Canadian brand Deciem has everybody in a tizzy! First with their affordably priced skincare products and now with their (The) Ordinary Colours foundations, they’ve taken the beauty world by storm. What can I say; Canadians are fabulous! Of course, I might be a teensy bit biased.

Price: CAD 6.70

The Colours line has two different foundations: Serum and Coverage. With a waiting list of over 25,000 people – I had to wait a little bit longer than normal to get the serum foundation in the mail. So read on to see if the wait was worth it!

From the website:

“Serum Foundations are lightweight medium-coverage formulations available in 21 shades. The shades are divided into 3 categories: 1 for fair-light, 2 for medium; and 3 for darker tones. A second digit from 0 to 3 to indicates depth within each category. Finally, a letter is added to identify the undertone: P (Pink) and R (Red) indicate cool undertones for lighter and darker shades respectively; N indicates a Neutral tone; Y indicates a Yellow undertone.

Three of the shades have an additional letter: S indicates Silver highlights and G indicates Gold highlights; these shades use fine dispersions of metallic effect pigments for added highlight. The Ordinary will introduce individual enhancers and highlighters in the near future to customize all shades.”

Packaging

Simple but effective. That seems to be Deciems motto; all the good stuff minus the frills. The same applies to the packaging, as it is lightweight, and it has a pump (thank god)! It also has a locking mechanism (turn it a notch and it locks and unlocks). However, there is a bit of leftover dribble after pumping out a drop of foundation, so it is minutely messy, particularly because there is no cap. I found that a bit strange, but overall, it’s not a big deal.

Shade Match

As you can see, the Serum Foundation is a tad darker and significantly more yellow than my favourite foundation – Hourglass Illusion Hyaluronic Skin Tint in Golden Tan (what a mouthful, eh?), and my new love Estée Lauder Double Wear Light Intensity 3.0 (review coming soon).

My body is naturally a sallow olive, however, if blended well, I can pull off this shade. I think it’ll serve me well in the summer when I’ll naturally tan a little. I think my perfect shade would be 2.1N (which does not exist yet), as I think 2.0 would be a hair light.

Application

One pump was perfect for my whole face (just dot onto face and blend from there). Make sure you’re extremely well moisturized!

Brush: I tend to stipple my foundations on, however due to the consistency of this liquid (it’s a thin fluid, not gel-like; somewhat akin to the texture of NYX Total Control Drops) it tends to go streaky. When buffed into the skin smoothly, it sits well.

Sponge: this is the best method of applying! It really makes the product meld into the skin and even the colour discrepancy is disguised (far better than with the brush. Beauty Blender for the win, that’s for sure.

The finish is a natural, satin finish, not tacky or cakey (my mom even said my face looked super smooth). Although the foundation sets nicely, I still set my t-zone as that is where the shine creeps up on me on most foundations.

Longevity/Results

*side note: marks on the nose are from my glasses

Day 1 Test: Foundation applied with a brush on top of the Deciem’s The Ordinary High Adherence Silicone primer (review coming soon). The foundation developed a sheen at about 4 hours (which is be easily fixed with a quick blot or powder). The shine didn’t get more pronounced until about 8 hours, where it’s properly shiny. At 10 hours, my face was glistening more than Kate Upton’s boobs in the Carls Jr. commercial! That being said, the foundation does not break down or disappear – it just develops a shine.

: No primer, applied with a Beauty Blender. At 4 hours the foundation was looking virtually untouched from first application – just a healthy glow. 6 hours in, there was a more pronounced all over glow (but not greasy at all). 10 hours in, I was pretty reflective, but definitely less than in the Day 1 test. I think that’s due to a combo of no primer and application with the beauty blender – that’s how I’ll be using it from now on!

Overall, I’m loving this foundation. The coverage is all I need for my skin type, however if you deal with a lot of texture or acne, or have an oilier skin type, then this might not be for you (maybe check out the Coverage Foundation).

This will be my everyday foundation for summer, but on days where I need to look flawless for 10+ hours, or through more strenuous conditions (heat, parties, etc), I’ll probably go for something else.

One note of caution -there have been reports of people breaking out due to the coconut alkanes in the product, so if you’re sensitive to coconut oil, try at your own discretion.

I’d definitely recommend checking out this foundation – the price is right, and so is the look and feel on the skin!