Follow-Up Review on The Ordinary Moisturisers

The hype is real. Part of my Instagram feed is filled with skincare-related posts (even those recommended to me) and I see so many of them talking about The Ordinary and/or showing The Ordinary within their skincare. (I don’t know why I act so surprised – it’s in my skincare routine too!)

Just in case you need some more info to fill you in, I managed to find a post by Caroline Hirons that I had read a few months ago!

If you missed my last two posts regarding the company and some of its products, you can catch up here and here. If you didn’t, thank you so much for having read it!

As promised, here is the remaining chapter of that haul: The Ordinary moisturisers and how I got on with them.

Featured in this post:

The Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%
Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%

IF YOU ARE USING THESE PRODUCTS/INTERESTED, PLEASE READ THIS SPECIAL NOTE:

• The Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% is incompatible with both these products.
• It is recommended to not use above mentioned with the Vitamin C.
• I also wouldn’t recommend using above mentioned with the Azelaic Acid after it, as it piles. Badly. Since both are acids, use separately.

Since the packaging for both are basically the same, I will start with that before I get down to the nitty-gritty (no pun intended – you’ll see why.)

The products are contained within a hand-size tube that is super portable – it’d fit right into your makeup bag the same way that a sunscreen or tinted moisturiser would. This allows for practically no sun exposure so not to worry about the products oxidising! Not to forget – this is more hygienic than if contained in a tub and not at all messy. So full points on packaging.

Now, what I wasn’t so keen on was waiting over a month for The Azelaic Acid Suspension 10% to arrive because it was out-of-stock. But it was Christmas period and I really do wonder if everyone had ordered it like I had because Wayne Goss had raved about it (oh, the power of the internet). Described as a ‘lightweight cream-gel’ I really want to say that this is more cream than gel. In fact, I don’t think there’s any part of it that’s gel-like.

Despite giving ‘full marks’ on packaging, the application brings it back down again because the Azelaic Acid cream doesn’t spread very well – you have to really work your fingers (something I’m not used to with moisturisers actually). It’s quite a thick, white cream which texture-wise isn’t my favourite (combination/oily girl here 🙋🏻) yet it didn’t irk me out or make me feel oily. If anything, the next part really surprised me.

I couldn’t believe how fast the product absorbed.

Before

After

It literally took seconds. So quick that my brain had not fully clocked in that I’ve moisturised my face – particularly where a thick, white cream is concerned. Even with gel moisturisers, there is a very thin layer of moisture still on top of the epidermis but this 100% sank into my skin. I lightly tapped my face after and there was no trace of anything but my face did feel like velvet almost immediately.

Having said that though, I feel that there is little else to comment upon and like. For one, I have been debating whether I should call this a ‘moisturiser’, whether it is a moisturiser – and I still don’t have any answers.

If it is a moisturiser, then it’s not a very good one at that in the sense that it’s very difficult to include this in your everyday skincare routine without it piling once you place it on top of a serum. The textures just don’t go together….or do depending on how you look at it. You can say that testing this product was quite difficult and off-putting.

When I did test this on its own or with an actual moisturiser (my trusty Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel) on top, honestly I didn’t notice any particular change to my skin except I did wake up to patchy redness on my cheeks which was really peculiar. I should note too that I don’t necessarily suffer from redness and that a few minutes after application, my skin felt itchy although not in a I-really-need-to-scratch-myself way.

My guess?

This is a treatment moisturiser targeted specifically for those who suffer from hyper-pigmentation, acne and acne-scarring and my skin personally is too nice to test out the true potential of this product. It’s a product that’s not for me but hey, skincare is personal!

The Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% on the other hand, was a whole other experience. I wholly feel that the application of this is not worth the time, effort, experience and result. The application personally, ruins all of these factors and have done so from first use. As described in my First Impressions, it is the weirdest sensation and weirdest texture that I still can’t get past it. Nor can I enjoy any of the process. (Really, don’t let the above picture fool you.)

It’s grainy. It’s gritty. As you rub in the gel, you will feel the grainy particles straight away. These do not dissolve or disintegrate. At least not immediately.

This is due to the fact that Vitamin C exists in powder form and whilst there are Vitamin C serums on the market (i.e. liquid form), they are unstable as they are prone to oxidisation which makes the product less sustainable. The Ordinary’s version is ‘A Water-Free, Silicone-Free Stable Suspension’ if you did not read it above on the packaging! But by being so, it’s not an enjoyable experience to spread on the skin.

Unlike the Azelaic Acid moisturiser, this sits on the skin rather than absorb. It will sit on the skin for a very long time so chances are, you will have to sleep with this on. By morning it will have ‘absorbed’ but I do fear that some of it may have rubbed off on my pillow. It’s really quite an inconvenient product if I do say so. And the urge to touch your face just to see if it has absorbed yet becomes a real thing.

Before

After

Sadly, it’s another product that is difficult to include in an everyday skincare routine precisely because of the texture. You may think that perhaps it should be treated as a ‘sleeping mask’ but let me tell you – even sleeping masks absorb faster! After an hour or two, I was still tempted to touch my face and it still had the shiny texture as shown above. It even felt oily which I wasn’t overly keen on.

Despite it being at 23% in vitamin c level, it’s questionable how many % is actually absorbed into the skin so just keep that in mind.

Personally, I didn’t see any major changes, but my skin was a tad bit brighter the next day. Honestly though, I’m not tempted to use this too often. I was pleasantly surprised by the result but not enough to go through the application and process again! I should also note that it’s possible to feel a tingling sensation (or even burning if you’re really sensitive) but I felt neither of those things.

Verdict: I think it’s fair to say that these are not your average moisturisers and definitely one to use in the PM rather than AM. (You’d be honestly crazy if you wanted to do your makeup after applying the Vitamin C!) Truthfully, not my favourite. Both are inconvenient products to truly include in an everyday skincare routine so I’m afraid it’s a big miss for  me.

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Have you tried either of these products? Please let me know how you got on, what your application process involved (products used before/after) and what YOUR overall verdict is! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

More soon! 🙂 ❤

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