The Ordinary Skincare – Best Products for Hyperpigmentation & Melasma

Chatting today about Deciem, The Ordinary and NIOD skincare. NOT the delicious restaurant The Ordinary in Charleston where I used to live 🙂

There are a few things I love about The Ordinary line from Deciem, the Abnormal Beauty Company

1. They are fragrance-free. Hallelujah! Sometimes that is good enough for me to be clean beauty.
2. Because most products only contain 1 or 2 activate ingredients, they are getting beauty consumers to think more about ingredients.
3. Their lower price points are another way to get more people into a brand that’s into ingredients. Vs just products that look cool or are easy to find.

Of course, there is still so much to be desired from these brands. especially The Ordinary. I’ve found personally, the best results from skincare with a combination of well thought out active ingredients that are combined. With The Ordinary you have to be more do-it-yourself. I’m a pretty clever gal, but I’m still not getting the results I want. And in my experience with some NIOD products, I’m just not seeing the results I was expecting for the increased price tag to improve my dark spots.

Deciem has had a wild ride over the past few years, in part due to their outspoken founder (may he rest in peace). Lately I’ve been going back in time starting over listening to the Breaking Beauty podcast and they have a great interview with Brandon circa 2017. I highly recommend checking it out.

Niod + The Ordinary Hyperpigmentation and Melasma Treatment Reviews

• Below are my real results as someone who knows skincare and has seen fantastic results from clean skincare. For the record, I’ve found it best to use products that go after texture and uneven tone of the skin, not just “hyperpigmentation” focus to treat hyperpigmentation.
• Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution – This was very harsh on my sensitive skin and I can’t say I saw results. I’m thrilled about the price point, BUT, it is in no way as good as the results I get with my beloved Ayuna the Facial. If you have textural issues combined with some other signs of aging, Neither of these however could be considered a lotion P50 dupe. (Read more on Biologique Recherche)
• AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution  – Yes I keep trying this ruby red potion. Similar to the above, I found this to be very harsh and one dimensional and it leaves my skin incredibly dry. Its TOTALLY WORTH IT TO SAVE FOR DRUNK ELEPHANT BABY FACIAL. You will absolutely see better results and your skin will be softer and less stripped. Years later, Babyfacial still wows me every time I use it. Would love to hear from you if you feel differently.
• Azelaic Acid Suspension 10% – I was soooooooooooooo hopeful but I found this to be sooo meh. I see so much better results from the Azelaic and other acid combos in my Maya Chia Refresh Mint mask.
• Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% – now this I like. I do feel like this makes my skin brighter. But I already knew my skin loves Niacinamide. Yes, some people say this is really good for acne but I highly recommend for hyperpigmentation or dull skin regimen.

•  100% Plant-Derived Squalane  – Wait, actually squalane deserves its own post. More on that later. Spoiler alert: this one is fine.
• Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA, – I love the way this little solution feels. However, I haven’t been blown away and I was really expecting to see some brighter results as I have had some success with forms of arbutin before. I will keep trying this out in combo with the Niacinamide.
• Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate 10% – I just don’t get it. Why does everyone think this Vitamin C is so fantastic? What am I doing wrong here? I’ll continue to try it with the Alpha Arbutin and Niacinamide per their hyperpigmentation guide but I see a big fat nothing from using this.
• Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate Solution 20% in Vitamin F – meehhhhhh. But I could say that about most Vitamin C’s I’ve tried before. Now I would give their powder Vitamin C a try because I do love my other powered vitamin C.
• Alpha Lipoic Acid 5% – Now this bad boy I love! Even for my sensitive skin. I only use it about 1-2x per week but I’m so impressed with the way my skin looks in the morning.

• The Ordinary Lactic Acids – I’ve tried both. My story is still the same with any product with Lactic Acid acting too much as the hero – my texture looks worse afterward (I’m looking at you Sunday Riley Good Genes!). Again, I’d have to say the Maya Chia mask is the only product with lactic acid that I genuinely love.
• The Ordinary Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil – More on that and other Rosehip seed oils in this post
• Mandelic Acid 10% + HA – I think I was most hopeful for this. I remember being on maternity leave with my son and just waiting and waiting for what seemed like weeks (it was only days) when this product finally came out and I ordered it first thing. Nothing. Nada. Literally nothing to show for this. But recently a friend on instagram mentioned that she thinks mandelic acid helps her texture?
• Niod Re: Pigment – OMG I was so excited to try this “multi-pathway” approach to solving hyperpigmentation. And then – a whole bottle of no results 🙁 so disappointed. I take it back – I’m tied in my disappointment for this Niod and the Mandelic acid mentioned above.

I’m exhausted even just thinking about all of the different routines I’ve tried with these. I could still give Buffet a go and the Ascorbic Acid 8% + Alpha Arbutin 2% but after that, I’ve given up with this line :). Ok maaaybe I’ll try one of their retinoids.

What have you tried from Deciem that you’ve loved? Anything I’ve missed??