British Beauty: Ordinary Skin Care

For some reason, and maybe because I have been living under a rock, I had not heard of the brand The Ordinary until last month.  Usually my friend Kitty is a great companion and patiently stands by while I snap photos but when she say The Ordinary store in Covent Garden she bee-lined for it and once I got my shot, I quickly followed! 

Maybe you have seen it at Sephora or have read one of the glowing articles like Elle’s 6 Reasons Why The Ordinary Is A Brand You Really Need To Add To Your Beauty Arsenal but if not, let me tell you about it.   Their claim to fame is products with retinol in them that are less than $10 (retinol is vitamin A in its purest form) and a range of products for every single skin concern under the sun.  

And because I am never known to do things half-assed I walked out of the store with five products to try.  I took home, from left to right: 

The Ordinary Coverage Foundation 

The OrdinaryRetinol 1% in Squalane

The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution 

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + ECCG 

The Ordinary Magnesium Ascorbyl

So far I have really, really liked the peeling solution which looks a bit like blood when you put it on and have not given the other three solutions enough of a test to really find out.  The only thing I do know – unfortunately the foundation shade is far too light for my tan right now so I might have to wait for fall to try it out for real1 

Have you tried any Ordinary products?