Beauty review: The Ordinary Coverage Foundation

There is so much to say about The Ordinary, which has to be one of the most consistently rule-breaking and insanely affordable, high performance beauty brands to have ever hit the marketplace. Their formulations – and price points – have been game changers from the get-go, so when they announced they were moving into makeup under the ‘Colours’ name, it’s fair to say that the galaxy exploded. Over 25,000 people added themselves to the waitlist to try the two foundation formulas that went up online, and it would fair to say that the hype was REAL.
Now, they are available in New Zealand and yep, they were well worth the wait. Called simply Serum Foundation and Coverage Foundation, they offer 21 shades ranging from pale to deep and truly are a revelation. The shades are divided into three tiers of light, medium, and dark, which are then varied by pink, red, yellow, and neutral tones. There are also incremental decimals of shades within those three tiers, and they check off the vegan, cruelty-free, oil-free boxes too.

I initially started using the Lightweight Serum Foundation when I first was gifted some samples back in March, mainly because days were still hot and humidity super high. I fell in love with it pretty much from the get-go, watching it pretty much melt into my skin and delicately blur as it went to work. Officially obsessed, and given that a bottle retails for around $14.95 NZD, a beauty steal if ever there was one!
Fast forward a few months and I’ve had plenty of time to play with the Coverage Foundation too, which as aforementioned comes in the same shade range and also has a beautifully thin consistency for such a full coverage formula. It contains higher pigment levels than The Ordinary's Serum Foundation but still offers a smooth finish that avoids the heavy makeup look that can be seriously unflattering if not wildly ageing. The texture is that of a lightweight, non-oily cream, which I think appeals to all skin types, and the pigment has such a rich, highly-saturated effect that like the Serum Foundation, a little goes a verrrry long way. The company’s “proprietary spreadability system” allows pigments to look natural on the skin, resist collecting in fine lines and stay on for longer, and the semi-matte finish is almost cashmere-like and super flattering. You can apply and build this formula with your fingers, but I love using a dense brush and softly working it in as I go. Thus far I haven’t needed to use a powder over the top at all, and it plays very well with blusher and bronzer regardless of whether the formula is powder and cream.
Apparently both this and the Serum Foundation are designed to work exceptionally well with the primers offering from The Ordinary, which I haven’t used but have heard great things about too. Either way, this comes highly recommended – and with an RRP of $14.95? You can’t go wrong.

Main image by by Aiony Haust on Unsplash