Beauty Bag

The Ordinary

It’s time to head back to the beauty bag and this week I’m going to start with my recent purchase from The Ordinary. There has been a lot of hype about this brand; a brand under the Decium umbrella and if I’m honest I was totally sucked in. High-end quality skin care at reasonable prices?! Who wouldn’t be sucked in? Eager to spend my money I went straight to The Ordinary website and then it happened, I found myself in a world of confusion. It was very hard to work out what was what, in which order to use the products and whether I needed all of them or none of them! I spent a lot of time researching products which delayed my purchase but I eventually got there.

I made three buys, the Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG, the Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% and the Coverage Foundation in the shade 2.1Y.

I’m going to start with the Coverage Foundation as it is the product I have the firmest opinion on. I think this foundation is bloody great! Now, I did get the wrong shade which was disappointing but besides that, I love everything about this foundation. The price to start with. At only €6.90 I wasn’t expecting much and thankfully I was surprised. The coverage for me is medium-full but if you apply the tiniest amount and thin it out it, it does the trick of not looking like you have the entire bottle caked onto your face. It stays put and did well to survive my oily skin which still looked pretty good after wearing the foundation all day. I would definitely return for a lighter shade and think this will be a regular feature in my beauty bag.

Next is the Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG. This is described as

‘This light-textured formula contains an extremely high 5% concentration of caffeine, supplemented with highly-purified Epigallocatechin Gallatyl Glucoside (EGCG) from green tea leaves. Independent studies have shown that topical use of each of caffeine and EGCG can help reduce looks of puffiness and of dark circles in the eye contour. Additional studies have shown that caffeine can also reduce the appearance of cellulite.’

Taking all that into account, I am undecided about this product. I find the puffiness under my eyes appears less when using it but I’m not sure if this is a placebo effect or if it is actually doing the trick. Regardless I’m enjoying using it and will stick with it until the bottle runs out. Considering you need the smallest amount, I could be going at it for a while.

The Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% is the product I’m least impressed with. To give it a fair go I stopped using my beloved La Roche-Possay Effacer Duo, (you know how much I love this product!) and I’ve been using it morning and night. There are some things I like about it; it’s unscented and absorbs well into the skin but I’m yet to notice any huge difference. The product claims that the ‘Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) is indicated to reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and congestion. A high 10% concentration of this vitamin is supported in the formula by zinc salt of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid to balance visible aspects of sebum activity.’ I’m not giving up on this product just yet. I will stick with it but I can’t see myself going back for a second bottle.

Overall I think it is worth taking a chance on The Ordinary (after some research). On face value, prices are good and the packaging is aesthetically pleasing. Some bottles may not be travel friendly but the pipettes make for easy decanting. I’d love to hear if you’re using any treatments from The Ordinary. Leave a comment below to let me know how you’re getting on.