but not drying at all," wrote one shopper.

Pros: Very lightweight, easy to apply, 10 shades, vegan, oil free

Cons: Not a ton of product for the price

Buy the Nudestix Nudies Tinted Blur Stick from Sephora for $30