The Ordinary: the honest verdict.
The brand that democratised skincare by pricing actives at cost. Eight weeks across retinol, vitamin C, niacinamide, and the hyaluronic.
- Position
- Value · Science-led
- Founded
- 2013 · Toronto, Canada
- Available at
- Adore Beauty, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, Amazon AU
Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
The most-bought serum in the AU market. $13. The one product that made The Ordinary.
The baseline every AU skincare routine should start from.
The Ordinary's pitch, pure actives at raw-ingredient prices, is largely accurate. The formulas are stripped (fragrance-free, no marketing-driven fillers), but stripped also means sometimes harsh-textured, sometimes less tolerable than competitors. For people starting a skincare routine, The Ordinary is the right first investment, try the category, learn what you tolerate, graduate to premium only where it adds value. Retinol and Niacinamide+Zinc are the two strongest picks.
What they do right
- Lowest-cost active actives in the AU market
- Ingredient lists are transparent and short
- Fragrance-free, colour-free across range
- Retinol and Niacinamide+Zinc are genuinely category-best at price
What to know
- Vitamin C Suspension texture is grainy
- No support for layering, you have to learn yourself
- Glass bottle packaging breaks easily
The lineup
Retinol 1% in Squalane
The retinol that democratised the active. Squalane base, cheap, works. Start at 0.2%, graduate up.
Vitamin C Suspension 23%
Raw L-ascorbic acid suspension. Grainy texture, no-nonsense formula, $14. Good value if you can tolerate texture.
Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
The $13 serum that normalised niacinamide. Oil-regulating, pore-minimising, genuinely good at the price.
Affiliate disclosure: Glow earns commission from qualifying purchases. Read more.
"The retinol ranking is the only skincare thing I've bookmarked. Every time I see a new product launch I check here first."
What's actually in it.
- Actives
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc PCA 1% (well above evidence threshold). Retinol 1% in Squalane (water-free for stability). Vitamin C in multiple forms across the range.
- Preservation
- Phenoxyethanol at low concentration, with chlorphenesin in some SKUs (within safe limit).
- Allergens
- Largely fragrance-free across the range, DECIEM's brand position.
- Editorial concerns
- The Salicylic Acid 2% Solution carries a pregnancy precaution, not a quality flag, a use-context flag.
Index grade is editorial, not paid. The grade reflects what's in the product against Glow's v1.0 watch list, it sits beside GLOW score, not instead of it. The Ordinary's transparency on INCI lists is itself a category-leading practice.