The Ordinary skincare

Where I got it: I recently saw a review by Wayne Goss from his Gossmakeupchat channel and I pretty much went straight onto Victoria Health website to order these. The Ordinary products are also available from Deciem, but they have just recently become available to ship to New Zealand. Therefore I ordered it off from VictoriaHealth.com before that happened. The prices of these products are crazy cheap but the shipping to New Zealand was pretty expensive. I paid £10.20 for shipping alone. The total cost for the products were £18.00. So the order came to a total of £28.20. I ordered this on 15/9/16 from their website and because of the hype that Wayne has caused, they were out of stock! Victoriahealth.com was pretty good, they did not charge my credit card until the products are back in stock and as soon as they are back and shipped, they arrived 2 days later. The package finally arrived on 27/9/16 which is not too bad seeing that they had to wait for re-stock.

What I got: I ordered 4 items from the range and I was actually interested in more items, but I will see how I go with a couple then decide if I will try more from the brand. I got the Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%, Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5, Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%, and Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2%. They are all 30ml bottles that came in a glass bottle with a dropper. The packaging is really sleek and sophisticated – white with black print and the paper box is slightly rubbery to the touch – very simple and cool at the same time.

How I find it:

Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% (£4.17 for 30ml).  Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) is indicated to reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and congestion. A high 10% concentration of this vitamin is supported in the formula by zinc salt of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid to balance visible aspects of sebum activity.

A clear gel-like liquid that is fragrance-free and color-free. You only need 1-2 drops of this product for the whole face and since it is quite gel-like I think this little 30ml bottle will probably last a good 1-2 months depending on whether you use it once or twice a day (if you want to use a Vitamin C product at night, you should skip using Niacinamide at night because they interfere with each other).  I have been using another Niacinamide product (Paula’s Choice) and it is quite pricey but effective at the same time. It did reduce the size of my pores and I only use 2 drops mixed in with any serum day and night (I’m not using any Vitamin C products at the moment). If this is as effective as Paula’s Choice, then I will definitely switch over and stock up because simply of its price point. As for the 1% Zinc in the product to balance sebum activity which I don’t seem to see much effect, but there were no side effects either so I’m not too concerned about it.

Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (£4.92 for 30ml). Hyaluronic Acid (HA) can attract up to 1,000 times its weight in water. The molecular size of HA determines its depth of delivery in the skin. This formulation combines low-, medium- and high-molecular weight HA, as well as a next-generation HA cross-polymer at a combined concentration of 2% for multi-depth hydration in an oil-free formula. This system is supported with the addition of Vitamin B5 which also enhances surface hydration. Note: Hyaluronic Acid is found in the skin naturally but its natural function within the skin is not hydration. Many products have used HA to claim hydration benefits, but HA is too large of a molecule to penetrate the skin and instead sits on the surface and can draw moisture out of the skin making the surface feel soft and hydrated temporarily while making you feel like you need more HA after the product is rinsed. This formula uses three forms of HA with varying molecular weights, as well as an HA cross-polymer, to offer multi-depth hydration and visible plumping without drawing water out of the skin solely to improve temporary surface hydration.

This is another odourless serum with a rather viscous consistency. However, once it is applied to the face it blends out easily and feels like a watery lotion. It is non-sticky, non-greasy and doesn’t leave a film on the skin. It provides hydration without feeling heavy but I would really recommend not relying this alone without a moisturiser.

Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% (£4.08 for 30ml). Vitamin C is an effective antioxidant and its pure form of L-Ascorbic Acid has been shown to reverse multiple signs of skin ageing while brightening the skin when applied topically. This water-free, silicone-free formula provides 23% pure L-Ascorbic Acid which remains completely stable due to the absence of water. The system is supported with an addition of dehydrated spheres of Hyaluronic Acid to offer visible surface smoothing alongside the benefits of Vitamin C. This treatment is ideally applied at bedtime. This product is a water-free suspension of 23% L-Ascorbic Acid powder.

Topical Vitamin C offers a wide array of benefits to the skin. However, many forms of Vitamin C and many more formulations of Vitamin C are available commercially with a potential to confuse the audience.  Note: The format of this formula is a suspension of very fine L-Ascorbic Acid powder and, as such, provides the most direct exposure of extremely high concentrations of Vitamin C topically. With such format, there are 2 important things to consider:

1) A very strong tingling but non-irritating sensation is expected during the first 1-2 weeks of use until the skin’s tolerance to such high exposure is elevated;

2) The powder exposure to the skin disallows the formula to feel like a serum, lotion or cream and each application requires a few seconds to feel absorbed by the skin. If desired, this formula can be diluted in a cream base per application to allow the skin to build tolerance over time.

This comes in a dark brown glass bottle which is UV stable to help control the efficacy of the Vitamin C. 23% is actually quite potent and I was quite interested in the fact that it is in a water-free, stable suspension. The actual product is white in colour and has a really fine gritty texture (vitamin c in powder form) which doesn’t really fully blend out or melt down on the skin. Not exactly sure how that works but when I first put it on the skin, it feels almost tingling! I was a little worried that my skin will react and burn but it didn’t at all. The gritty feeling fades and doesn’t show up on the skin anyway, instead I was a little surprised to feel it a bit moisturising (?). This is designed to be used at night only and not recommended to be used in conjunction with Niacinamide products (you can use Vitamin C at night and Niacinamide at day time). It has practically no scent and no residue on the face so you can apply your oils and moisturiser on top of this.

Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2% (£4.83 for 30ml). Lactic Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid that exfoliates the skin. This 10% formulation offers mild exfoliation and is supported with a purified Tasmanian pepper berry known to reduce signs of inflammation and sensitivity that is often associated with exfoliation. A milder 5% formula is also available.

This pH of this formula is approximately 3.8. Lactic Acid has a pKa of 3.8 and pKa is the most important aspect to consider in formulating with acids. pKa implies acid availability. When pKa is close to pH, there is an ideal balance between salt and acidity, maximising the effectiveness of the acid and reducing irritation. Higher pH numbers in such a case would increase salt which counter-intuitively would make the formula even more irritating than if the formula was more acidic.

This also comes in a frosted glass bottle with a glass dropper. The product in the bottle almost looks like it has a slight yellow-beige tone to it. However, when it is on the skin, it is clear. 10% AHA is actually quite strong so it is highly recommended to be used only at night time. It works to remove dead skin cells and promotes renewed skin to come to the surface. It has a rather thick consistency so it almost feels like a gel instead of a fluid liquid. Unfortunately, this lactic acid has a really strong plastic smell and it is pretty awful even on the back of my hand.

Overall: I love these products – their price range, the packaging, the efficacy and their textures. Except for the smell of the Lactic Acid which is really unfortunate. I don’t think I can handle that smell on my face. I’ll probably go with another AHA product from Paula’s Choice if I do need an AHA product. I am absolutely sure that I will be grabbing more products from The Ordinary as there are some products I am quite interested in.

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