The Ordinary Skincare Results: 5-Week Update & Before/After Photos

Following my previous post on my The Ordinary Skincare Regime for oily acne prone skin, I return with the results after 5 weeks of solid use with my (embarrassing) before and (impressive) after photos. 

I’ve already reported Deciem/The Ordinary’s unusual slant on skincare in my last post so I won’t go on about it in great length. (Deciem is the parent company). Suffice to say that The Ordinary is a totally different skincare line- check out my The Ordinary Cheatsheet for a full up to date guide. They’re totally frank about their ingredients and it’s priced nice and low.

In my last post I described my The Ordinary regime for my oily acne prone 37 year old skin. I’m using 10% Niacinamide + 1% Zinc, 23% Vitamin C Suspension, Buffet and Lactic Acid 10%. Here’s how I got on with each of them-

The Ordinary Skincare- My Experience After 5 Weeks Use

I spend a lot longer in the bathroom these days applying these various serums which is a bit of a pain. If I hadn’t seen results I probably would have knocked it on the head. Have a read of my Other The Ordinary post to find out a bit more about the products. This is how I felt about each of them after using them thoroughly-

• Vitamin C 23% Suspension– I didn’t get on so well with this stuff. It creates a weird powdery greasy film, not all that comfortable to have on your face. The other odd thing about 23% Vitamin C is that it oxidises leaving orange stains on pillows and towels. I had to stop using it as a regular face cream.
  Now I use it as a brightening mask. I leave it on for a few minutes to absorb then rinse off before applying the rest of the serums. It does sting rather, but that means it’s working so I can deal with that. Vitamin C is an anti aging powerhouse, so it’s  well worth incorporating into your beauty regimen. I just found this suspension a little tricky to get on with.
• Lactic Acid 10%+HA 2%-Now this is a different story. I didn’t use it for the first few days of my The Ordinary regime because I felt the Vitamin C was acid enough. When I started using this the immediate transformation in my skin was obvious. I use it once daily at nighttime and the next day my skin feels smooth as a baby’s. I haven’t had a zit since I started using it either. I normally always have a lovely selection of small spots and at least one large chin spot. Since starting Lactic Acid 10%, I have had no blemishes at all.
  I’m blown away by it and recommending it to everyone. I would expect a product that stings like this one does to leave my face dead dry. But I have experienced no drying or soreness at all using Lactic Acid.
• Niacinamide 10%+Zinc 1%– I’m sure this has helped with my acne. It helps to calm inflammation so it’s a good pair for the Lactic Acid serum. The Zinc is meant to help control oil production but in all honesty I haven’t noticed that. The Ordinary serums leave my face pretty shiny so I have to use a fair bit of powder on top to control shine. I use Niacinamide 10% serum morning and night. Niacinamide is a good addition to a skincare regime for oily or sensitive skin. It doesn’t give the dramatic results that Lactic Acid does, but I’m sure it helps.
• Buffet Multi Technology Peptide Serum– I have been using Buffet morning and night mainly on my crinkly under eye area. I’m not sure it has done anything for me yet. My under eye is still pretty crinkly. At £12.70 for a serum containing a huge list of proven anti aging peptides and thingys, Buffet is definitely a bargain. You could spend quadruple that for an anti wrinkle cream with half the active ingredients.

The Ordinary Before and After Photos

Here are the all important Before and After photos.

Before-

After 2 Weeks-

After 5 Weeks-

The other skincare I was using consisted of Avene Cleanance Face Wash, Avene Cleanance Expert Cream and Soap and Glory Puffy Eye Attack Eye Cream. I was using those before I started The Ordinary and during too. Avene Cleanance is good stuff, definitely didn’t cause any breakouts or dryness, but it wasn’t curing my acne on its own.

I really think that it was the Lactic Acid that made all the difference to my skin. I’m sure everything else helps too. I’m really happy with the results. I would have expected any skincare to take way longer than 5 weeks to be effective (and honestly I was using the Lactic Acid for only 3weeks). I was most surprised to find that The Ordinary had cleared my acne in such a short space of time.

The long and short of it is that The Ordinary is a breath of fresh air. The Ordinary skincare is effective, cheap and transparent with it’s ingredients. And as you can see by the photos above, it works. 

The Ordinary Skincare is available from TheOrdinaries.com, other products mentioned are from Boots.com

P.S. I bought all this stuff with my own hard earned cash, so you can rest assured I’m telling you the absolute truth.

(This post contains affiliate links but the products were bought with my own cash)