I was somewhat late to hop on this bandwagon but Deciem brand, The Ordinary quickly became one of my favourite brands. Their extensive skincare line at ridiculously affordable prices have gradually been reeling me in over the last year. On top of this I had also seen a lot online about both of the brand’s foundations so thought that it was my beauty blogger duty to make a purchase and road test them for you. I know, I’m far too kind to you all…

There are two foundations from The Ordinary – a serum and a coverage formula. As you would expect, the coverage formulation is medium-buildabe coverage whereas the serum formulation is more on the medium end of light coverage, I would still consider it good coverage in comparison to other serum foundations I’ve tried though.

First of, the price of these foundations is amazing. For a mere £5.90 you get a good 30ml of product – significantly trumping their high street counterparts!

The packaging is as you would expect, minimal and simple with a small bottle and a welcome pump applicator. The Ordinary can no doubt keep their prices so low because they are not investing a tonne in branding/packaging. For me, I much prefer simple, effortless packaging, so it’s actually a plus point for me. My only gripe with the packaging is that the pump is similar to the Nars’ casing which gets grubby VERY quickly.

One thing that struck me when I was ordering these foundations online was the extensive shade range. It’s not often that brands with such low price points offer a significant amount of choice. The Ordinary foundations can be picked up in 21 different shades, handily pictured and described on the site to help with shade selection (I used the Temptalia Foundation Matrix to be sure).

The Serum Foundation

This oil free, light weight foundation feels really natural on the skin. The consistency is really thin and fluid so be careful when applying as it can quickly end up everywhere(think MAC’s Face and Body Foundation). I apply with a foundation buffing brush and it goes on evenly and blends out easily. I have worn it to work and it has still been on my face at the end of the day which I wouldn’t have foreseen initially.

The finish on me is more glowy and radiant and it feels really light and breathable on my skin. It even contains an SPF of 15.

The Ordinary utilise a unique suspension system within their products that I won’t pretend to comprehensively understand. However, this system allows shades to look so natural on the skin that they claim three shades or more will suit most skin tones.

Even though this is oil free, it isn’t one for the oily gals in my humble opinion due to the consistency. However, if you’re on the normal to dry side, I’d recommend this for you.

The Coverage Foundation

As you would expect the Coverage formulation contains higher pigment levels which claims to result in a more full coverage look which still looks natural and doesn’t settle into fine lines.

I really like this formulation too though the serum is my favourite surprisingly. The coverage is good, but not full coverage in my opinion – more like a solid medium coverage. Again, I find the foundation to be long wearing with no separation on the skin.

The consistency is a little thicker than the serum version as expected, but it is still thinner than what I am used to.

The only thing that I have noticed with this version is that prolonged use (for a week solidly for example) tends to dry my skin out, particularly around the chin. So I tend to switch this one up a lot with my other foundations.

In all, both of these foundations are really good and for the very low price point, they really exceeded my expectations. I would definitely repurchase the serum version when it’s done as my skin loves it and it doesn’t dry my skin out at all like the coverage one can.

Are you obsessed by The Ordinary too? What are you must have products?

Thanks for reading.

Lynsey xox