The Ordinary Skincare. Sadly, It Was For Me.


Just what the blogosphere needs.  Another post about The Ordinary.  

You know that little brand that’s been kind of a big deal in the beauty blogger and influencer world for quite a while now.

To recap, The Ordinary is a Canadian skin care brand that’s been breaking the internet with its high-performance range of evidence based key ingredients.  The most expensive items are the serums and they cost around $25 so you can understand the fuss here in Australia where you could easily pay 5 – 10 times that price for the equivalent made by another brand.

I’ve been using ‘The Buffet’ ($24.90 AUD) serum under ‘Natural Moisturizing Factors’ ($9.80 AUD) for the last couple of weeks.  If I have one complaint about The Ordinary is that it’s hard to know where to start in terms of which products to use.  There are some suggested regimes on their website but I actually made my decision about what to use based on blogger suggestions and those of my Instagram buddies.

The Ordinary don’t make cleansers or toners right now so I’ve been using a REN cleanser and a long time favourite, the ARCONA cranberry toner.

I then wore my usual SPF 50 and make up over the top for a week.

Mecca’s’ black label’ To Save Face

and the power couple that is Hourglass’ Illusion Hyaluronic Skin Tint and Ambient primer in Dim Light.  Also both from Mecca.

Unfortunately, as I will explain later in the post, The Ordinary has been just that for my skin.  To make sure I wasn’t just having impossible expectations of the range, I then switched back to my usual routine and found that the problems I had with application and skin quality both resolved when I was back on my old multiple brand regime.

Initial impressions:
– easy to use, functional packaging that looks good in its simplicity
– ingredient lists make it clear what percentage of active ingredients are contained in each product.

‘The Buffet’:
– I found the serum blended easily into my skin without leaving a filmy residue behind, eventually.  It did take a fair bit of work and time to get it to soak in
– my skin feels softer
– ‘The Buffet’ is meant to target fine lines, wrinkles, dynamic lines and textural irregularities but I haven’t really seen much change in my lines.

‘Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA’:
– I found this moisturizer quite thick and heavy, it ‘sat’ on my skin in white streaks while more expensive creams tend to ‘sink in’ better
– as it contains no SPF, I wear my usual SPF 50 from Mecca Cosmetica over the top
– wear under makeup wasn’t great.  I found it hard to blend my makeup over the top.

A longer term view:

‘The Buffet’:
– I just didn’t get that instantly smoother and more hydrated feel under my fingers when applying compared to my usual products.
– I began to break out after a few days of use.

‘Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA’:
– leaves a noticeable white cast on my skin
– feels heavy
– broke out after commencing use.

Would I repurchase?
– Ironically, I’m more disappointed about the lack of miracles worked on my skin than I have been with the underperformance of other, pricier brands.  There’s just been so much hype attached The Ordinary and while the products leave my skin soft, I haven’t noticed any change in texture or the appearance of glow like I did within a few days of using my favourite products from Arcona and Kiehl’s
– at this stage, I’m very happy with the other products I use from those other brands and won’t be abandoning them for The Ordinary
– I might return to the serums alone from this brand as they seem to work better for me than their cream based moisturizers.
– will be putting what I currently have in my gym / swimming bags so that they don’t go to waste.

The Ordinary.  How did or didn’t it work for you?

Tell me everything.  And have a great weekend, it’s going to be sensational here in Sydney if the forecast is to be believed!!


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *