I had been meaning to get my hands on The Ordinary’s Serum Foundation for some time, so while for many this is old news, I thought I’d throw my two cents into the mix. I picked up two shades knowing that shade matching via the internet is always risky, and so ordered the shades 1.2 N and 2.0 N in the hope I could mix if needed, which sure enough I did. The Ordinary also make a Full Coverage Foundation but alas that’s not really my thing so I chose to focus on this.
TEXTURE, COVERAGE & FINISH
The texture is a runny liquid, so careful if you’re applying it to the back of your hand first. I think this works well with a brush or fingers, but I tend to use it most with the Zoeva Face brush to really buff it in. Being a serum foundation, for some reason I had expected this to have a little glow in it, but it’s much more on the satin side in terms of finish. It’s also incredibly light weight but does offer some coverage, more than I had anticipated. I think I had presumed this was going to be like a dewy tinted moisturiser, and it definitely isn’t either if those things. It is a proper foundation with a light to medium coverage that you can actually layer pretty well. It covered my redness and gave my skin a unified look and it did last on me.
While I like it, I don’t think I would reach for it everyday, I would describe my skin as normal and dehydrated, and I definitley needed more moisturiser than normal with this, especially around my nose to prevent the product catching. I actually think if you have normal to oily skin this could be pretty as an everyday foundation, but if you have combination skin, or dryness you may find this catches to dry patches, and if you have very dry skin I would say best to avoid this one. I think this is also a nice foundation for normal to oily skins who want something that feels breathable and lightweight, but gives a medium coverage, great for the office and or evening.
POSTIVES
The shade range is amazing for such an affordable foundation, with 21 shades with a range of undertones available, although I would have picked it up from a store had I had one near me to ensure the correct shade. The packaging has a minimal feel to it that I actually think looks pretty high end, I love how neat and tidy it is and you get a pump! Always a bonus. It is incredibly purse friendly at $6.70, so great for anyone looking for a medium coverage foundation that’s lightweight and more on the matte side.
Because it’s an oil free formulation, it doesn’t feel very moisturising, so as I said previously, if you have dry skin this might not be the right foundation for you. It’s not a suit all foundation, and while I can get away with this if I use a lot more moisturiser, when looking super close up, I could see a little bit of catching on my dryness around my nose. You could always try adding a drop of facial oil into the serum foundation to give it a little more slip and add hydration, but I do understand that’s a bit too much faff for some people. To sum up it’s a nice foundation, not my favourite and one I probably won’t reach for on a daily basis but I think that has more to do with it being very different to what I had imagined it would be like, and I prefer foundations with a more dewy finish.
