Beauty, Life Style, Skin Care

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% |Review

I bought a bunch of stuff from The Ordinary and I absolutely had to have the much talked about Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% which is claimed to be a High-Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula. 

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% Review India

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Outer Package

Niacinamide is very effective skin-restoring ingredient that offers multiple benefits for the skin. It is said to improve the appearance of enlarged pores, uneven skin tone, fine lines, dullness and helps with a weakened skin surface. Before getting into the review I encourage you to acquaint yourself with the wonderful ingredient –Niacinamide here.

Zinc on the other hand is a key mineral required by the body for the production of collagen, it also acts as an astringent, anti-inflammatory and healing agent. It also prevents acne by regulating the activity of the oil glands.

Cost –

9.80 USD (approx 633 INR) for 30 ml

Buy Online –

The Ordinary Website 

Claims –

  • A high 10% concentration of this vitamin is supported in the formula by zinc salt of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid to balance visible aspects of sebum activity.
  • While Niacinamide and Zinc PCA reduce the look of blemishes and balance visible sebum activity, neither is a treatment for acne.
  • Independent studies suggest Niacinamide is also an effective ingredient for brightening skin tone.
  • This formulation can be used alongside acne treatments if desired for added visible skin benefits.
  • Directions: Apply to entire face morning and evening before heavier creams.
  • Ph -5.50-6.50, Alcohol-free, Oil-free, Silicone-free, Nut-free, Vegan, Cruelty-free. 

     

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Ingredients on outer cardboard packaging.

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Directions & Shelf Life

Ingredients-

Aqua– Distilled Water

Niacinamide–  Niacinamide is a water-soluble vitamin made from Niacin, also known as vitamin B3. Read More Here

Pentylene Glycol– Pentylene glycol is commonly used as a skin conditioning agent, due to its ability to help the skin attract and retain moisture. As such, it falls into a category of skin care ingredients called humectants. Also has some anti microbial properties, which make it a valuable addition to protect products from contamination of microorganisms.

Zinc PCA– Zinc PCA moisturizes the skin and regulates skin’s sebum production. Several research studies have shown that zinc is effective for helping to treat acne and eczema.

Dimethyl Isosorbide-  is a high purity solvent and carrier. It has a safe, effective delivery enhancement mechanism for active ingredients in personal care products.

Tamarindus Indica Seed Gum– Emollient & a Humectant

Xanthan gum–  Natural ingredient used as a thickening agent, texture enhancer, and to stabilize emulsions, which is a general term for mixtures of unlike substances such as oil and water.

Isoceteth 20– used as an emulsifying agent in some personal care products

Ethoxydiglycol– Ethoxydiglycol is a clear, practically colorless, liquid used in cosmetics and personal care products. It is a solvent used to thin out products and decrease viscosity.

Phenoxyethanol– Preservative that’s considered one of the least sensitizing for use in formulations.

Chlorphenesin– In cosmetics, it’s used as a preservative because of its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Packaging and Pipette Dispenser

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Colour

It comes packaged in a simple clinical looking frosted glass bottle with a pipette. Does its job well and works with this kind of formula. The packaging design is not fancy but works perfectly and is in sync with the brand image.

The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% has a thin runny consistency and is almost colour-less. The lightweight liquid, does sink into the skin relatively well but, leaves the skin feeling slightly tacky for initial few minutes after which the skin looks matte.

When I layer it over “Buffet” the peptide serum from The Ordinary (and even otherwise), I notice it starts turning white, kind of like foam which goes away in a few seconds. I am guessing that this is perhaps due to the comparatively low pH of Buffet/ toned skin but I can’t say for sure if that is the actual reason! Also this happens only when you rub it, so I guess to make it stop one can gradually pat it on!

There is no added fragrance to this but it definitely does have a synthetic smell that I don’t quite like but thankfully it doesn’t last more than a minute. The chemical smell takes away from the experience but then we have to bear in mind that we are buying this at a rock-bottom price!

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Consistency

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Spreadability

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Matte Application after it sinks in the skin

So before getting into the review its important to note that everyone’s skin and skin concern is different and therefore the results will vary based on that. I have a combination skin type; Oily T- Zone and comfortable cheeks. The oiliness is not bad enough to bother me. I live in India and there is heat, dust and pollution everywhere so in a normal day of being out and about I wash my face twice a day so the visible oil on the face is taken care of – hence not a big bother. So controlling oil was not my primary reason to buy this and this product did not help in that regard anyway! It made no difference in sebum regulation on my T-zone. I am not rating this formula on this aspect purely because it was not what I wanted. But if you are interested in regulating sebum you might want to read more reviews from the very-oily skinned folks.

The reason I added this to cart was because it claimed to diminish enlarged pores (which I have in abundance besides my nose, on the cheeks) and evens out skin tone by reducing the look of blemishes. It did not help with these two concerns either. Bummer! 

Closing Thoughts:

On paper Niacinamide and Zinc are amazing ingredients for the skin but to be honest this formula did not work for me.  As this is claimed to be a blemish formula, I expected some effect in controlling the facial skin’s oiler areas but there was no balancing effect and my skin was just as oily as it was before using this! I didn’t expect miracles, but it did absolutely nothing for me in terms of appearance of pores & even skin tone (call it brightness/ radiance –whatever!) either.

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | High Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula_ Review_ India _Ingredients_ Packaging_ Application_Consistency _Skincare

The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | Final Thoughts

I have used it everyday in the AM routine after The Ordinary – Buffet Serum and before my Bioderma Hydrabio Legere Moisturizer for past 3 months and am halfway through and will continue to use it till I finish it, because ain’t nobody gonna waste nothing! But after that I don’t think I will be repurchasing this.

If you have have experienced this product differently I would love to hear from you in the comments. Also check out my review of other products from The Ordinary here.


Update – 17 Sep 2018

The Ordinary – Brand Review

So far I have tried many products from TO’s portfolio. Namely,

After finishing the above products and experiencing this complete lineup over the past year I want to take a minute and share my opinion of the brand with you folks so that you can make an informed purchase decision.

The Ordinary has taken the global beauty world by storm, this has literally not happened before and there are two big reasons for that

  1. Their rock bottom pricing and
  2. Their unique (but also questionable) Marketing Strategies.

I totally understand that every one wants to try these ultra affordable skin care and anti-aging products mostly because one can collect a host of formula’s at a price of one product from the expensive high-street brands. This has attracted so much chatter about how DECIEM can rationalize the low prices of The Ordinary products when they themselves own other skincare brands like NIOD which sells similar products at a much higher price point. This difference is quite strange to be honest!

TO products feature a lot of ingredients that are also seen in expensive formulas from the high street brands. Some of these are definitely expensive to source especially so when claimed to be cruelty free/ cold pressed /organic etc. Moreover skin care products need to go through some very strict regulatory tests where right from the stability of the formula to the manufacturing units where they are bottled needs to comply with some stringent standards and obviously all this costs a lot of money. So you have to wonder how are they able to price things so low!

It feels like all the marketing budget is focused on attracting consumers to this super affordable brand via social media (and of-course the drama going on with the owner helps to do that; Like they say any publicity is good publicity) to eventually direct them to their more expensive sister brands. I have seen many famous bloggers review The Ordinary offerings and then very casually slip in the fact that with regards to certain aspects like potency/ pH value/ formulation / molecular weight of a particular ingredient etc. the other expensive sister brands are better.

The majority of TO’s products are one ingredient formulas which is unlike products from other skin care brand which offer a potent mix of varied ingredients to target the particular skin requirement. So if one wants to replicate the same they would have to purchase several products at once to round-up those many ingredients. Then there is the obvious question of what goes in what order and the massive confusion revolving around building a routine, which is well know among folks who have attempted to create a regimen using The Ordinary products.

In the end there is no doubt that low prices are very welcome but then based on the stuff I have already tried and the skin care community chatter that I am privy to; I have come to realize- in terms of efficacy there are very few products from TO that actually stand out, the rest just skim the surface and that fact is simply drowned by the noise their marketing creates.

If you agree or agree to disagree I want to hear from you in the comments or find me on Instagram and let’s have a conversation.

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17 thoughts on “The Ordinary- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% |Review

  1. Hi! Thanks for this post… Great redaction and review. I always take care about my skin and if there is something new to help that or any brand that I do not know but works, why not try it? so maybe I’ll go to try it… xoxo

  2. elishaff says:

    I had never heard of this before. I will have to do some more research on the benefits but it looks like a wonderful product.

  3. Sukriti says:

    Interesting to note that even concentrated vitamins and minerals fail to work for the skin sometimes. I think the universal – moisturizer and sun screen goes a long way in avoiding the sun spots. Prevention is definitely easier than the cure for those. Appreciate the honesty!

    • Various websites have different shipping charges and policies. Customs is quite random. I faced a terrible time with my ColourPop order. Blogged about it with some useful links in the comments.
      I bought mine from beautilish.com and shipped it to a friend in US who carried it to India. But recently I also saw these on Amazon but at a higher price.

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