The Best Alternatives To Giorgio Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation

Not every prestige beauty product is a hit. But when you come across a truly game-changing formula, like Giorgio Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation, you also face a major dilemma: resign yourself to paying that prestige price tag for the rest of your days, or part ways and try to move on without it. Luckily, if social media has taught us anything, it’s that at least one pretty spot-on alternative to the product of your dreams exists. In the case of the best Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation alternatives, these come in the form of silicone-based liquid formulas that have a dewy or semi-matte finish that most closely resembles Armani’s smooth-as-silk effect.

Even though most of the foundations in this roundup have been dubbed the perfect alternatives to Armani’s formula, the original Luminous Silk Foundation, which sells for $69, is a beauty award-winner and makeup artist staple for a reason. The oil-free formula uses a patented technology to give it a second-skin finish that improves uneven texture and blurs imperfections. That’s a hard act to follow, though ingredients like hyaluronic acid and silicones can help to plump up the skin and create a smoother surface. All of these alternatives use similar ingredients, so you can save your money (or reserve your Luminous Silk Foundation for special occasions only).

Shop The Best Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation Alternatives

In a hurry? Here are the best Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation Alternatives:

1. Best According To Social Media: L’Oréal Paris True Match Hyaluronic Tinted Serum
2. Best Under $10: Wet N Wild Photo Focus Foundation
3. Best Under $10 With More Shades: e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation
4. Best With SPF: Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation SPF 20
5. Best 2-in-1 Alternative: Milani Conceal + Perfect 2-In-1 Foundation + Concealer

1. Best According To Social Media

Not only is this L’Oréal Paris True Match Hyaluronic Tinted Serum an Amazon favorite with more than 7,000 five-star ratings, but the lightweight foundation/skin care hybrid is also the top drugstore pick among beauty sleuths on TikTok and YouTube (it’s even popped up in Reddit threads dedicated to the Armani Luminous Silk Foundation). Because it’s a tinted serum, L’Oréal’s formula blends mineral pigments with skin care ingredients like hyaluronic acid and vitamin E for complexion-evening color that also helps to plump up and smooth the skin. It’s also worth noting that Armani is owned by L’Oréal, so it’s not entirely surprising that one of the brand’s drugstore products would perform similarly to Armani’s formula and include many of the same ingredients.

Available Shades: 14 | Finish: Radiant | Coverage: Sheer | Shared Ingredients With The Luminous Silk Foundation: Water, Isododecane, Dimethicone, Nylon-12, Magnesium Sulfate, Glycerin | Other Beneficial Ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin E, Silica

Relevant Review: “This reminds me so much of my Armani Luminous Silk Foundation for a fraction of the cost! This foundation blends so easy and literally melted into my skin. It looks like I am not wearing foundation but gives coverage at the same time! My new holy grail foundation!”

2. Best Under $10

For a drugstore option that’s less than $10, Wet N Wild’s Photo Focus Foundation has been called an Armani alternative on TikTok for its lightweight formula that blurs pores, smooths skin, and leaves behind a soft glow. Vegan and cruelty-free, you can build this foundation up from medium to full coverage, and it leaves behind a dewy finish every time. While Wet N Wild’s foundation uses several of the same main ingredients as the Armani foundation, this formula also contains nourishing ingredients like hydrogenated castor oil, making it ideal for people with dry skin.

Available Shades: 15 | Finish: Dewy | Coverage: Medium | Shared Ingredients With The Luminous Silk Foundation: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Magnesium Sulfate, Glycerin | Other Beneficial Ingredients: Hydrogenated Castor Oil

Relevant Review: “This foundation is absolutely amazing. I have so many foundations, from cheap to designer brands. I have Armani silk foundation that’s ‘supposed’ to be luminous, but to me, it’s flat. This Wet N Wild does what Armani is supposed to do. It is moisturizing without being at all oily, long lasting and best of all actually dewy finish.”

3. Another Under $10 Option With More Shades

Giorgio Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation comes in a range of 40 shades, which makes it easier to find a perfect match for your skin tone. While it can be a challenge to find as many options from a drugstore brand, the e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation really delivers with 38 shades available on Amazon. The liquid formula provides buildable coverage with a semi-matte finish that closely mirrors that of the Armani foundation. Free from parabens and phthalates, the foundation is also both vegan and cruelty-free.

Available Shades: 38 | Finish: Semi-Matte | Coverage: Medium | Shared Ingredients With The Luminous Silk Foundation: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Magnesium Sulfate | Other Beneficial Ingredients: Silica

Relevant Review: “I bought this while searching for a vegan & cruelty free [alternative to] Armani Luminous Silk. This is by far the closest for colour match, texture and application but I’d say coverage is better and find a little really goes a long way.”

4. Best With SPF

Whether you have sensitive skin or you just prefer a bit of extra sun protection in your makeup, this Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation SPF 20 will be your best Armani alternative. The vegan and cruelty-free foundation is hypoallergenic and fragrance-free, but it’s still a long-wearing formula that gives you the medium-to-full coverage color and satin finish that has helped make the Luminous Silk Foundation so popular. The chemical sunscreen filter octinoxate provides SPF 20 protection, and ingredients like hyaluronic acid, sunflower seed oil, vitamin A, and vitamin C help to hydrate the skin immediately and brighten it with continued use.

Available Shades: 12 | Finish: Satin | Coverage: Medium | Shared Ingredients With The Luminous Silk Foundation: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Dimethicone, Magnesium Sulfate | Other Beneficial Ingredients: Sunflower Seed Oil, Vitamin E, Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin A, Vitamin C

Relevant Review: “I was amazed at how good this looked on my skin. I might mention that I have copious amounts of expensive foundations…always checking out something new, but never found one that I liked better than Armani. Except for this Physicians Formula. I get so many compliments on my skin when I wear it.”

5. Best 2-in-1 Alternative

This two-in-one formula has more of a matte finish, but UK-based YouTuber and professional makeup artist Shonagh Scott filmed an entire video dedicated to Milani’s Conceal + Perfect 2-In-1 Foundation + Concealer. Wearing both the Milani and Armani foundations side-by-side, in Scott’s video, you can see that from the color match to the flawless finish, the foundations are basically a match. Like the Luminous Silk Foundation, Milani’s Conceal + Perfect is an oil-free formula that’s buildable for medium to full coverage. Additionally, Milani’s cruelty-free foundation is waterproof and sweatproof, plus, it’s an Amazon favorite that currently has more than 14,000 five-star ratings.

Available Shades: 44 | Finish: Natural Matte | Coverage: Medium | Shared Ingredients With The Luminous Silk Foundation: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Isododecane | Other Beneficial Ingredients: Silica, Plum Fruit Extract, Allantoin

Relevant Review: “I have used designer foundation all my life. I tried this foundation because I didn’t feel like spending upwards of $60 like I usually do on foundation and thought I would give this a try as my backup foundation. This foundation is amazing. […] This stuff is way better than any I’ve ever used — Tarte, Armani, Makeup Forever, you name it! The coverage is great and makes your face look flawless. Love love love this foundation. Can’t rave about it enough!”