Stuff I Like: A Lot of Words About The Ordinary.

At some point in the last few months I hit Peak Skincare. Like, I just couldn't handle trying to figure it all out anymore and I started to get really mad about how crazy expensive everything is. I've been using tiny samples of this and that for a while and wondering why my face wasn't happy. One thing I'd been using consistently, though, is The Ordinary's Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% (reviewed here) which seemed to be helping.

Then I bought the Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% because someone on the Internet liked it a lot. Then I bought the Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2% as a cheaper alternative to Good Genes. Then I bought the Buffet peptide serum because Kate liked it. Then I started reading up on how to use this stuff together and I wanted TO CRY. So, I did what Kate suggested and I emailed them and asked them to design a regime for me. AND THEY DID. Amazing!

The Ordinary is great in providing simple, active serums at a low cost but, because many of them are single note, you can't just be slapping all this stuff on at the same time - some of it doesn't play well together and, let's be honest, it's A LOT. My face can't handle it.

So, they made some recommendations based on what I already had and suggestions for what to buy (I wanted to try retinol again for the winter) and here's what I'm doing:

🌞 MORNING::
“Buffet”
Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA
Sunscreen

🌜 EVENING:
100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil
Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%
(I add my Sunday Riley moisturizer)

🌛EVENING 2:
Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2%
Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil
(I add my Sunday Riley moisturizer)

🌜 EVENING 3:
“Buffet”
Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion
100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil
(I add my Sunday Riley moisturizer and sometimes skip the first two serums)

If I bought all seven of these products at once the total cost would be less than $60. Seriously! Less than the one stupid tub of Sunday Riley** Ice moisturizer I bought last month. (Which I really like, tbh.)

Now, looking at that routine you're probably like, holy shit that's a lot. And it is, but I'm only doing the evening routine every other night, and on the off nights I just use moisturizer and facial oil. So, my face gets Vitamin C, retinol and lactic acid each on one night per week, depending on the rotation. That's it! I might eventually take the retinol up to two nights, but not yet.

The Niacinamide + Zinc and Buffet both get used every day in the morning (and sometimes at night) but I really don't need to be doing all of it every day. I've been following this plan for about a month and my face is looking better than it has in a long time. I still have melasma (anyone try lasers for this?) but my weird little breakouts have mostly stopped and I'm looking smoother and brighter overall*.

This all sounds great right? Well, THERE IS ONE THING. One thing that I do not like about The Ordinary. All the tubes and bottles look exactly the damn same and the writing is SO TINY that I have to squint angrily at each bottle to make sure I've got the right thing. I need to color code them or something.

That's pretty much it! I am by no means an expert but if you have  questions, please ask. The Ordinary website also has a ton of info about each product and a regimen guide but if you contact them they'll tell you what to use and in what order and all that. So nice.

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*Full disclosure: I have also been getting a facial with dermaplaning every six weeks. Y'all, dermaplaning isn't a life necessity but it does help all those active ingredients sink in better and it's so nice to have a smooooooth face. Plus, it's super relaxing.

**A word on the scandal: It's...not great. But also, it was so unnecessary! Sunday Riley products are quite good and fake reviews help nobody. That said, I think fake reviews are everywhere - Amazon, Sephora, Beautypedia, beauty influencers, you name it. Please remember that the founder of Drunk Elephant (or one of her employees) hounded Marianne for giving a less-than-glowing review of WonderBar on our dinky little blog. It's just ridiculous. I tend to trust the reviews on Makeupalley because it's mostly just folks like us, but who really knows. Just take it all with a grain of salt.