With Brexit possibly approaching, I decided to make a few purchases on UK beauty websites, because a lot of stuff will be way more expensive with customs. And I don't like that at all, because I've been ordering from Beauty Bay and Morphe on quite regular basis at this point.
Anyway, I decided to order from CultBeauty this time, mostly because I really wanted the Milk Hydrogrip Primer, which they don't send here anyway. So at the end I ended up with one set from Pixi and a whole lot of stuff from The Ordinary.
I became quite a skincare enthusiast over the past couple years and The Ordinary is a big game in the world of skincare. I only tried their foundations and I did quite like them, but they didn't grow on me as much as I expected so I gave them to my sister, which loves them a whole lot. So I went for one primer and four skincare products. Let's dive into the haul.
First of all, the packaging is high frickin' class. I've never felt a box so soft and the whole simplicity of the design is just *chef's kiss*. I really like the whole concept of the brand as well. It's very affordable and creates very targeted products with only needed ingredients for the lowest possible price. So you get cheap, effective and well described and formulated products. This is skincare right up my alley.
High-Adherence Silicone Primer
I heard about this primer in several Youtube recommendation videos, mostly because it's supposed to be pretty good and really cheap. You get 30ml of product in a squeezy tube, which is a really fair amount and I like the packaging as well. It's supposed to improve makeup adherence, help hydrate the skin and smooth the texture of your skin. I was a really big fan of primers like Maybelline Baby Skin and the very silky primer Dermacol did. But recently I've been going more for hydrating ones and straight up porefillers, so we'll see what my skin thinks about this one.
It's not as siliconey feeling as I expected, it's more like just a white cream. When you rub it in your hand, it leaves it feeling soft and I feel like it could be a good blurring primer, we will see. It doesn't seem to be too heavy and also feels quite hydrating, I didn't really expect that to be honest. It's not really tacky, I have primers that are way more tacky, usually because of high procentage of glycerin or other substances. But there's probably some magic I don't know about yet.
Marine Hyaluronics
Everyone's been talking about The Ordinary 2% Hyaluronic acid solution, which is supposed to be very good, but I've been through several bottles of different hyaluronic acid serums, so I was curious to try this one, which is a bit different. It's an ultra-lightweight hydration support with marine-derived vegan water reservoirs. Sounds fancy and weird to me, I like that in my skincare.
Basicly, it's supposed to soak in a lot faster, have a lot thinner texture and hydrate as much, maybe even more. You get 30ml and it comes in a glass bottle with one of these squeezy nibs on top, which sucks in the product from the bottle. It's very runy and I read online that it smells really bad. However, I don't think it smells that much, people are sometimes really dramatic yall. Also, it's not fragranced, so what would you expect?
I tried using it on my face, it's pretty much like water, so it runs straight out of the dropper before you even squeeze it. I'll probably drip it in my hands first and then apply to my face, because it just ran too fast. It did soak in really quickly and didn't leave any residue. The smell doesn't stay, even though it's a very subtle smell in my opinion. I like how it made my skin feel and I've read some bold reviews about this one, so I'm curious what will it do for my face.
Squalane Cleanser
Another product that I've heard so much about. There are other brands that make squalane cleansers and to be honest, I don't know what's the hype around at all, because I've never really heard of it. I just read the description and saw that it cleans your skin and removes makeup. That sold me in a second, because I'm still looking for stuff to remove my makeup in the shower without cotton pads. This seemed perfect.
You're supposed to rub it in your hands to warm it up, it turns into oil and then you apply it to your face and it dissolves everything. All of this is done dry, so dry hands and face. The box says that it can be a little irritating, and overall, most of the products I have are those you have to build tolerance to. So this one will probably be the same case. I used it once and my face was burning a little bit. When I washed it off it was very smooth and clean feeling and the burning faded quickly. Also my face didn't stay red after that, so it probably won't take too long to adapt my skin to it.
You get 50ml in a plastic squeezy bottle, I think it's a great amount, because you really don't need too much to remove the whole face. It spreads really well and I really like the afterfeel. Also, after using it a couple times, it quickly became one of my favorite makeup removers and they even make a supersized one, which is 150ml, so I think I'll have to treat myself soon and get more of this miracle. It really removes my makeup like nothing else.
Niacimide 10% + Zinc 1%
For the days when my skin is acting like an idiot, I decided to get this, because supposedly, it helps with large pores and blemishes. Sometimes my skin is really having one of those days that is needs a product like this. It can also irritate your skin a bit, but I don't think it was that bad the first time I used it.
It's a very liquid, serum-like product. You get 30ml in a glass bottle with a dropper. I've heard that some people struggle with using niacimide and that it can cause many bad things, so I hope my skin will build tollerance to it and not break appart. So far, I think it's OK. It's one of the less irritating products I've tried from all these.
After couple weeks, my skin got fully used to it and I use it all the time. I think it does make my skin a bit less blemish friendly and the pores are still horendous but slightly less visible.
Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%
We're all obsessed with anti-ageing, let's just face that. I've been using vitamin C in my skincare routine for quite some time now, and I liked all the products because they were very brightening and making my skin feel very fresh. This product is more targeted torwards evening your skintone and anti-ageing, which I don't really mind. But also, it's probably a little different usage of vitamin C than all those I've tried.
You get 30ml in a plastic squeezy tube. It felt a little aggresive on my face so I will give it more tries once I get to it. I didn't realize when I bought it, that HA spheres probably refers to actual spheres that are supposed to exfoiliate your skin. That's why it kind of felt like sand, when I first applied it. My bad. I think the next time I apply it, I will go in with just this product and a heavy face cream, so my skin can really get used to the ingredients without focusing on many others. It helped me a lot with my chemical exfoiliator which has lactic acid in it. And now I can use it whenever and my skin is really nice and glowy after that.
I also read about this product on The Ordinary website in their Guide to vitamin C, and it turned out, that this product is the most effective and also the most aggresive of all the ones they offer. It should really give you full benefits of using vitamin C but it also takes a while to get used to it. It takes a couple seconds until it sinks into the skin and it's not the most pleasant product to use. However, everytime I use it my skin is so glowy and nice the next day, so I would think it's worth the getting used to.
Thoughts after using it for a month
I've been using all this stuff for around a month and I am very happy I purchased it all. Maybe I'm a little sad I didn't purchase more. The Marine Hyaluronics it my go-to, I use it twice a day no matter what and I love how it makes my skin feel. It's very hydrating and plumping and also very liquidy and hard to apply, but when you're quick it can be done. The Niacimide solution with Zinc is also pretty much daily product for me and I love it. The Squalane cleanser is a thing sent from heaven. It's perfect for travelling, perfect for heavy duty makeup and just anytime I don't feel like fussing around with cottonpads and regular remover. I just really love it. It dissolves everything in no time, little goes a long way and it's less messy to use than oils, which I've been loving lately. The vitamin C thing is really good, but it's still irritating my skin a little bit because it's so strong. I use it about one or twice a week and I like that it makes my skin very glowy and youthful, but it's not fully comfortable for me.
I've been using the primer quite a bit as well and I think it works really well. I usually use multiple primers anyway, so I don't mind that it's not too hydrating or mattifying but I think it makes my makeup last a bit better than other primers I have and I really like it.
Final thoughts
If you're thinking about trying any of The Ordinary products, just do it. If you read enough information, do your research on what could be good for you and you make the purchase, it won't break the bank and I think you'll love their products. I'm very happy with the stuff I purchased, I think I'll be getting more from them in the future and I really hope they get a retailer in Czech Republic, because I'd like to have their products more on hand.
Have you tried anything from The Ordinary? Let me know in the comments bellow and thanks for reading!