The overarching beauty world still has a long way to go with being inclusive of all skin tones. Orcé Cosmetics aims to fill the gap in the beauty world with makeup developed for Asian complexions, conceived and founded by an Asian woman.
“Orcé’s mission is to create a world where all Asian women feel empowered, valued and confident.”
Orcé products only consist of foundation now, the Come Closer Skin Perfecting Foundation. The luxury liquid foundation come in six shades formulated using a combination of “cruelty-free, ethical ingredients,” produced in small batches. ($89, 1 fl. oz./ 30ml)
Besides from Orcé’s mission, I was also intrigued by the brand’s Come Closer Experience Set. These sets provide the opportunity to sample three Orce foundation shades before you purchase (trial size vials), and a discount towards a full-sized product. The sets are divided into three shade categories: Light, Medium, or Deep. ($30 for a set of three samples, each 0.10 fl. oz./3ml)
After looking at the shade chart, I found three shades I believed would be possible matches for my skin tone and selected the Medium Come Closer Experience Set, which included these shades: 020 Celaine, 030 Illūm, 040 Novae.
The brand provides helpful instructions on how to use the set to find your perfect shade match:
1. Apply each shade near your jawline, side-by-side vertically for easy comparison.
2. Wait 5 minutes to let the foundation settle on your skin for optimal shade accuracy.
3. View and compare shades. Your perfect match should nearly disappear into your skin!
Top to bottom:020 Celaine, 030 Illūm, 040 Novae.
030 Illūm matches my skin tone best, however it is on the fairer and warmer-leaning spectrum of my skin tone. Illūm is in the middle of the Medium collection shades, “ideal for medium skin with golden undertones.” For me, 020 Celaine is extremely fair, and 040 Novae slightly too warm. If there was a more neutral-toned, cool-leaning shade between Illūm and Novae, that might be just right for my skin tone.
I liked that the Skin Perfecting Serum-Foundation felt silky, breathable, and gentle on the skin. The formula is long lasting and while it doesn’t totally dry out my skin, I noticed that it does become patchy over dry areas of my skin, and I really have to work to spread the product evenly.
The consistency is quite creamy and smooth, however is too thick for my liking, maybe a little too high coverage, and it noticeably settles into my pores and dry spots. It was also very difficult to remove the foundation from my skin.
I’ve preferred to use the foundation as spot concealer rather than all over my face. The lighter and deeper foundation samples in my set have proved effective for highlighting and contouring.
Texture aside, the foundation shades did look quite natural against my skin tone, though I’m not sure any that I selected matched perfectly. The formula does help to give a subtle, soft blurring effect over the skin, though I find the finish to be a bit more matte rather than semi-luminous, as the brand claims.
Orcé also suggests that after testing out the foundation samples, you could try mixing them together for an even closer match, or using all three as a base, contour, and highlight.
Our formula is enriched with the moisture-boosting power of Hyaluronic Acid, plus lustrous, skin-nourishing Tahitian pearls and the antioxidant-rich botanical Evodia Rutaecarpa.
I really admire the shade offerings from Orcé in terms of making foundation shades look natural and provide options for harder-to-match Asian skin tones. I do think they should expand to additional deeper and warmer shades, especially for South Asian skin tones.
While not totally natural or organic, I was very curious to try out Orcé products for it’s unique mission to provide beauty products developed specifically for Asian women. I think the concept is very unique and necessary. I’m hoping they’ll expand their product offerings.
The foundation price is also very steep at $89 for the full-size. The Experience Set is quite pricey too at $30, but it’s helpful to test the products and receive a discount on a future purchase. I personally wouldn’t spend that much for a full-size, but it’s not too surprising if you’re in the market for a luxury foundation.
I was impressed by Orcé’s gentle, skin-enhancing ingredients and the available shade variety, however, the results of the foundation didn’t exactly live up to my expectations. I support the mission of Orcé I just don’t think the foundation, specifically the texture and “Medium” color options are right for my skin.
*Products kindly provided for consideration. however, all words and opinions are my own. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.
