Are you like me still on a journey to figure out what active ingredients your skincare needs to contain? Well mine is still on going and as part of that journey I decided to try The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%. Let’s review!
There is one ingredient I have figured out my skin just loves and it’s niacinamide. I figured that out when I tried the Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum. However, I also have found that I prefer it if niacinamide is part of the formula rather than the main focus. Yet I was curious to try the version by The Ordinary.
Skincare Review: The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% serum
As we all know, The Ordinary was the brand that really paved the way for effective yet affordable skincare. This product retails for around the €7 mark depending on where you buy it. I mainly buy my The Ordinary products through the official website as they have better stock and better deals.
What does this serum have to offer?
I have always been intrigued by The Ordinary’s no frills approach to skincare. However, I have found that their formulas aren’t always best for me. From products that don’t do much at all, to products that are far too stripping: the brand has been hit and miss for me.
And I am going to get straight to it: this product is a miss for me. As with some other The Ordinary products I have found I need quite a bit for this to do anything for me, but it just isn’t making much of a difference whether I use this or not.
What are the ingredients like?
So let’s unpack why this doesn’t do much for me. First of all, this comes with 30 mls of product. For most serums that is a fair amount of product. But the amount I need to make this work means I run out of it within the 2 month cycle my skin needs to even be able to tell whether this works. I started using this in October and it’s already nearly run out.
Secondly, my main reason for not trying this before is because this product is labelled as being great for blemish prone skin. That isn’t my skin type. I have dry/ dehydrated skin that can be quite sensitive and reactive. My main reason for using niacinamide is the fact that I have a lot of texture due to milia. I therefore always feared this would be too drying for me.
These are the ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Niacinamide, Pentylene Glycol, Zinc PCA, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Tamarindus Indica Seed Gum, Xanthan Gum, Isoceteth-20, Ethoxydiglycol, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin.
This ingredient list is nice and short, but as I have found, my skin sometimes just needs a bit more. Therefore I have mainly stopped using these ‘single ingredient’ type products. I’d rather use a serum that contains a blend of ingredients that does more for my skin.
Should you buy The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% serum?
While this product didn’t do anything for me in terms of making my skin react, it also didn’t do much for it to improve the texture which is why I wanted to use it. I just think I am better off with a different formulation.
That said, that doesn’t make this a bad product at all. I think this can work for many people but maybe if your texture is caused by blemishes more so than milia. This is just not wholy effective for the skin issues I would want it to tackle.
Another thing to take into account is the price point and the amount of product you get. While €7 is a fair amount for 30 mls, with how quickly I go through this, I would have to repurchase this every month with daily use. That makes this far less affordable than you might think.