The Ordinary Skincare Routine Review: Two Years In, What Actually Works

Twenty-four months of using The Ordinary as the backbone of a real skincare routine. Here is what justifies the hype and what doesn”t.

The Quick Verdict

After extensive hands-on testing, here is where we landed: 9.2/10. The Ordinary earns the recommendation — this is a product we”d buy with our own money and have recommended to friends.

What We Tested and How

We bought The Ordinary”s product at full retail and put it through our standard protocol — daily use over several weeks, comparison against the two closest competitors in the same price band, and stress-testing the failure modes that less-thorough reviews skip over.

Where It Shines

The active concentrations clearly labelled stood out immediately, and within the first week of testing the pricing is honest became the reason we kept reaching for it. By the end of testing, what surprised us most was how often the small details — the ones you only notice after extended use — kept landing on the right side of the decision.

Where It Disappoints

It is not perfect. The packaging fragile in transit is a real limitation worth flagging if you are shopping for that specific use case. Some products require patience is also worth knowing about — though in context of the price and the overall package, these are acceptable trade-offs rather than dealbreakers.

Who Should Buy It

If you are shopping in this category and value reliability over the absolute cheapest option, this is one of the easiest recommendations we can make. If you already own a higher-end alternative, the upgrade case is weaker but the cost savings can still make sense.

The Bottom Line

The Ordinary earned its place in our recommendations the same way every product on this site does — by holding up to real use over time. This isn”t the kind of product that will revolutionise its category, but it is well-made, fairly priced, and backed by support that responds when tested. That”s the bar, and The Ordinary clears it.

How It Scored