i like to clear something first before proceeding to my review: i bought this product before all the viral news about their company/founder attitude, and although i'm not agree with all the issue, i've already bought it so i won't waste my money and not using the product because of the problem. but, it will affect my decision whether or not to repurchase this product.
now, when the ordinary started to get their products out, one of their best sellers is this serum, the niacinamide and zinc one. i suspect many people thought that their skin is oily skin, especially if you're living in tropical country which is usually hot and humid, you will most likely think that you have oily skin, so the claims of this product that helps to reduce sebum will definitely lure that kind of people to buy this serum. so, naturally, i wanted to try whether this product really worth the hype or not, aside from my skin type. me personally had oily skin but now slightly toward combination-normal, so reducing sebum is not my main target anymore. i've used similar product like this from it's skin, one of their colorful serums (i completely forgot the exact name), and it does work although very slowly, but if i recalled correctly, it doesn't have the added zinc. so, i will try to compare both of them.
this is the description from their website: niacinamide (vitamin B3) is indicated to reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and congestion. 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. contraindications: if topical vitamin C is used as part of skincare, it should be applied at alternate times with this formula (ideally vitamin C in the PM and this formula in the AM). otherwise, niacinamide can affect integrity of pure-form vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid).
notes: 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.
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| the box |
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| ingredients list |
the packaging: the product comes in ordinary white box just like the other products from this brand. there's a few description and ingredients list printed on the box. inside there's a glass bottle with a dropper to dispose the product. the bottle is frosted but still see-through so you can see the remaining product inside. the dropper is pretty long that i have no problem reaching until the last bit of the product. since the product inside doesn't need protection from the sunlight, the bottle is white.
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| little bit description |
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| the bottle |
the scent: i don't think this has distinctive scent, but even if it does, it's very subtle.
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| the dropper |
the product: the serum is a bit cloudy white in the dropper, pretty similar to the buffet one, but when i drop it on my hand, it's clearer than the buffet. it also has similar consistency to the buffet, but i think the niacinamide just slightly runnier than the buffet. it spreads easily on my face. it's absorbed a couple minutes and leaves slightly sticky feeling that fades away if i keep patting my skin. i only need a drop or a half dropper for my whole face.
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| the product on my hand |
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| after spreading it on my hand |
the result: i was baffling to find out which out of 3 products of the ordinary that i tried in my last batch that caused me some breakouts. i've tried them separately for the last month and found out that the buffet might be the culprit. i've yet tried the retinol, but i think the buffet is the culprit so it clears out the niacinamide. now, i don't have enough time the second time to judge the result, since i only got a bit left, so i will try to corporate both result from both trial time. i've seen no difference in my pores, but it's expectable. as for the sebum control, i can say that it helps especially on hot and humid days. my makeup will hold better if i use this serum underneath. but compared to my it's skin, i think both works well equally. as for the brightening effect, i'm also using a vitamin c serum and a sake serum that also claims to help in brightening area, so i can't say about this effect for sure.
now, i would say that i like this serum, but i'm not making decision to repurchase this just yet. i found that the effect is similar to my it's skin serum but i don't know the price of that serum now, so it might only depends on the price difference. but i also discovered that there's a phytoniacin serum from nacific (used to be natural pacific) that works similar to these serum, so i think i would try that one before deciding which one to repurchase.
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