If you love beauty then there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of the brand The Ordinary. This brand has revolutionised skincare by providing high quality, active formulas that don’t cost the earth. While they are definitely not natural, they do have slightly less nasty chemicals in their products than other skincare brands as they aren’t packed with fillers.
I decided to try a couple of products from The Ordinary in order to try and help clear up my skin. Before I was pregnant I was having issues with my skin, and ended up going on a dairy free diet which helped a bit. When I found out I was pregnant, I didn’t want to be dairy free so I introduced dairy back into my diet. While I was pregnant my skin was amazing, right through until about 8 weeks after having Jack. This was obviously when my hormones finally settled after having a baby and breastfeeding for 6 weeks. My period came back and so did the hormonal acne around my chin.
I did some research and what troubles me on my chin are closed comedones. These are pores that get clogged but the gunk remains under the skin. It doesn’t come to a head, but just lurks under the skin giving your skin that bumpy, uneven appearance. They usually occur if you don’t exfoliate, which is crazy as I’m always exfoliating. I use a lot of natural exfoliators and fruit enzymes and while they work well on my cheeks and forehead, they clearly aren’t strong enough to work their magic on my chin.
Enter The Ordinary. I had seen this brand pop up a lot when talking about these little closed comedones and The Ordinary’s acids were highly recommended. I decided to try a couple and figured I might as well document how I went. I’ve now been using these products for about a six weeks and have already seen a massive improvement in my skin. Here’s my initial first impressions on each product I’ve been using.
Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
This serum is designed to work on oily skin to help reduce the size of pores and minimise breakouts. These two ingredients are great at battling blemishes and the high potencies of them, mean that this stuff actually works. I use it once a day all over my face and, combined with the Salicylic Acid, I’ve noticed a huge improvement overall in my skin tone and texture. The closed comedones have reduced greatly and I put it partially down to this product. It’s a serum/liquid consistency and while it does leave the skin feeling a tiny bit sticky, any moisturiser put over the top will fix this. It doesn’t have any impact on makeup application or wear either. Love this one!
Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%
This is the only product that I felt like was a bit of a dud. It’s supposed to be a gentle acid which is more of a cream formulation rather than a liquid. I absolutely hated the feeling of this product on my skin as it is super silicone-y feeling and I absolutely HATE it when my skin feels all slippery and greasy. I’ll be honest I only used this twice as I just hated the feeling it left on my skin, so I can’t really comment too much on this one, but I’d definitely not recommend it.
AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution
This stuff is like the ultimate in acid masks. Containing both AHA’s and BHA’s for the ultimate exfoliate and deep clean, this stuff leaves your skin feeling so smooth! It’s a thick liquid that is applied in a thin layer all over the face. You leave it on for ten minutes (it will tingle a bit), and then wash it off with a cool cloth. Hello smooth and soft skin! I love how my skin feels after using this stuff and I’m gutted that it can only be used a couple of times a week as my skin just looks so good afterwards! It’s definitely potent, so if you haven’t used acids before, you might want to start on something a little more gentle. For the more experience acid user though, definitely add this to your skincare arsenal. Love it!
Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution
This is a really high-potency toner, that’s designed to be used once a day. I use it at night after cleansing and toning and I just pop a bit on a make up remover pad and swipe it over my face. It tingles a bit (which means it’s working), and it also removes any left over traces of makeup. It contains gingseng and aloe vera to help soothe the skin, and I find that this toner is the perfect acid toner as it’s not too strong, yet strong enough to actually do some good. The bottle is massive too, so you’ll find it will last you ages, especially when only used once a day. Again, I really really like this one, and feel it’s played a huge part in clearing up my skin.
Salicylic Acid 2% Solution
This high-potency salicylic acid serum is an absolute must-have for acne prone skin or for dealing with closed comedones. Combined with the above mentioned Niacinamide + Zinc combo, skin is left feeling smooth and looking amazing. Much like that serum, the Salicylic Acid is also a clear serum, designed to be applied to the whole face. It can also be used as a spot treatment too. Any spots that do pop up, are definitely reduced in size and intensity pretty quickly with this stuff. Definitely recommend this one!
Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG
This is an eye cream which contains caffeine to help pep up the eye area and clear any dark circles. I really wish I could get excited about eye cream, but I just can’t as I really don’t notice a whole heap of difference. I don’t really have a lot of an issue with dark circles, and I’m not quite at the point of wrinkles (yet, anyway), so I use eye creams as a more preventative measure. Does this one work? It seems okay so far, I’m not wowed and if I’m tired, I still look tired. But it seems ok, and I’ll use it up. You only need the tiniest little drop as it spreads so far, so maybe by the time I finish the bottle I’ll have some wrinkles to try it on 😂
So out of the six products I got, four I really love and would repurchase as they have made a visible difference to my skin. I really wish I had taken before and after photos, as just after 6 weeks there is already a huge noticeable difference. I have less closed comedones and the rest of my skin looks so smooth and clear. It really is the best ever my skin has looked and I’m finding most days I don’t need to bother with foundation or concealer. I don’t think my skin has ever been like that (apart from when I was pregnant!)
I’d skip the Azelaic Acid as I hate the texture and would most likely skip the Caffeine Solution once it’s used up and opt for something a little more natural. As I said above, these products aren’t natural, but they have done wonders so far for clearing up my skin so I do use them in my skincare routine. I’ll have a post up soon sharing my skincare routine and what order I use everything in, so feel free to send me a message on social media or drop a comment below if you have any questions!
Look Fantastic have a great selection of The Ordinary products at a good price, Cult Beauty is good also!
