I am extremely fortunate and grateful to be able to share with you a guest post from a Spiker, Jill Horne, who emailed me with some detail about The Ordinary products and it was so good I thought it deserved to be shared, in full.
Take it away, Jill!
“Some background on my skin – I’ve just turned 36 and have never ever had good skin. I’ve never had acne but it’s always been spotty and just generally pretty awful.
I have also been through a litany of skincare products and brands. Most have come recommended by well meaning beauticians or friends or ladies on make up counters offering a guaranteed product that would solve my skin issues and always left me feeling let down.
On top of that I went on to develop very prominent patches of melasma after my second son was born two years ago (two boys aged 5 and 2). A friend sent me a link to a beauty article on melasma by Sali Hughes in which she mentioned The Ordinary’s “Vitamin C Suspension 23% HA Spheres 2%” – honestly what does that even mean as a product name?!
Anyway, I ordered and tried it – it stings a bit when you first start using it but after two kids that wasn’t really up there on my discomfort radar. I saw a dermatologist a few months back (massive waiting list on the NHS) and she agreed I should keep using the product.
I checked my “before” photos of the patches and what an amazing difference after a few months. This could partly be due to it being winter and the patches will get lighter without being exposed to sunlight (I live in the North of Scotland so not much danger of sunshine in the Winter at all) but it has definitely helped to lighten them.
Long story, but this then got me interested in the brand itself. I looked at their website and it is insanely full of products that didn’t mean anything to me. I saw a lot of beauty articles/social media buzz about their products but that doesn’t make me part with hard earned cash on its own.
I hate being beaten by anything so I spent a few nights going back and forward on the website and the various regimes they recommend. I had congested skin with spots and blocked pores and dry patches. I took a look at the regimes and mixed and matched my own combination which is:
- Cleanse with Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser to take off make up
- A dropper of Salicylic Acid 2% Solution (recommended for congestion but who knows what it is)
- A dropper of Buffet Multi-Technology Peptide Serum (their all round super serum)
- A dropper of 100% Plant-Derived Squalane (for rehydration – this is bloody amazing stuff for me)
I’m not one for picking up the latest trend especially on facial products having been sold just about everything in the past (Dermalogica, Clarins, Clinique, Liz Earle etc) so I thought I would give it a go for a few weeks.
I just checked and it’s been a month I’ve been using the products for now. My husband mentioned last night my skin was really soft. I would have to grow a second ugly head before he would say that anything about me physically wasn’t lovely – bless – but that doesn’t help when you’re trying to do a scientific review of skin products. I asked my sister for a second opinion and she said “your skin looks amazing, it feels gorgeous”.
She also doesn’t have great skin so she knows what she’s talking about. It really is the best I have ever seen it. I’m so chuffed and will be continuing to use it until a) something goes wrong with my skin again or b) the end of time!
I do wish it was a touch easier to get to the bottom of what to buy for your skin type. I love their little glass bottles with dropper tops – makes me feel like I’m an alchemist at bedtime and the price is fantastic.
This is also a plus as I’m being made redundant at the end of March and taking the rest of this year off (takes a deep breath and keeps chanting “it’ll be fine”). Currently on gardening leave and missing the mental challenge already hence the massively long email about skin care but when it works, I want to shout it from the roof top!
Oh and this week a fourth product arrived which is the bright red/purple “AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution” which is an 10 minute exfoliating facial. (you rinse it off). It contains beetroot so the colour is intense and freaked the kids out on Sunday when I used it. I had to reassure the youngest that my face was fine and not in fact bleeding! This is apparently quite serious stuff so no longer than 10 minutes once a week. I’ve only used it once so can’t fairly comment but I’m interested to see how it goes with this.”
THANK YOU JILL! Any Londoners – The Ordinary have a store in Covent Garden and it is definitely on my list to go and quiz an actual person who can see my shitty skin so they will tell me exactly what I need.
Now let’s all say a nice big thank you in the comments box and send her the best wishes for a fabulous new job/career. Sali Hughes, watch out!
I agree completely about The Ordinary and have been using for about 18 months. It’s tricky to work out what you need as the product name describes the product rather than the benefit. We should mention the price though….incredibly inexpensive with (from memory) no product over £10.
Oh my goodness, Thank you for a great, honest post. Price tag is an absolute benefit too. X
Love love love this Review. Totally agree with you on The Ordinary’s challenging ‘wtf do you do with it’ product range and how on earth to use it. Despite having guidance from Victoria Health it’s still like trying to unravel and understand the questions on Only Connect. I’ve used TO products but clearly had not deciphered the magic spells correctly to see any benefits but this review has encouraged me to go in again.
I know right? Victoria Health was where the first thing I bought from them came from but still wasn’t the most helpful of explanations. Thanks for the feedback!
I completely agree that it’s hard to get to the bottom of exactly what products to use. I have a science background and worked in medical research and it’s still difficult. The problem is the plethora of places just pushing product – without any basis in fact. After a lot of trawling this winter for the answer (I need an anti-ageing regime) I came across a brilliant you tuber / blogger- Dr Sam Bunting. She is a Cambridge educated Dermatologist with a practice on Harley street. She gives evidence based advice on what products are needed for every skin concern – from acne through to anti ageing. The really terrific thing is that she is completely evidence based, no nonsense and if anything aims to simplify skincare regimes to those things that are proven to work. No insane triple cleansing regimes for her. She also recommends, amongst other things, Dermatologist brands that seem to be better quality and less expensive than beauty counter stuff. She looks amazing too so very inspiring all round. As a forty something with otherwise normal skin it boiled down to vitamin c serum in am, retinol at night, occasional acid exfoliation, good moisturiser (amazing one that is not expensive from Obagi) plus sunscreen.
fackin ell I like the sound of this woman
Totally agree, she’s great – she recommends a lot of la Roche posay and Avene which are very affordable too. Her most recent video on when to see a derm is super helpful. I’m actually thinking of booking in with her. We also share a hairdresser coincidentally (also great).
Totally agree on all the Ordinary stuff and how difficult it is to get to the bottom of it all. Their hyaluronic acid is v good (super important for any kind of dehydration) and I really want to try their retinols but I’m a bit scared of retinol. I look up a lot of products on Caroline Hirons’ blog to see what the f it’s all about.
Really intrigued – will have to check it out .
Great review! I’m also using The Ordinary – I recently developed rosacea and it’s well horrid. I did some research and apparently azelaic acid is helpful, so I bought their 10% azelaic suspension. I’ve been using it for just over a week & it’s made a big difference. I still have redness and flushing, but the awful red spots have nearly gone. Would recommend.
The Ordinary also do a bit of makeup – I believe it’s just foundation at the moment, but I think they are adding more products. Their coverage foundation is v good and cheap and has a wide shade range.
This is helpful Leona. I developed rosacea after my second child and am on antibiotics which work but are probably doing me no good.
* trundles off to investigate *
The ordinary is excellent. My husband is mid 40s, uses the signs of aging regime (see their website for suggested regimes) and his skin looks massively better. I am early 30s and swear by their 10% lactic acid and also the aforementioned AHA/BHA peeling solution – it just makes those awful forehead creases disappear. The rosehip seed oil is fab if you need a richer moisturiser, the squalene better for skin that gets congested. Their coverage foundation rivals a £50 one, same with the primers. I know I sound like an evangelical lunatic but they are THAT good!!!
Brilliant piece Jill – I’ve heard good things about this brand too so will definitely try something now. Hope your products continue to work for you and yes – good luck with your new career path. Go Jill! 👊🏻. I’d read a beauty blog by you – just sayin!! Thanks for sharing Esther x
Thanks so much Jenny, such a confidence boost posting this little review!
I use quite a bit of their stuff but be warned the shop in Covent Garden (which has the tiniest door in London, go in sideways) is often empty. They are always completely out of stock of most things. I now buy online, but there are often waitlists so I try to buy 3 lots of stuff at a time and then wait 3 months for it to arrive, or I can’t order it at ll. Good luck getting anything that you want.
Agreed. So often out of stock everywhere. Drives me mad. They also stock on cult beauty (sign up and wait for one of the 2-3 times a year free beauty bags with purchase – you have to spend about £150 but the bag of free stuff is genuinely amazing and they stock hair and skincare and makeup so I don’t find it hard (at all 🤨) to hit the target.) Ooo and they stock the Sam McKnight haircare stuff which is insanely amazing and otherwise only at Liberty.
Off track… there’s also an Ordinary store in Spitalfields and I think also boxpark in shoreditch.
yes the lazy slag hair spray or sassy girlfriend or whatever it’s called is good. the pink one
Yes. And it SHOULD be called sassy slag.
I love the one called Easy Up-do. I have fine hair that generally looks like a 13 year old girl’s hair in a ponytail (a 90’s, pre- YouTube beauty guru, 13 yr old), and it gives that sort of grip and texture that a cool Parisian woman might have. In my head.
in your head is where it matters
FUCK… I’ve got to start a brand making something now so that I can name things “sassy slag” ; “poisonous dwarf” ; “intimidating bitch” etc
Ha, this has lip colour written all over it. No Perfect Peony round here.
“I love your lip colour, what is it?”
“Ah, thanks! It’s a new one – Inebriated Bint by Esther Walker”
this? oh it’s called “classy hooker” and that one is “drunk and disheveled”
😂 Make it happen. In seriousness – I feel like there in a niche in beauty for acknowledging that woman have an actual sense of humour. Why is it all so BORING?? And I don’t mean Nars – oh let’s make things vaguely “naughty” and be the rebels – thing. Actually funny.
I would totally wear a lipstick in “red wine hangover” or “fucking 5am wakeup”.
red wine hangover!! I love that
The shop in Covent Garden is always so busy as well – I walked past a few Saturdays ago and there was a queue to get in. NO THANKS
They also sell it in Fenwicks which is much nicer as there’s never anyone in there and it always seems to be pretty well stocked.
Shout out for The Ordinary’s retinol 0.2% in squalane which zaps fine lines without setting fire to your face.
I love this article. I’ve been using The Ordinary for over a year. I get mine from the Spitalfields branch in London. I’m 46 with combination & sensitive skin which is prone to flushing. Azeliac acid has made a huge difference but you must wear sunscreen when you’re using it. The real game changer has been Niacinamide and Zinc which is fantastic at dealing with the excess oil & large pores that come with being perimenopausal (oh joy). I also started using the N&Z and the salicylic acid on my 14 year old’s spotty skin about 4 months ago and his skin looks so much better now. I’m a huge fan, as you can tell! If you try the foundations, I like both but prefer the serum foundation to the coverage one.
Thank you Jill for such a helpful post.
Thanks for reading Sarah!
Yup, I’m on The Ordinary bandwagon as well. I’ve always had pretty decent skin but getting some fine lines and the usual period-induced breakout. Well – in the 5 months I’ve been using The Ordinary I’ve had 1 spot. Yep, 1. In five months (it was a fucker, but it came up while I was on holiday and NOT using my ordinary products). I’m pretty amazed. Agree it’s mindbogglingly hard to figure out a regime though. I messaged Victoria health with a description of current skincare and my skin type, issues, age etc. And they sent me a regime for am and pm the next day, which I promptly ordered. So I’d recommend contacting them as they are v helpful.
AS is ever the way, the expert is the person suffering, who takes the trouble to find out, really find out about a product. A great write up Jill, and good luck whatever you find yourself doing in future. Xx
Thanks Kathy, glad you liked it! Well worth sitting down after the bedtime routine (for a few nights..) to find out about it and then write it up.
That’s a great review. I would say I’m pretty into what’s good for my skin and have wanted to try The Ordinary but have always been put of buy all the options and never really get to the bottom of what to buy. Covent Garden here I come!
The Ordinary’s full coverage foundation is amazing too. Seriously on par with top-end foundations such as Estee Lauder Double Wear and Armani Power Fabric, and it’s a fiver!!
I REALLY want to try the foundation and what a fab price. I’ve used Double Wear for years and when my pigmentation was really bad I used Vichy Dermablend foundation which was AMAZING for coverage of the melasma but ultimately terrible for my skin.
Great post, Jill. As someone who for 20 years has washed their face with water and then slapped on some Nivea it is like peering into a terrifying labyrinth of options I never knew existed. But I will come back to it.
Thanks Jill. You’re getting to the bottom of things!
I started watching skincare YouTube videos after Brexit & Trump as I’m taking a break from the real world until that passes. Here’s a bit more to add to the mix:
Caroline Hirons and Nadine Baggot = trustworthy skincare advice. Particularly what order to put stuff on.
Vit C products have to be air tight or they degrade so The Ordinary packing doesn’t work. Clinique sachets best.
Hylauronic acid in anything is good for pumping fine lines and fine for all akin.
Retinol is great for lines but tricky to find best product. Olay just brought out retinol eye cream and it’s the business.
Private dermatologists are targeted by French pharmacy brands (with specific budgets just for derm marketing) which is why the recommend things like Avene. May not always be best.at that price.
Xxx
This is great – thank you Jill. I was wondering how to use Vit C. Ordered my new potion kit this morning.
Thank you so much Jill. I’ve been interested in getting some of their products but I’m so confused when on their website. Your honest review is really helpful.
Thanks Jill & Esther for publishing!
Loving your recent abundance of posts, Esther! x
love love this brand having struggled with nasty dry skin since being like 1 but beware the argan oil ladies..it stinks like the devil in hell. i mean proper farmyard, silage type affair 🤮
Sam your description made me laugh out loud. I did see similar comments regarding the pong of it online. I’m sure I saw The Ordinary reply saying it had a “natural aroma” so silage description sounds like it’s spot on!
I love The Ordinary and am also slightly scared of it. I use the squalane hydrating solution and argean oil. I look wistfully at the stuff for facial peeling but worry about the effect on black skin, I did email them and they said it would be fine…………..but…………anyway, off to order the buffet, that looks fine.
Ordinary vit c erased my sun blotches. It’s weirdly salty tho, which must be how they keep it alive. I have gained confidence and am now using retinoid, buffet, marula oil. Not all at once. Only good things have happened.
Love love love the ordinary. Bois de Jasmin has some very helpful advice on what to use that got me started, but Jill thanks for your review. My sister has melasma which she hates, so I’m going to send her some vit c along with this link.
Kate, the Sali Hughes article on melasma featured The Ordinary vitamin C product I bought and some other more expensive things that she saw made a decent improvement to the patches. I started with the cheapest product and definitely saw a marked difference. It really got me down especially people asking if I had a black eye all the time (patch underneath it)!
I’ve just started using their 2% retinoid emulsion (after watching a tv programme about which anti-aging ingredients actually work) and although too soon to say whether it works I agree that the little bottles are lovely and the price very reasonable.
Good luck Sali!
Great advice from Spiker Jill. I use The Ordinary too – have been for about a year as I got fed up of blowing £££’s on skincare products that were being ‘recommended’ as game-changer, miracle-workers by journos and beauty bloggers who were getting it for free. Stylised photo montages of their ‘must-have’ daily skin care products that total about £600 get right on my tits.
I had to do some fairly torturous reading up on Victoria Health, etc. but I would say I’ve cracked it for my previously dried-to-a-crisp, 46 year old skin with melasma.
One good tip I got was to blend drops of hyaluronic acid with Buffet or Matrixyl (I use the latter) as it cuts time on the endless layering of product, which gets a bit boring and faffy after the second day. I start with Vit C, follow it with my Matrixyl and Hyaluronic combo and then finish off with an oil (Rosehip) or Embroyolisse cream (some French face cream – bonkers name). I always wear Factor 50 because I use retinol at night and without SPF you’ll get blowtorched and end up with a large pigment patch right between your eyebrows. Finally, if that wasn’t enough, I use that Alpha H Gold paint-stripper stuff on my face ever couple of days, whilst listening to my mother bang on about how she’s just used Nivea every day since she was 14 and hasn’t had any problems at all.
Have managed to fade my pigmentation a lot, by about 80%, with Alpha Arbutin and some Obaji serum that my facialist flogged to me in a weak moment.
Overall, if these products were £20 or £30 instead of £7 or so, I’d still be pleased. It’s the fact that I’m getting results for not a lot of money that clearly appeals to my inner, canny housewife. Plus it’s one in the eye for beauty companies that have bludgeoned us with marketing and packaging to believe that £150 for a bottle of serum is reasonable.
Love reading everyone’s recommendations.
Also, random one but I’ve just tried The White Company’s balm cleanser thingie and it’s pretty good. I’ve previously used Eve Lom, De Mamiel and Emma Hardie cleansers, which are much more expensive and no better. Might be worth a whirl if you don’t like the texture of Liz Earle, as I don’t. Plus White Co shops will give you a sample pot to try if you ask.
Tess that you for this exhaustive and entertaining insight x
The White Company’s skin line was formulated by Deciem, the parent company of The Ordinary, so perhaps not surprising that it’s a solid product at a decent price.
Fabulous post – thank you!
Quick question please Jill – how long do the products last?
e.g. using the dropper bottle of ‘Buffet’ serum twice a day
I know they’re inexpensive, but they are in 30ml bottles and I’m wondering whether to stock up (even before I’ve tried them – I’m that bloody convinced)!
Laura, good question – I just pointed out to my hubby the other day that there was still loads left of the three products I use every day. Considering the price of each bottle the value is amazing. There does seem to be issues with them selling out of products on different websites but I ordered from their site directly and just coughed up for delivery. It’s free over £25 I think. Would love to hear what you think once you’ve had a chance to try!
Thank you Jill! That’s reassuring! I live abroad so have to fork out for delivery in any case (hence wanting to reduce the additional faff and cost of reordering if they didn’t last all that long)!
Anyway, I ordered online on Monday night and they’re delivering (in the UK) today, so it’ll be a few more days for my freight forwarding service, before it reaches me, but I figure that by the end of April I’ll have the skin of a baby! I’m dubbing this purchase a Spring Clean for my beauty routine and skin! Out with the old (looks)!!
Jill this is such a useful post, I have bought two things, can’t remeber what they are called but apparently will stop me being so rosy and minimise pores. Can’t wait to try!
report back!
Oh I always post so late on these threads, sorry. But have been meaning to post on this one for ages as I have some actual skincare information to share. I got so fed up with my skin recently that I went to see a dermatologist and this is what she said.
First she diagnosed the mild redness on my cheeks (rosacea) and annoying stubbornly flaky patch by my eyebrow (seborrheic dermatitis). Both of these conditions are apparently incredibly common. This is what she recommended for skincare:
Morning:
1. Cleanser: Toleriane cleanser (La Roche Posay) or Cetaphil cleanser (Galderma)
2. Antioxidant serum (optional): Serum 10 AOX (Skinceuticals)
3. Medicated cream: Skinoren cream (prescription)
4. Sun protection moisturiser: Physical Protectant SPF 30 (Jan Marini) – tinted or Ultra Facial Defense SPF 50 (Skinceuticals) – plain
Evening:
1. Cleanser: Sensibio micellar water (Bioderma) then Toleriane cleanser (La Roche Posay) or Cetaphil cleanser (Galderma)
2. Medicated cream: Skinoren cream (prescription)
3. Moisturiser (if skin feels dry): Redness Neutraliser (Skinceuticals) – richer or Toleriane FLUID (La Roche Posay) – lighter
So I’ve been doing all this and it has made a big difference- flaky bit has completely gone and the redness also seems a bit better. The Skinceuticals stuff she suggested is expensive as all get out and I suspect that you could get things that are just as effective for less money, but the prescription cream and the Toleriane cleanser are fab and I will stick with them.
She also said the following:
– SPF every day (yawn). She was genuinely shocked when I said I only bothered when it’s really sunny.
– If you have sensitivity or redness, the worst thing you can do is what I used to do, which is to switch products every 5 minutes based on whoever is offering one of those “buy two things, get all these minis” deals.