If you are looking for a new foundation, I got you covered. I decided to start a foundation series over on my Insta page because I realised I have a few foundations and its only best to share which ones work well and have enough shades for dark skin tones! So the challenge I set myself is this, every month (I made a rota guys smh), I stick to using 1 foundation and report back to you guys. I am loving the challenge so far because I am enjoying rediscovering some foundations I had in my collection! Doing this has also shown me how far I have come in selecting better foundation shades & undertones for my skin tone. I am also learning how to work with the shades that aren’t quite a good match but not bad enough to sell or throw away
Anyway, let’s get into it!
It’s no secret I love The Ordinary! Their skincare range is amazing at cheap prices: a combo I always love! The skincare giant released Colours by The Ordinary (I think late last year) and it quickly went viral too and soon it was sold out with stellar reviews were coming in. I only purchased the foundation this year, mainly because I didn’t really need a new foundation but also I couldn’t be bothered to join a waitlist for it.
The High Coverage foundation is one of the foundation offerings from the brand. This one provides full coverage with a higher conc of pigment plus a semi-matte finish. Skin looks smoother, stays on longer and resists settling into fine lines.
As always with the challenge, I have been wearing the foundation all month and for May I really tested the claims of this out! It’s not the biggest shade range, you get 21 shades with different undertones. I have yellow/golden undertones however the shade that offered this would be too light so I opted for the 3.2 shade which has red undertones. I was worried about this, but after watching tons of videos it looked like it wasn’t that red.
The High Coverage foundation is lightweight and does leave the skin looking smoother! It does have a semi-matte/ satin finish. The red undertone is really subtle infact I didn’t notice a huge difference compared to my yellow/golden foundations! Thank God it doesn’t oxidise too! In terms of performance, its top of the range and I am actually very impressed by it! The staying power on this £5.90 foundation is amazing! It does extremely well in heat and wears very well as time goes on! It’s also one of the foundations I have noticed that takes a while to separate around my smile lines! This pairs well with a few primers I have tested it out with: Makeup Revolution Primer and L’Oréal Mattifying Primer (if you love a matte finish, pair this foundation with a matte primer and you will love the results! I paired it with the L’Oréal primer and it gave an extremely matte finish which I didn’t like (I don’t like matte finishes but if that’s your thing go for it)
I have also mixed the High coverage foundation with a few liquid illuminators (see which ones on my instapage ) and a few times with an illuminator and beauty oil for the ultimate dewy/glowy finish- it pairs and works so beautifully with these products without falling short. Of course, it means the coverage is ‘sheer’ compared to its normal coverage. Or more like a medium coverage. It doesn’t look cakey on however I have realised if I use a full pump or 2 it can look cakey. I think it’s because it’s a high conc of pigment, this is very reminiscent of the NARS all Day Weightless Luminous. Is it transfer proof? No, but so is all my other foundations.
Verdict- this £5.90 foundation is on par with some of my £30 plus foundations. The Ordinary High Coverage foundation reminds me of the NARS all Day Weightless Luminous foundation in terms of coverage but without the luminosity. It also reminds me of the NARS Natural Radiant foundation in terms of how smooth and ‘fresh’ it leaves my skin but again without the radiance. Works well in the heat and doesn’t slide off, photographs beautifully and medium to full coverage yet natural-looking all under £6! C’mon!
If you are looking for a drugstore foundation please look into this! If you are yellow/golden undertoned and want to try this shade don’t worry it doesn’t look red at all! I honestly think this is worth all the hype!
The Ordinary High Coverage foundation is £5.90 on Deciem
sarah fynn 