The Ordinary: The results are in!

At the end of January, I wrote this post about a skincare range called The Ordinary. As you may remember, The Ordinary is a very reasonably priced skincare range which claims to value integrity and which uses sought out ingredients (such as  retinols and  hyaluronic acid) in surprisingly high concentrations, especially given the price point. Therefore, back in January, I decided to give The Ordinary a go. Now, a good two months later, I'd like to share with you the changes I've seen.

As a little recap, I have been on a hard fought uphill struggle with my skin ever since my teens where I had acne which left me with scars. As well as still getting a smattering of spots, I have the occasional overlarge pour and, now I've hit 25, am keen to start the anti-aging battle a little ahead of schedule. Therefore, I went all out and bought a rather large collection of products to tackle these areas and here is my stream of consciousness on them:

Before going in to detail about the various products, I'd like to say off the bat, my skin has most definitely improved. It's not like my scars have vanished or that no spots ever push their ugly heads through my precious visage, but overall, it looks more glowy, the spots have reduced and the overall texture seems better. My scars definitely still exist, but with the general overall improvement, they at least seem less obvious to me. You can make your own decision from the photos below, but I think the thing that really convinced me of the improvement was the number of comments friends and family made. Now, in the interest of honesty, I have to say my friends are aware of my skin battles, so usually are rather nice about this pesky epidermis of mine, but the compliments were much much more genuine and came in much greater frequency. One exchange between myself, my sister and her boyfriend went as such: 

Lulu: Kaaaatthhhh your skin looks so nice! And so smooth....kinda like you've had a facelift! 

Me: *Looks slightly shocked at the thought of a 25 year old having a facelift* 

Alex: Yeah, I thought the same! It's so tight looking! 

Me: *wondering whether tight is a good thing* Errrm, thanks guys!

(Sorry about the tan difference!)

So, as you can see, positive noises were made. With that in mind, lets get into the detail: 

AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution: A twice-weekly mask which aims to exfoliate the skin, de-congest pores and fight blemishes.

 - Now, I have to confess, I was not super religious at doing this twice a week. However, I did manage a fairly consistent weekly peel, sometime at the weekend and before whatever leisurely weekend shower I was about to take. The peel itself is an amazing red colour and tingles slightly as you apply it (I appreciate some people may find it 'burns' but due to my previously mentioned acne-battle, I do think my skin is perhaps a little tougher to these burning sensations than some other peoples - personally, I didn't find it at all uncomfortable). I'd then leave it on for the required 10mins (or a bit longer if I was being slow at my 'pre-shower' prep*). Once I'd washed off the product, I'd definitely notice that my face felt smoother to the touch, but I have to admit, I cannot swear to the peel's effectiveness at fighting blemishes. However, given my skin's overall improvement, I plan on keeping up the weekly peels.

Salicylic Acid 2% Solution: Salicylic acid is found in many spot-fighting treatments as it can sink into pores and exfoliates them from the inside. 

 - I loved this product and used it virtually every day. I'll expand on the routine I got into later on in this post, but this is a product I will 100% be buying again. It rubbed into and dried on my skin well and I noticed any spots which this was applied directly to seemed to be reduced by morning. One thing worth noting however was that if my skin was damp (or if I applied too much product), the acid would go white when I rubbed it in. I don't know if this is 'bad' or not, but once I noticed, I attempted to use less product and dried my skin carefully before use. 

Retinol 1% in Squalane: a vitamin A derivative which has been proven to boost collagen production and increase cell turnover.

 - I used this product three to four times a week before bed. As expected, after using the product consistently for a few days, my skin could get a bit irritated, at which point I'd usually dial down my usage a little. However, this irritation settled down with time I have noticed an improvement in my skin's texture, something I believe I can attribute to the retinol. The one downside to this product is that it can take a while to sink in to the skin and, for me, could feel a little 'greasy'  after application. I believe this is because of the squalane as I encountered a similar sensation when using the 100% squalane. However, despite not being the biggest fan of the texture, I didn't seem to have any of the adverse effects attributed with greasy products (breakouts etc...) and I was usually going pretty much straight to bed so again, I will continue using this product. 

Alpha Lipoic Acid 5%: A high concentrate of ALA which is known for evening out skin tone. It's an antioxidant which is easily absorbed by the skin and can help combat signs of aging and help with the appearance of scar tissue. 

 - This product, as warned on the bottle, is quite harsh. Persistent use with no breaks does result in irritation, as I found out the hard way. However, once I'd followed the bottle's instructions and used it just a few times a week, I found I could put it on before bed and when I woke up in the morning, my skin just looked... better. It was noticeable. Weirdly enough, my sister (who also bought a couple of The Ordinary products), also mentioned the same in passing. It smells a little chemically, but personally this doesn't bother me. 

Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5: Hyaluronic acid attracts up to 1,000 times it weight in water which makes it an excellent hydrator.
- Yup, this works. I could even put it around my eyes and my skin felt soft and well moisturized. 'Nuff said.

100% Plant-Derived Squalane: Squalane is another hydrator which can also be used on your hair to protect from heat. 

- This was my least favourite product. Admittedly I didn't  use it on my hair or anything like that, but for me, on my skin the slightly greasy feeling was not to my liking. However, it did seem good at locking in moisture, I guess in the same way as baby oil is! It just wasn't the texture for me.

Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%: This is another one for blemishes and congestion and pops up quite a few times as a bit of a 'miracle cure' for spots. 

- This was another favourite which I used every day. My skin is pretty much blemish free which I believe this product definitely helped achieve. Only downside - don't go layering this on top of too many other products, especially if they haven't dried. Otherwise, the Niacinamide seems to 'pill' or crumble under your fingertips as you attempt to rub it in. However, if I used it first or second (on a dry face) I didn't experience this issue. 

One more product I actually went back and bought mid-way through my experiment (yes, I know, not very scientific, I apologise) was the Vitamin C Suspension 30% in Silicone. I don't believe I have been using it long enough yet to judge any difference it has or hasn't made, but I will say that it feels amazing on my skin and for that reason alone, currently I love it. 

So there we go, that's my thoughts on the individual products. Here is how I ended up combined them in my consistent daily routine: 

Morning: 

- Salicylic Acid or Niacinamide - originally I started off by using both, but this got too time consuming for the mad dash of my morning routine, so I cut down to one

- Followed by Hyaluronic Acid

- Then, a Nivea day cream with SFP

Evening: 

- Which ever one of the Salicylic Acid or Niacinamide I hadn't used in the morning 

-  Followed by the Retinol 1% 

-  A few times a week, this was then followed by the Alpha Lipoic Acid

- If not using the Alpha Lipoic Acid, I've now added in using the Vitamin C Suspension last

- Again, once everything had sunk in, I'd add some Nivea night cream

Then, as I mentioned, I'd use the skin peel once a week or so. I'd keep to this routine most days, however there would usually be two days a week which would be essentially product free as on these nights I'd be at my boyfriend's. I'm not sure how beneficial these breaks were, but they did give my skin some time to 'calm down' if any minor irritation had arisen. 

It's hard to attribute any one product to the overall improvement I've seen in my skin which I realise is completely and utterly frustrating from your, as the reader, point of view. However, I can confidently say I have definitely seen a noticeable improvement and, based on that, will be continuing with my routine. Personally, I am very happy. 

Have you tried the products? How did you get on? Do you hate them with a passion or have you jumped on board The Ordinary train with the rest of us converts? Please do let me know in the comments! 

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*Brushing my hair very thoroughly, laying out towels, finding my toothbrush (yes, I'm one of those people...).

<Please note, this post has NOT been written in affiliation with The Ordinary - all views are very much my own!>