19 Best The Ordinary Skin-Care Products for Clearer and Brighter Skin 2021 | Allure

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If you somehow haven’t managed to hear about The Ordinary or seen it all over skin-care TikTok, then you’re about to let in on one of the buzziest, most affordable skin-care brands in the game. But for most skin-care devotees, The Ordinary is basically vernacular. 

For the uninitiated, The Ordinary is owned by parent company Deciem, which is also the home and incubator of Niod, Hylamide, and more. However, The Ordinary has made waves as the most budget-friendly out of the bunch. Its star-studded lineup includes a Best of Beauty-winning hyaluronic acid serum that can double as a hair serum, social-media-famous face peel, and countless other skin-care products (with a smattering of makeup and hair care) that belong on your shelves. It’s enough beauty knowledge packed into one brand to practically transform you into a pseudo cosmetic chemist.

As such, The Ordinary has evolved into one of the golden standards for affordable (under $15), to-the-point skin-care products that address just about every skin issue under the sun. Do you have dry skin? Would you like marula, argan, or rosehip seed oil? What about dull skin? There’s a salicylic, lactic, or mandelic acid for you. The names themselves, like AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution, are extremely transparent and list out the exact percentage of active ingredients, so there’s no second-guessing involved. As always, patch test when in doubt and always, always wear SPF — but especially the morning after you use actives and acids to fully protect your skin from damage.

And after launching at both Ulta Beauty and Sephora, the brand is more accessible to consumers than ever before. We rounded up the best The Ordinary products that we are beloved by Allure editors, readers, and board-certified dermatologists alike. With such reasonable price points, we wouldn’t blame you if you went ahead and bought a handful at once. After all, skin care is highly personal and takes a lot of trial and error to perfect. The Ordinary simply lessens the burden on your bank account in doing so.