The Ordinary Skincare – 3 Products Tried and Tested!

This is a blog post that I have been waiting to write for months and months, and one that I have been promising since March last year! I have been putting to test a few of the massively hyped products from The Ordinary range at the Abnormal Beauty Company – Deciem.

I first visited the Deciem store in Spitalfields, London in March last year, after seeing and hearing so much about The Ordinary products that they stock.  When it was discovered, people were going crazy for their products for various reasons.  The Ordinary pride themselves on producing the highest of quality products that exclude any misleading ingredients and unnecessary packaging.  The best part of all is that this minimalist and practical approach means that we can all purchase the best of the best products at an astonishingly affordable price! Almost everything from The Ordinary sells for under £10.

The company state that “everything we do is of exceptional quality.  Today, quality is no longer defined by merely price points or distribution channels.  Quality today means being authentic, being different, being functional, being beautiful and being sensibly priced”. 

I think this statement sums up The Ordinary products perfectly!

I am always looking out for high quality ingredients in my skincare products, so being able to get these without the addition of other irrelevant and confusing ‘filler’ ingredients at an extremely affordable price is exactly what I’m about!

To me, The Ordinary is a brand that produces simplified, extremely efficient products at an unbeatable price.

Whilst the individual products may be simplified in the sense that they are stripped of all other unnecessary ingredients, that does not mean that the process of choosing the products that are right for you is simple!! In my opinion, it is in fact the opposite!  Walking into a Deciem store is like walking into a science lab and it is quite overwhelming to say the least.

The thing that I found confusing about The Ordinary products is that whilst it lists all of the ingredients on the front (which is great), it doesn’t explain what each product will actually do for your skin and what type of skin it should be used on.  So unless you are something of a scientist that understands exactly what all of the ingredients are and do, then it’s difficult to choose products for your personal needs.

In that situation I thought the best thing to do was to choose some of the most hyped products, as well as get some help from one of the sales assistants.  The other thing that I found out was that the Deciem website is absolutely amazing and it has so, so much information about all of its products ingredients and how to use them.  Like the shop, the website is a little overwhelming as it provides so much detail, but if you have the patience to read through it you will learn a lot about how to make the most out the products.

The other thing that I have learnt is that certain products should not be used together, as one product can cancel out another and it just ends up being a waste of time (and money).  Given that, testing these products has been a slow process for me.  I have got seven or eight of their products now, but I have only tested three of them so far.  Rather than waiting to review all eight together I thought it would be more helpful (and less overwhelming) to review them in stages as I use them :).

Now onto the first three products from The Ordinary that I have been using over the past year……….

Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 – £5.90

Hyaluronic acid is an ingredient that you see included in so many skincare products these days.  When I initially discovered it, the word ‘acid’ made me fear it slightly, but it is in fact a very hydrating and moisturising gel-like serum that can attract up to 1,000 times it weight in water.  Hyaluronic acid comes in different strengths, which determines how deep it can penetrate your skin and reach different layers.

The Ordinary’s Hyaluronic Acid (HA) combines low, medium and high molecular weight HA and a HA crosspolymer that produces a combined concentration of 2%, allowing for multi-depth hydration of the skin.

The addition of B5 in the formula also enhances surface hydration, meaning that the skin benefits at the surface as well as below.

This serum can be used in the morning and evening to give your skin a serious moisture boost.  I prefer to use this in the evening only, or on days when I am not wearing any makeup, as I find that it can sometimes cause pilling when I layer it with other products.  This doesn’t bother me so much at night time but I don’t want that during the day.

I have about one use left in my Hyaluronic acid and I will 100% repurchase this.  I cannot believe the difference this product has made to my dry skin.  It makes my skin feel instantly hydrated and moisturised and it feels even better in the morning time once the product has soaked in overnight.  I cannot recommend this enough to anyone who suffers with dry or dehydrated skin and for £5.90 this Hyaluronic Acid seems too good to be true.

High Adherence Silicone Primer – £3.90

I haven’t always been a big fan of makeup primers, and that’s just because I don’t really see the difference they make to my skin or makeup wear time.  I generally prefer to use a primer in the form of an illuminator or moisturising primer that gives my skin a little extra moisture before applying makeup.

However, given the amount of hype that The Ordinary’s High Adherence Silicone Primer received I thought I might just have to give it a try, especially since it only cost £3.90.

This primer is marketed as a matte, hydrating blurring primer and I can say that it really is all of those things.  It has a nice gel like consistency, it doesn’t have any scent and it just feels very nice on my skin.  It definitely has smoothing and blurring effects on the skin and makeup applies really nicely over it.  It doesn’t cause my makeup to pill or anything like that and it really does help my makeup to last a bit longer throughout the day.

Overall this is a very nice primer and I think it’s such good value for money.  I would pick this primer any day over many other more expensive ones that I have tried.

You can also just wear this as the last step of your morning skincare routine to even out your complexion if you don’t want to wear any makeup.

AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution – £6.30

The Ordinary’s AHA + BHA product is a 10-minute exfoliating facial.  I really love trying new exfoliating and resurfacing products and this peel is hands down one of the best I have tried.  I know I have mentioned a few different exfoliating and peeling products in past blog posts (here and here) so I am thinking that over the next few weeks I might do a blog post summarising the best ones and why I like them for different reasons.

The Ordinary’s AHA and BHA peel contains 30% Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA), which exfoliates the top surface of the skin, helping to give a brighter and more even appearance.  It also contains 2% Beta Hydroxy Acid which helps to clear pore congestion.

The company state that “the combined 32% AHA/BHA solution offers deeper exfoliation to help fight visible blemishes and for improved skin radiance.  The formula also improves the appearance of skin texture and reduces the look of fine lines with continued use”.

You can use this peel twice per week but I usually only use it once per week as I feel that that is enough for my skin.  You apply it to clean dry skin and leave it on for absolutely no longer than 10 minutes.  Let me warn you that this stuff really stings for the first few minutes but it calms down after that.  If you have very sensitive skin then I really would not recommend using this product as it will most likely cause a lot of irritation.  The peel contains AHA which also increases your skins sensitivity to sun, so be absolutely sure to wear SPF on your face for the days after you use the peel.

Given that the peel is a dark blood red colour it looks absolutely terrifying when you put it on your face to begin with lol but you get used to this.

After I rinse the peel off my face with a face cloth my skin feels instantly smoother and so, so clean.  I can really tell that the product has reached the deeper layers of my skin.  This stuff really helps to decongest my skin and make it feel like it has a fresh start.  It gets rid of all of the dead skin and leaves a clean, smooth canvas.

The next day my makeup goes on so smoothly and everything just looks better.

Acid peels like this are really difficult to find and usually when you do find a good one it costs an arm and a leg.  This one cost £6.30, it works and it is amazing! It doesn’t get much better than this.  If you have textured, decongested, blemished skin and need a quick fix then look no further.

That’s it for my introduction to The Ordinary products.  As I mentioned, I have a few other products in my cupboard from The Ordinary which are waiting to be used, so once I get round to testing them properly I will of course follow up with reviews on them.  The other ones which I have got are:

• Retinol 1%⠀
• Advanced Retinoid 2%⠀
• Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate solution 20%⠀
• Lactic Acid 10%.⠀

If you are interested in any of the products I have mentioned or any other products from The Ordinary, I highly, highly recommend taking a look on the Deciem website.  It is absolutely packed with useful information and there are so many products to choose from depending on your skin type.

Let me know if you have tried any products from The Ordinary and what your thoughts are on this brand :).

 

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