The Ordinary Skincare - My Experience

It seems that everyone and their dog has been talking about The Ordinary range of skincare products recently and unless you've been living under a rock you will have seen the distinctive packaging all over social media. I am not going to give you an account of what the product claim do for your skin or the science behind the ingredients as firstly, I am no expert and secondly, we would be here all day! Instead, I wanted to talk about the products that I have used and how my skin has reacted. A very comprehensive run down of all of the products and how you should use and layer them can be found of The Ordinary website here.

I was reluctant to try the products initially as I have super sensitive dry skin and my current skincare routine was working well for me. I was very much from the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it!' school of thought!. However, my skincare routine using the Trilogy range of organic products can be quite pricey! I have to admit that it was the excellent reviews coupled with the price point that drew me in. 

The first products that I ordered were:

Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5
Advanced Retinoid 2%
Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG
100% Organic Cold Pressed Rosehip Seed Oil

I had used an hyaluronic acid in the past, the excellent Hydraluron from Indeed Labs, and even wrote a blog post about it here. I used it for many months and it completely sorted out my dry skin issues. Once my skin was settled I switched to a Trilogy skincare serum and left the Hydraluron behind however I was keen to try other things from the Trilogy line and lets face it, Hydraluron is not cheap at £24.99 for 30ml. By comparison The Ordinary is just £5.90 for 30ml! You can see why I was interested in trying it!

I can safely say that after comparing The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid to Indeed Labs Hydraluron I can find absolutely no need to spend the additional (almost) £20 for the pricier stuff! In my opinion they both do exactly the same job so my advice would be so save your pennies and go for The Ordinary version every time. 

I have the same opinion of the Rosehip Seed Oil. I have spent a lot of money in recent years purchasing Trilogy Skincare's excellent Rosehip Oil. As my skin is so dry it loves an oil and I often have makeup free weekends were all I apply to my face is lashings of oil! The Trilogy Rosehip Oil is £19.50 for just 20ml or £34.50 for 45ml. By comparison 30ml of The Ordinary Rosehip Oil is just £9 making a huge saving! Using both products I can safely that that I love them both equally therefore I will be sticking to The Ordinary version in future and making a saving of £10 for an additional 10ml of product! It's a no brainer really!

I am always looking for a new miracle eye cream and as they can be very expensive I was excited to try the Caffeine Solution which is recommended as an eye formula. It is a very lightweight and liquid solution and it comes in a 30ml bottle so you are getting a lot of product for the £5.80 price tag! It claims to reduce the look of puffiness and dark circles but I haven't really noticed any considerable difference to my eye area since I started to use it. That being said I didn't notice much difference with my Emma Hardie Eye Cream that cost almost £40 either so I am sticking to this for now!  

I had never used a retinoid before I admit that I was a little scared to apply the Advanced Retinoid 2% to my skin as retinoids are known to cause redness and peeling. However, I was pleasantly surprised as my skin has shown no signs of irritation or peeling after 2 months of use. I am continuing to use this around once or twice a week so will report back on my long term findings! 

Since my initial purchase I have also bought the Natural Moisturising Factors + HA and although I don't think its quite a rich as my usual moisturiser it makes for an excellent and affordable alternative that I am happy to use in my morning skincare routine. 

Finally, I have recently purchased what is the most expensive product in The Ordinary range, 'Buffet'. Buffet is a multi technology peptide serum that targets multiple signs of ageing at once! Well I'm certainly not going to pass that one by! Again, I am new to 'Buffet' so I want to use it as part of my skincare routine for a little longer before I commit either way!

To sum up my thoughts: I am definitely going to continue to purchase The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid, Rosehip Oil and Caffeine Solution for the foreseeable future as they are certainly excellent alternatives to the much more expensive brands that I have been using. As for the others, I will continue to put them to the test and will report back! 

Are there any products from The Ordinary that you would recommend I try? Let me know in the comments! 

Love Elle x