The Ordinary Skincare Review

I have so many battles with my skin, so I am always on the lookout for products to try that are not only affordable, but that actually work which, trust me, with my skin is a very difficult feat. All the go-to skincare products that work wonders for other people do not do a thing to my skin, which is combination, but also has a lot of acne scarring and redness across my chin, forehead and cheeks. 

I have heard of The Ordinary skincare range, it is very hyped but for some reason had never tried it. It was only when I was writing a series of articles about their products for a client that I researched and learnt more about it, including how affordable it was and how much success people had with it. 

So, with research under my belt, I bought a few of the products to try thinking that it wouldn’t hurt to give it a go. I set myself a budget of £20 and went to Boots to see which of the products I could get with that money, and which ones were the best for my skin. 

Now I know a lot about ingredients in skincare products, partly from years of trial and error with my own skin but also from doing this job and spending a lot of time researching and writing about different products and what is in them. What appealed to me most about The Ordinary products to begin with is just how little ingredients they include. There are no fragrances or potential irritants which is already a good sign for me. I don’t need products to look fancy or to smell nice, I just want them to do the job. 

The first thing I knew I wanted to pick up was a cleanser, and the one I chose was the Squalane Cleanser. I went for the smaller 50ml bottle as this was a trial process, and it cost me just over £8. 

I LOVE this cleanser. From first use it made my skin feel so soft and clean, it does such a good job at removing make-up, impurities and leaving your skin feeling so soft. It isn’t heavy to apply and a little really goes a long way.

I often find that cleansers leave my skin feeling dry, but this one doesn’t at all and I am 100% going to continue using it. 

The next thing I spotted that I wanted to try was the Niacinamide and Zinc formula that The Ordinary makes. This was the Niacinamide 10% and Zinc 1% 30ml bottle, and it was around £5. 

I was drawn to this having read lots of good things about how it helps your complexion, repairs the skin barrier and reduces the look of scarring and blemishes on your face, something that I find no other product does for me. 

At first I thought I had made a huge mistake in trying this. My face was red all over immediately after using it, and was quite sore to touch. It didn’t quite feel as bad as an allergic reaction, so I decided to instead use it once a day to begin with and not twice whilst my skin got used to it, and over the course of a week or so started using it twice again. 

I am glad I stuck with it because this has ended up being a miracle product for those scars and blemishes, and my skin feels smoother than it ever has. It is very potent, which I think explains my initial reaction to it, but by easing myself into it I have seen great results, and it pairs so nicely with the cleanser too. 

The final thing I picked up was the Natural Moisturising Factors + HA moisturiser product. Moisturisers are yet another product that I can never get right- they either make my skin even more dry or they break my skin out badly, but this one didn’t do either.

I do feel like I personally need to use quite a bit of the product to stop my face from feeling dry, but it does leave it feeling smooth, it works on dry skin patches amazingly and feels nice to put on. Best of all it has not made my skin break out because it isn’t heavy- I am a huge fan! 

So in total I spent just over £19 and I can definitely say that it has been worth the money, and I will be buying these products again once they run out, and possibly trying a retinol too. I can't believe how well my skin is responding to them and am hopeful that it will continue to improve.

| DISCLAIMER: all opinions are my own |