The Ordinary Coverage Foundation Review

Hey there! It's been a few weeks since I've posted. Life got in the way there for a bit but I'm back with a new foundation to review- The Ordinary Coverage Foundation.

This foundation released a few months back and was initially very difficult to get ahold of because it was so in demand. I actually forgot about it until I watched a video put out by Jamie Paige where she reviewed it and had pretty good things to say about it. I was able to find my color in stock at ASOS so I ordered from them. It was $8 and I have free shipping with them through premier delivery, so it is definitely well priced. It's even cheaper elsewhere- it looks like on Beautylish they sell it for $6.70, and The Ordinary sell it on their site for $6.90. Of course you may have to pay shipping on either of those sites if you don't reach a certain purchase amount, which is why I ordered on ASOS.

The Ordinary Coverage Foundation- 1.2Y on the left, 1.2YG on the right

According to The Ordinary's website, their shade range starts at a 1.0 and ends in a 3.3. There are also a variety of undertones within that range: Pink, Neutral, Yellow, Red, Yellow Gold, and Neutral Silver. I think that makes for a pretty decent chance of finding a good match.

I initially ordered the shade 1.2YG, as it has a yellow/gold undertone. I lean pretty olive and I made the mistake of not researching what YG stood for within the brand. While other brands like Cover FX use G to describe shades for those with olive undertones, within The Ordinary apparently it means that there is literally gold shimmer running through the 1.2YG shade.

Before realizing my mistake, to further confuse myself, the first time I applied the foundation I used way too much and it didn't quite look right. Immediately I went back to ASOS and ordered the shade 1.2Y thinking that maybe 1.2YG was just too olive toned for me. The next morning I applied 1.2YG with a much lighter hand and blended it out with my Beauty Blender to find that it was actually a good match. I'm a MAC NC20 for reference.

The Ordinary Coverage Foundation Roughly Blended Out- 1.2Y on the left, 1.2YG on the right

As you can see from the photo above, there really isn't a distinguishable difference between the two shades. I do dumb stuff like ordering essentially the same color twice so that you don't have to. Like I said earlier, The Ordinary describes 1.2YG as meaning yellow with gold highlights. If I didn't read that description I would have never known that's what the intention was. I detected absolutely no shimmer to this whatsoever. 1.2Y is described as semi-matte finish and I personally think that they both wore that way.

The foundation blends in really nicely when I apply it with a Beauty Blender. It is very pigmented a covers my redness really well, but doesn't look cakey. I can build up a little more in areas like my cheeks that I have the most redness and it doesn't look like I've piled it on. I think my skin looks nice and healthy through it, too. Some natural oils will come through throughout the day so I'm not sure how oily people will fare with this one, but for my dry skin it ends up looking great- a nice glowy look. I'm a big fan of the NARS Tinted Moisturizer and I would say I like this just as much, and for a fraction of the price.

The Ordinary Coverage Foundation- shade 1.2Y, window lighting

The Ordinary Coverage Foundation- shade 1.2Y, indoor lighting

As you can see in the photos above, my nose is super oily, but I've never found anything that has been able to prevent that, so no points taken away there. Even with my dry skin it doesn't look cakey to me, as some other medium to full coverage foundations do. I also think it looks fairly natural since it's not super full coverage.

So would I purchase it again? It's probably obvious by now but YES I will. The price is amazing and it does everything I want it to- evening out my skin tone without looking too full coverage. I get why this foundation has been so in demand and difficult to get ahold of in the past.  I've heard good things about their serum foundation so I definitely want to try that next. I've been really happy with this and other stuff I've tried from The Ordinary and I'm happy to continue purchasing such well priced items from a brand that I can trust.