Originally posted: Nov 11, 2020
I’ve been dragging my feet on purchasing skin care from The Ordinary because I wanted to drop off the old packaging for recycling at their store while purchasing new stuff. It’s a shame they don’t have reverse pick up for their old packaging. When I saw that their Knowvember Black Friday Month sale was on, I finally made my trek to their store. I picked up the Natural Moisturizing factors which has been my go to thanks to the Mask Acne. I also picked up their Sunscreen (which was out of stock the last two times I went to their store) a Hand Chemistry cream and the Argan Oil.
Here’s a first impression of the skincare I purchased:
The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA:
I’ve used this moisturizer before. It’s supposed to be used on top of oil as a final layer to seal in the oils. I’ve been using it as a light moisturizer during summers and when I have acne breakouts. It has no tint or color and does a great job as a moisturizer for humid Toronto weather. It works great under makeup.
The Ordinary Mineral UV Filters SPF 15:
Right of the bat, I love that this is a mineral sunscreen. I wish it was SPF 30, but this should work great under a foundation with SPF (I use the Guerlain L’essential). It does have a white cast but that’s expected with a mineral SPF. I’ll update this post with my experience as I use it.
The Chemistry Hand Chemistry:
I’ve used their Foot Chemistry and OMG, it’s amazing.I had cracked heels and Foot Chemistry did a great job of healing my heels (alliteration unintended). So I’m sure Hand Chemistry will be great too. I’ve been facing issues with the skin around my nails peeling and bleeding. While some of the peeling reduced when I started using gloves to wash dishes my hands still feel tight and dry. I’m hoping this cream will fix that.
My first impression: The cream smells so amazing. It smells fruity like a vanilla-fruity cupcake icing. It’s thick and emollient. Chemistry products tend to be more expensive than the TO line, but it does a great job.
The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Moroccan Argan Oil:
TO’s oils tend to be hit or miss. I love their Rose Hip Oil (it’s a cheap dupe for the Trilogy Rosehip Oil that I used to use) but their Marula oil made my skin break out. This oil is thin and smells earthy. Since I’ve never used Marula oil, I can’t tell if this is of good quality or not. I’ll update this post once I use it for a few days.
Sidebar: I think that TO oils are probably a grade lower than the expensive brands. The difference that I’ve observed between Trilogy and TO is that Trilogy would fade my dark spots faster than TO oil. Smell and color-wise they looked very similar. I was fine with how slow the oil worked because my foundation was covering my dark spots anyway.