'The Ordinary' product reviews

I've been on the hunt for a new foundation recently, since my existing one is now slightly too dark for my pasty winter skin. I've trialled many-a-foundation, and I'm yet to find one that I'm completely in love with - I'm hoping I've found a winner with this newly-discovered brand.

I had seen a friends' Instagram post of her with flawless looking skin, and when asked what foundation she uses she mentioned 'The Ordinary'. This was a completely new brand to me, that I had never heard of, let alone seen before. However, her skin looked amazing and I thought I'd better check this foundation out for myself.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the prices of these products - a full-coverage foundation for £5.90 is an absolute bargain! After seeing the affordable prices and reading amazing reviews, I couldn't resist purchasing.

The product I bought was the Coverage Foundation. It comes in a 30ml bottle, equipped with a pump and 21 shades to suit each skin tone, ranging from pink to neutral to yellow undertones.

As this brand was only available to me online in the UK, I really made sure to do my research and get a clear idea of which shade would be best for me, and looked at different swatches online. There are colour swatches on The Ordinary's website, but I would recommend looking further into this, as they aren't always an accurate representation. I typed 'The Ordinary Coverage Foundation swatches' into Google and loads of images came up that I could inspect until I found my perfect shade.

I ended up going for the colour 'Light 1.2Y' (yellow undertones) and luckily it's a really great match for me.

As it's a 'coverage' foundation, it does the trick to give a semi-flawless base with one coat, but if you're looking for a fuller coverage then this foundation is very buildable. I really like that it blends out seamlessly, and it applies great with a brush as well as a beauty blender to give a perfect finish.

Because this foundation is so cheap, I use it as my daily base, which means I wear it all-day-long when I'm going out, whether that's to work or university. When first applied it looks amazing, but I have noticed that after around 4-hours of wearing it, it starts to look quite 'cakey' around my nose, chin and forehead, typically known as the 'T-zone'. This is where I'd recommend using a primer and setting spray to really lock the foundation in place so that it stays put on your face for as long as you need it to. Luckily for me, I had also purchased the 'High-Adherence Silicone Primer'.

When I used this underneath my new foundation, it did exactly what it's made for and allowed the it to stay put on my face for a longer period of time, but unfortunately I still noticed that my foundation was getting cakey around my T-zone later on throughout the day. I usually work a 9-hour day and by the end of that time is where I notice the imperfections coming through, which isn't all that bad.

I have used this primer underneath other foundations and I find it to be a really great base to form a protective barrier between your skin and makeup, and it leaves your complexion smooth and prepped perfectly for foundation application.

Apart from the small amount of 'cakey-ness', I really can't fault it. It's a really good foundation, especially to wear throughout the day as it looks natural on the skin, yet if you want to wear it for a special occasion or a night-out you can really build it up to be super full-coverage. My only advice would be to make sure you have a decent setting spray to hold it in place for as long as you need it to, and then you're good to go!

For £5.90 a bottle you really can't go wrong, it's a good foundation for the price and I'll definitely be buying it again.