Everything You need to know about the best-selling, Ordinary Products. Is it worth the Hype?

I have been anticipating writing this post for weeks now, I just want to start off by saying, I am not a dermatologist nor am I a skincare expert. This post is purely based on what worked and didn’t work for me and my skin.

The Ordinary definitely blew up this year, for starters what I love about the brand is that they are cruelty free and free from parabens, sulphates, silicones and a whole lot of harmful substances that can be commonly found in skin care products.

‘Pricing’ – I think The Ordinary is one of the cheapest brands out there for products that their field, and I love that about the brand. Most skincare products are ridiculously expensive for no reason and everyone deserves to have good skin.

I love skincare and I guess you could call me a skincare junkie; my skin isn’t flawless and for the longest time I struggled with breakouts, texture and large pores. Years of research, YouTube videos, reading blog posts and trying out different products I’ve been able to maintain my skin and get my hands on products that have worked for me. I’ll probably do a different blog post on my skincare routine, but this blog post is based on The Ordinary products I recently tried out.

Recently, I decided to try out 5 skincare products from their line.

1. Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

Niacinamide is essentially vitamin B3. Basically what this does for your skin is that it can help clear congested complexions and minimize the appearance and severity of blemishes.

Vitamin B3 is known to reduce the appearance of blemishes and congestion while regulating the natural sebum production in your skin. Overall, it contributes in improving your skins texture.

Zinc is an anti-inflammatory substance, it fights against free radical reactions and boosts up collagen production, and this in return will minimize fine lines and wrinkles in your skin.

My experience with niacinamide was slightly different, it didn’t live up to the hype in my skincare regime, I used it exactly for 3 weeks.

During my first week of using niacinamide I wanna say, three days into using the product I noticed a difference. My skin was definitely brighter, and I noticed that my pores were slightly smaller than before this made me really happy, finally a product that works, right?

By the end of the first week I started breaking out on my cheeks, which is where I usually breakout during that time of the month, I read that niacinamide can cause purging since it increases cell turnover – so I continued using it, the entire three weeks I used niacinamide I was breaking out and didn’t really see any difference which was alarming.

By the third week my breakouts were red and painful which is when I made the decision to stop using the product. I kept telling myself it was skin purging, but I don’t think that was it. My skin was just not agreeing with the product, I am still not sure as to why, maybe my skin was sensitive to it? Maybe because it was a higher concentration? I don’t know. Please message me or comment on this post if you’ve had a similar experience, I would love to gain insight.

To help myself understand, like most people would, I started to read reviews and asked my Instagram following if they had experienced anything similar. I was shocked by the amount of people who messaged me saying it broke them out as well, but there were others who said it worked wonders for them.

My take from all of this is that Niacinamide isn’t for everyone, I do wanna go back to it, maybe if I use it in a milder concentration and decrease the amount of times I use the product in a week. I am definitely open to giving it a second chance in the future.

2. Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA

I have been looking for a non-comedogenic moisturizer for the longest time, I have combination skin/acne prone skin. I am always careful about what I put on my face as my pores get clogged easily.

Non-comedogenic is fundamentally a term used to describe skincare/makeup products that are formulated in such a way that they are not likely to cause pore blockages and breakouts. Before I purchase a product, I would always go online and check the ingredients to see if there are any ingredients that will clog my pores.

I usually go on an Ingredient checker website, I use acneclinicnyc.com and copy-paste the ingredient list of the product I’m looking at. This site will highlight if any ingredients are known to clog pores. It has helped save me so much money and time of purchasing the wrong products.

Back to the natural factors moisturizer, I personally love this product, since I currently reside in Melbourne, Australia – during the winter months my skin gets really dry due to the weather, this moisturizer has helped my skin maintain its moisture without overly making my skin oily. It’s formulated in a way that it’s not greasy.

I enjoy using this product and will continue to use it. All of the ingredients in this moisturizer are non-comedogenic, it contains skin friendly ingredients which is great for problematic skin.

3. Squalane Cleanser

Prior to purchasing this cleanser, I had no idea what the heck ‘squalane’ meant, if you’ve got no idea either, you’re not alone.

So, what is squalane?

According to Healthline.com, ‘squalane is a lipid produced naturally by your own skin cells’.

How does squalane benefit your skin?

It can boost hydration in your skin and help your skin look plumper and more vibrant, the antioxidants in squalane also helps fight free radical reactions and skin damage.

The ordinary cleanser is a great cleanser in my opinion for the price you pay. According to the brands website it is a gentle cleanser that is formulated to target makeup removal whilst leaving the skin feeling smooth and moisturized, which I completely agree with. It does exactly what it says, I usually double cleanse, so I would use the squalene cleanser and then go in with my micellar water to get any of my makeup residue out, it really does work wonders in taking my make-up off.

The cleanser definitely has a very balm like texture and after you wash it off it feels like your skin hydrated itself. It does not dry out your face like some cleansers out there. If you enjoy oil/balm cleansers, there’s a high chance you’ll love this product, but if you’re into the whole squeaky-clean feeling, this won’t be your jam.

The product is also free from a lot of things, its non- comedogenic, soap free, alcohol free, silicone free, nut free, oil free, gluten free, cruelty free and vegan. We love a good product without all the nasties.

4. Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5

You’ve probably heard about this product so many times but have actually no idea what it really does

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a sugar naturally found in our skin that holds water and keeps the skin hydrated and plump. It can attract up to 1000x its weight in water. The Ordinary Hyaluronic acid in particular is supported with the addition of B5 which is known to enhance surface hydration.

I love this product, I have combo skin, and sometimes my skin can get really dry for no reason, this product has helped my skin retain its moisture. I also did have some redness around my cheek area, it helped the redness go away after a couple of uses which is great. I mainly use this to hydrate the dryer parts of my face. I usually get oily in my T zone and dry around my chin and cheek area, using this has actually balanced my sebum production as it has reduced oiliness and hydrated the dryer parts of my face.

Many skincare products claim to have Hyaluronic acid formulated into their products but you need to find the correct one that suits your skin, since hyaluronic acid is a large molecule, sometimes it might just sit on the surface of the skin since it’s too large of a molecule to penetrate to the deeper layers of the skin.

However, what I love about the Ordinary Hyaluronic acid in particular is that it is actually formulated with three forms of varying HA molecules, which is great because this means it has the ability to penetrate to the deeper layers of the skin.

5. Salicylic Acid 2% Masque

If you have acne prone skin, incorporating salicylic acid will make a HUGE difference in your skin care regime.

We’ve heard the term ‘salicylic acid’ very often but what actually is salicylic acid?

It is a Beta-Hydroxy acid also known - as (BHA). This basically means that it acts as a chemical exfoliant and breaks down excess sebum, dirt and dead skin cells that clog your pores and in turn give you breakouts. It also has anti-inflammatory properties which helps reduce redness and reduce pigmentation.

The ordinary salicylic masque is infused with charcoal and clay – this aid in deep cleansing your skin which is great because it absorbs all the dead skin cells and prevent clogging your pores.

Applying this mask is so much fun, it’s actually black in color due to its charcoal presence, I only use this product once a week and leave it on for 10 minutes as directed. I genuinely love this product; clay masks have always been a soft spot. This masque actually helps in taking away all the nasties from my skin and it leaves my skin feeling refreshed.

Please note that acids are usually sensitive to sunlight and can tremendously harm your skin, so make sure you wear SPF at all times. I use the mesoestetic dermatological sun protection SPF 50+

I hope you enjoyed my take on the ordinary products, personally I really wanted to love niacinamide and for days I was very sad that it didn’t work out, hoping to find a different brand that might work out. I hope this post helps you gain a little bit more knowledge and insight on what these products actually do for your skin. Do let me know your stories with the Ordinary. I would love to know if any of these products did/did not work for you.

Love Tash xx