Review: The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 5% in Squalane

I’ve had this serum for a while, but I never used it on my face. I was just using it on my body to finish it up. Well, that all changed when I decided to use it on my face instead and see if my skin would benefit from it. I’m not blown away with the results I’m getting from my other acne skin care products, so I thought I would give this serum a try before I eliminate it from my life. This is the Granactive Retinoid 5% in Squalane from The Ordinary. The purpose of this serum is to target textural irregularities and signs of aging. It helps to improve the appearance of fine lines and dynamic lines that arise from loss of collagen and elastin while evening out the skin texture and skin tone. It’s suited for dry skin and comes in an anhydrous formula. The key ingredients in this product are Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate and Squalane. Now on to my experience!

My Experience with The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 5% in Squalane:

Texture & Application

The texture of the serum is oily. The first ingredient in this product is squalane. It also contains jojoba seed oil. I was aware that the serum would be oily on the skin, but I wanted to try it out anyways. With this serum, I used only a few drops for the whole face including the neck and chest area. It’s not necessary to use that much product. The serum is easy to spread across the skin due to the oils in the product. The serum made my skin feel moisturized, but it left my skin feeling greasy. My skin appeared shiny after application. I didn’t like the way it felt or looked on my skin. It seems like it didn’t fully absorb into my skin. The product just sat on top of my skin. Sleeping with this serum on my face at night was uncomfortable. I dreaded every single second of it. On the bright side, my skin didn’t feel dry using this serum at all even when it contains 5% granactive retinoid. I didn’t have to moisturize my skin with another product afterwards. This serum alone provided my skin with enough moisture.

Results…

I only used this product for 1 night. I tried using it the next night, but I had to rinse it off my face (more on this in the breakouts section). This serum is very gentle on the skin. I didn’t have any type of irritation or even redness. My skin tolerated the active ingredient in this product. No itchiness or burning. Nothing. And that’s a good thing. As for results, I noticed an immediate brightening effect in my skin after applying it. My skin glowed. It looked more even. Am I just seeing things? No, it’s really this serum. My skin appeared brighter instantly. I wasn’t able to use it for too long, so it’s very difficult for me to say if it helped with fine lines or other wrinkles. I wished I was able to use it, but let’s move on to why I stopped using it.

Breakouts?

After using it the first night, my skin was more even and bright. I was so surprised how good my skin looked. By the second night, I applied the serum as usual. But, I noticed my skin felt like it was clogging up. I had hard sebum plugs in my skin. I was able to pick them out easily. That’s when I knew I was breaking out from this serum. *sigh* It’s not a purge. I’m actually breaking out from this product. I think it’s the oily texture of the product that’s damaging my skin. Squalane? Jojoba seed oil? Possibly other ingredients clogging my pores? Yep, loved how it brightened up my skin instantly and moisturized my skin, but this serum triggered my acne. Acne is what caused me to drop this serum. Here goes another The Ordinary serum that doesn’t work on my face. It’s the last from what I have.

Final Thoughts

I was so excited to try this serum out. It’s a gentle, non-irritating form of retinoid. It’s available over the counter. It’s always sold out! I just purchased it because I wanted to try different formulations of retinol/retinoid out. It was a gamble. I loved how it brightened my skin. My skin appeared smoother and glowy. But once again, another serum that my skin dislikes. Acne, acne, and more acne when I used it. Maybe my skin just doesn’t like squalane and oily skin care products. I really thought this could be different, but I guess not. What to do with it now? Use the rest of it on my body. It’s not a terrible product. It just didn’t work for my skin type (oily). I think this would work better for someone with sensitive, dry skin. If you have oily skin, it just adds on top of the oils that the skin naturally produces. Oh, well. It’s time to move on…

Here are the ingredients in this product if you’re interested:

Squalane, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Bisabolol, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Fruit Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Hydroxymethoxyphenyl Decanone.

Review: The Ordinary Products (What I’m Trying to Finish)

Here’s a list of The Ordinary skin care products I’m trying to finish. I’ve been trying to use them every night. I couldn’t use most of them during the day. The texture of most of these serums are too thick, heavy, and greasy on my skin. I started to get itchy from them too due to the oiliness of the serums. But I’ve been trying to purge these products from my life. But since I’ve been using them consistently, what are my thoughts on them now? Are they any good? Will I try them out again or just drop them from my routine? Keep reading to find out!

The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5%:

I remember when I first purchased this serum. I thought it would work well with my other antioxidants. The product advertised itself to recycle oxidized vitamin c. It’s supposed to help hydrate the skin and improve skin elasticity. Also, scavenge free radicals and so much more. When I was using vitamin c serums, my face was darker than the rest of my body. My facial skin was literally a pumpkin. 🎃 Who knows if the pycnogenol serum did anything to help recycle oxidized vitamin c. The overall formulation of this product is moisturizing, but it’s more on the greasy, heavy side. It didn’t help to rejuvenate my skin or improve skin elasticity. I didn’t notice any changes in my skin. Why did I purchase this again? lol. The bottle of the serum is tiny. It comes in a 0.5 fl. oz (50 mL) glass dropper bottle. It’s cute and all, but it’s not worth it for me. It did nothing for my skin. I’ve been using more than one drop (more than I usually use) to finish it up. Still, it’s taking forever to finish it. It lasts forever. I guess that’s a good thing if you’re interested in this product. I’m on my last bottle and can’t wait to be done with it!

Hylamide Booster Glow:

Before I begin, this product is a self-tanning serum. It contains a raspberry derived alternative instead of self-tanning ingredient DHA to build pigment in the skin. The purpose of this product is to give the skin some radiance, golden glow after 2-3 days of use. I made a mistake of purchasing this product thinking that it would help fade some acne marks and skin discolorations. It’s a self-tanning product, not a product to help fade acne marks or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. The last time I used a self-tanning product was when I was a teenager. That was when it was all about having that bronze, glowing tanned skin for me. Since I’ve only used self-tanning products to get a tan, I think I saved my skin from UV damage over the years. Looking back, I’m pretty happy with most of my skin care decisions. haha. I said most, lol.

When I first opened this product, it smelled so bad. I almost vomited. The smell of the product just gives me headaches as I continued to use it. The smell lingers on the skin too. I haven’t used this on my face in months due to it having an awful smell. But also, I didn’t really like the results. The times I used it on my face, I took a few drops and pat the serum into my skin, twice a day. After a few days, I noticed some color in my skin. It really does add some pigment into the skin. Unfortunately, it made my skin extremely yellow (just like the color of the serum). I was expecting a more natural, less-yellowish hue to my skin. More like a light tan, bronze shade that I got from my past tanning products. I didn’t get those results from this product. I stopped using it. It takes some time for the color to fade, so my skin was just bright yellow for a while. I don’t remember how long it lasted, but I could clearly recall how yellow my face was. I’ve always liked the smell of tanning products but this one just stinks. 🤢

The Ordinary 100% Plant-Derived Squalane:

I used to love squalane in products when I first started off with skin care. I was able to use them without clogging my pores. But it seems like pure 100% squalane does a number on my skin. The oil sits on top of my skin and doesn’t absorb as quickly. The product claims that this serum is a fast-absorbing oil-like serum. No, it didn’t absorb fast. It felt heavy and greasy on my skin. It saturates the top layer of my skin and just sits there. It just makes my skin appear more oily. It doesn’t hydrate or moisturize my skin either. Maybe oils are just not for me. This squalane oil serum didn’t work for me. I didn’t like the way it felt on my skin. I’ve been using it on my feet to get rid of it, lol. I can’t use it on my upper body. It sticks to everythinga and (once again) it doesn’t sink into the skin properly.

The Ordinary Amino Acids + B5:

One of The Ordinary products that feels like water. 💧 The purpose of this serum is to add hydration to the skin. The key ingredients are Betaine, Arginine, Panthenol, Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, and PCA. It also contains other amino acids, to name a few, Valine, Proline, Isoleucine, Phenylalanine, and Threonine. The product is called ‘Amino Acids’ for a reason. It contains a bunch of amino acids in it. B5 or panthenol is a b vitamin. Panthenol is an ingredient that soothes, moisturizes, and strengthens the skin. I love skin care products with this ingredient. It’s non-irritating and leaves my skin in good condition. But, this serum didn’t live up to my expectations. As I mentioned, the serum feels like I’m applying water to my skin. It didn’t leave my skin feeling hydrated at all. I tried applying it once (didn’t hydrate my skin well) and applying layers of the product to my skin (no hydration or extra hydration, just wasted product). Honestly, I didn’t think this serum did anything special for my skin including something as basic as hydration. It absorbs into the skin quick, but I didn’t see any noticeable improvements in my skin. This serum was a waste of time and money. On my skin, at least.

The Ordinary Retinol 1% in Squalane:

The purpose of this retinol product is to help with uneven skin tone, texture irregularities, signs of aging, and dryness. Bingo. That’s what retinol does for the skin. For me, even though this is advertised as high-strength retinol, I thought it was too gentle on my skin. I wasn’t able to use it for too long due to the other ingredients being incompatible with my skin type. I thought the texture and consistency of the serum was too oily. The first ingredient in this product is squalane. And I know that squalane won’t work on my skin if it’s the first ingredient or base of the serum. It also contains jojoba seed oil and tomato fruit extract. I wish the ingredients were even shorter for my acne-prone skin. This serum ended up breaking me out (not a purge). It clogged my pores, and my skin never improved using it due to the breakouts. I don’t think this is a terrible product. If your skin can handle the other ingredients besides retinol in this product, it could work for you. My skin didn’t like the overall formulation of this retinol product. So, as you can see, I’ve been using it on my body instead.

The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3%:

So the purpose of this serum is to help with dullness and target the signs of aging. I’m a fan of resveratrol and ferulic acid. And I was madly in love with this antioxidant serum for a while. I kept trying it over and over again. I even tried it on my face again not so long ago. I was hoping that it would work on my skin because it’s an affordable serum and contains resveratrol and ferulic acid. Nope, too bad, my skin rejected this serum. I started breaking out in acne out of nowhere. I didn’t have to use this serum for too long to develop breakouts. I think I’m finally over this serum. I don’t have the urge to use it on my facial skin anymore, lol. I love the active ingredients in it, but the overall formulation of the product is too heavy and greasy for my oily skin. It makes my skin even more greasy and shiny. So I’m glad I have finally detached myself from using it ever again (on my face). I thought about purchasing it for the skin on my body (haha!), but I can’t seem to get over how greasy it is. It’s official. I’m over it. It’s time to move on.

The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutin 2%:

Another product that I kept on going back to like the Resveratrol & Ferulic Acid is the Ascorbic Acid & Alpha Arbutin. The purpose of this serum is to even out the skin tone, combat signs of aging and dullness, and it’s also an antioxidant (woohoo vitamin c!!). I was in deep denial when I was using this serum (not the first time, lol). With this serum, I didn’t notice much brightening in my skin. I didn’t notice fading of acne marks or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation either. My skin actually turned orange. It made my face darker than the rest of my body. I just kept using it because it was affordable and contains vitamin c plus alpha arbutin. I didn’t think it was worth using anymore due to poor results. But also, the serum has a greasy, heavy feel to it (like a bunch of other The Ordinary skin care products). I was using it in combination with the Resveratrol & Ferulic Acid serum, and it was a huge disappointment. I can’t believe I stuck with it for years! This serum isn’t coming back to my routine. Once I’m done with it, it’s done.

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA:

I really love lactic acid. It’s one of my favorite aha products. It’s gentle, works to exfoliate the skin, leaves the skin looking glowy and smooth. It’s just amazing. I’ll choose it over glycolic acid any day. It simply works better on my skin with less irritation. So this lactic acid serum is a high-strength exfoliator that works to reveal smoother skin. It’s for uneven skin tone, texture irregularities, and skin dullness. All I needed was a few drops for the whole face, pat it into the skin, and that’s it! It absorbs pretty fast into the skin without leaving any sticky residue and doesn’t feel heavy or greasy on the skin. It’s not like the other The Ordinary serums that I’ve talked about. This one is lightweight and feels decent after application. I’ve used this product on and off over the years. The first time I used it was a mess. My skin was just terrible and nothing was working. Not even this lactic acid serum alone. I stopped using it for a while. I started using it again, and it seemed like it worked better on my skin this time around! I was shocked and excited at the same time. My skin was actually peeling like it’s supposed to when using a chemical exfoliator. Keep in mind that this is the 10% formula. It’s much stronger. If you’re not experienced with lactic acid, The Ordinary has the 5% formula. I haven’t tried the 5% yet. I’ve only used the 10%. I stopped using this product because I went on to use other products to treat my acne like salicylic acid. They seem to work better for my acne than lactic acid. So, in saying that, I would definitely give this serum a try again if it comes to it. That’s if my other acne products stop working. I’m currently using this product up right now because I don’t want to let it expire. It’ll be a waste.

The Ordinary Argireline Solution 10%:

This product is advertised as a ‘non-injective’ solution for dynamic lines. It’s supposed to treat crow’s feet and signs of aging. Some say it’s ‘botox in a bottle’. The star ingredient in this product is Acetyl Hexapeptide-8. I don’t have major dynamic wrinkles, but the product did claim that it’ll help with signs of aging. I have some signs of aging that I could tackle or at least prevent. The serum is a watery liquid and very easy to use. It absorbs into the skin fast and leaves the skin feeling like there’s nothing on the skin. It felt like I was applying water to my skin. As for the results, I didn’t like what it did to my skin. I noticed my skin started to look droopy and saggy. Like, what, what’s going on? I stopped using it immediately, but that was after going through a more than a few bottles. ha! *sigh* My skin bounced back to what it was before using the product. Thank goodness! While using this serum, I would like to mention that my skin didn’t freeze or feel motionless. From my experience with this product, I won’t purchase again. Honestly, I don’t care much about it anymore. Just trying to finish up what I have now (not on my face).

The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA:

With The Ordinary Argireline Solution 10%, I used the Matrixyl 10%. The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA is a skin-firming serum that targets fine lines and signs of aging. This product contains peptides, such as Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38. I’ve gone through several bottles of this serum too. I’m not sure if it did anything for my skin. In my mind, I was hoping that it did and will. 😁 It’s an affordable product that contains peptides. I stopped using this product on my face. My skin doesn’t like the texture of the serum. It’s a gel that blends into the skin well, but it seems to dry out my facial skin and irritates it to no end. After quitting this serum for months, maybe I should try it again? lol. Not on my face but the skin around my eyes. I have some fine lines that I want to get rid of or at least diminish. Hopefully it’ll help with the ‘signs of aging’ too. Why not? I still have it. I think this is the only serum I’ll make an update on soon! Counting down the days and look forward to a new review on The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% HA!!

I do have more products from The Ordinary that weren’t included on this list like The Ordinary EUK 134 0.1% and The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA. They’re on my list to finish up, but I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with the amount of products I’m using right now. 😮‍💨 I’ll get to them when I can. More reviews coming up soon!

1 Month Update on Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin

I remember picking this moisturizer up and hoping that it’ll become my main moisturizer. The ingredients look sooo good, the price was also not too bad, and it’s accessible where I live. All points lined up and was perfect. Here’s a quick snapshot of the moisturizer: It’s a rich, lightweight lotion that provides effective moisturization for day or night. It’s formulated with 5 key ceramides and hyaluronic acid to hydrate and retain skin’s moisture. It leaves the skin feeling soft and deeply moisturized while still being lightweight and suitable to wear under makeup. It’s free of dyes, fragrance, masking fragrance, lanolin, parabens, formaldehyde, and other preservatives. It’s non-comedogenic and gluten-free. That sounds like a dream come true moisturizer. So it’s been 1 month using Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin. Here are my thoughts and experience with this moisturizer.

Texture & Application

This moisturizer is a lotion. It’s not a cream. The texture of the product is soft and smooth. It’s on the thicker side. The moisturizer glides on the skin smoothly without tugging at the skin. It takes a little bit of time to blend the lotion into the skin, but the moisturizer eventually blends into the skin. It vanishes into the skin nicely. After applying the moisturizer, the finish of the moisturizer is sticky. It doesn’t feel like it fully absorbs into the skin. It sits on top of the skin, which can feel uncomfortable and bothersome. I didn’t like the stickiness of the lotion. It made my skin feel unclean and just plain annoying. As someone with oily skin, I thought the lotion was heavy and thick on the skin. I wish it was more lightweight and absorbed into the skin better. Even when my skin was feeling a little more dry, I still thought the product was heavy and thick on the skin. The product claims to be lightweight, but it’s not. This moisturizer worked pretty well underneath my makeup. My makeup went on better. Much smoother. It just glides across my facial skin much more easily. It made my skin appear softer, smoother, and flawless.

Heals & Protects

This moisturizer is very good at healing and protecting the skin. It contains ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and squalane. I loved the ingredients in this product. The ingredients were the perfect combination for my skin and helped to heal my skin from my acne treatments/chemical exfoliants. It help to strengthen my moisture barrier when it’s damaged or experiencing a burning sensation. Out of all of the moisturizers that I have used to heal my skin, Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin was the only one that worked so far (after trying a bunch of moisturizing skin care products!!). My skin didn’t feel dry, red, or irritated after using it. On occasion, if my moisture barrier is damaged, it did burn upon application, but it wasn’t too bad. This product was the least irritating as of yet. It sat uncomfortably on my skin after it settled down. With this moisturizer, my moisture barrier felt healthy after each use. On my skin, it was extremely moisturizing. I was so happy that I had found a moisturizer that improved my skin over time.

Clogs pores??

I didn’t notice clogged pores at first, but I noticed clogged pores after using it for a month. Maybe they were there before and I was in denial, lol. I really wanted this moisturizer to work since it helped to moisturize my skin, not just lightly hydrate it. It did an amazing job at protecting my skin from dryness and irritation. But, unfortunately, the clogged pores became noticeable as time went on. I developed blackheads and tons of sebaceous filaments. Some of the blemishes were not noticeable until I stopped using the moisturizer. My skin started to break out in acne. After the acne appeared, they started to clear up rapidly. My skin became less oily and clogged. Blackheads diminished on my nose. So, this moisturizer ended up clogging my pores in the long run. Shocking? Not so much. I haven’t found a moisturizer that moisturizes my skin in years. And I still haven’t found one that works well on my skin. *sigh* Back to the drawing board…maybe…haha.

Final Thoughts

Another moisturizer down, I guess, lol. I think I’m done searching for a moisturizer for my face right now. It’s getting really annoying using a moisturizer for a month and experiencing negative side effects afterwards thinking that it was working. 😮‍💨 Even though it didn’t work on my face, I’m not going to remove it from my routine. I like the ingredients in this product (ceramides and hyaluronic acid), and it helps to protect and heal my skin. It works very well as a moisturizer at an affordable price. I’m using it as an eye cream and neck/chest cream instead. It works even better than my eye creams that are eye creams. Also, I’m keeping it around to use on my face (yup!) when I’m treating my skin with my acne treatment/chemical exfoliants, which isn’t often. I just can’t use it daily as a facial moisturizer, which is kinda funny since it’s called a ‘Daily Facial Moisturizer’. In my opinion, I don’t think this moisturizer is entirely bad. I mean, I’m still using it. I like the product, but it’s a bummer that it didn’t work on my face as a daily facial moisturizer.

If you missed out on my acne journey, don’t forget to check them out!!

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 4 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 WEEKS IN!

My Acne Journey: 6 Weeks Results…

My Acne Journey: 7 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 2 MONTHS!! 

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 1 Week Results!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 2 Weeks!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 3 MONTHS!! 😃

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 2 Weeks Results

Review: The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser

I’ve had this product for a while. I forgot that I purchased it, lol. So just last week, I started using it. I’ve been using water-resistant sunscreen every day, and I needed a product that’ll help to remove every single drop of product that’s on my face. I’m also using a homemade cleansing oil to remove my makeup (if I’m using any) and sunscreen. Double the cleansing duty! Using a cleansing oil and The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser seems like a good idea. Why not? I have a bottle of it. Let’s try it out!

Squalane on my face! Yes, no??

I’m not too big on squalane. I can’t use this ingredient on my face. I’ve tried squalane oil on my face, and it seems like it just sits on my face and doesn’t moisturize my skin. It also gets in my hair and makes it oily. I tried using it in the morning and at night. I tried using it in the morning only and at night only. It didn’t work out either way. It makes a huge mess. But the main reason why I stopped using it is because it makes me breakout every single time I use it. My skin just doesn’t like oils in general. I’ve also tried other oils like jojoba oil, rosehip oil, and argan oil. Plenty of others too. They all failed on me. I even had to give up on my heavy, rich moisturizing cream because it started to clog my pores. I didn’t know it was my moisturizer that was causing breakouts until I stopped using it. My skin definitely looks so much better without oils and rich creams.

My Thoughts on The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser!

So I purchased this product in 1.7 oz. It also comes in a larger size (5 oz.). I bought this product on a whim. I didn’t think much about it at that time. The packaging of this product feels pretty cheap. I’ve used other products from The Ordinary in this type of packaging, and they all have the same feel to them — tacky and cheap. When dispensed from the tube, the product is a white cream. It’s not runny. I mixed it with a little bit of water to lather it up. This cleanser doesn’t lather up. It just feels creamy on the skin. It didn’t feel like a legit cleanser. It’s not foamy. Not even one bit. I ended up using it as a makeup and sunscreen remover instead of a stand alone cleanser right after I used my cleansing oil. So what I did was cleanse my face with my cleansing oil and remove the oil with a cotton pad with micellar water. I didn’t know I had a new bottle of micellar water so I’m using that too, lol. More on this micellar water product in another post! Once my skin is dry and clean, I take a small dollop of the squalane cleanser, mix it with a little water, and massage it into the skin. The squalane cleanser actually rinses clean and helps to remove whatever is left on my skin. That can be any leftover residue, dirt, debris. I liked how it rinsed off clean. It didn’t leave any residue behind or make my skin feel sticky. It was really easy to use and rinse off. Some facial cleansers can get a little messy. This one was really simple to move across my face. It reminds me of a cleansing balm without being or feeling oily.

This is what the squalane cleanser looks like. Ooooooooo, kinda interesting. lol.

Overall, I think this product works. I’m not going to replace my main cleanser with it by any means. I’m still feeling sketchy about squalane since I’ve had bad experiences with it. But, I didn’t have to leave this product on my face for long. It gets rinsed off. I haven’t had any breakouts from using this squalane cleanser (yet). It doesn’t seem like it’ll be a problem. I hope! ha! Will I purchase it again? Honestly, I don’t really need it. I’ll use it in the meantime since I have it. I still prefer my cleansing oil as my makeup remover. I’m currently using a mixture of almond oil and olive oil. I kind of spontaneously created this mixture out of the blue. Olive oil is definitely one of my favorite makeup remover oils. So it’s a no for me on The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser. It could work for others though.

You can read more on my thoughts on The Ordinary skin care products right here!

Review: The Ordinary Retinol 1% in Squalane

I’ve been trying to find a product with retinol that’s affordable and works. The Ordinary has a couple of serums to choose from that contains retinol that are very inexpensive. I thought I would give it a try. You know, see if it works or not. For more reviews on The Ordinary skin care products go here. So the purpose of this serum is to help with skin texture and aging. To find out if it works, keep on reading! I’ve gone though a couple of bottles of this retinol serum already, and here are my thoughts on it!

My experience

This serum is a yellow color. I opened a new bottle (just started a new bottle!), and yes, it’s yellow. If you think your bottle of retinol is off, it’s not. That’s what mine looks like too. I was really excited to use this serum when I first picked it up, since it should be more gentle compared to retinoid. I tried it. Yes, it’s more gentle on the skin. The serum feels oily due to the other ingredients in the serum. It contains squalane, caprylic/capric triglyceride, and jojoba seed oil. I used it for a few days on my face and ended up with clogged pores. I was hoping that it would work due to how affordable it is. That would’ve been wonderful! But knowing my skin, breakouts was expected considering it contains oily ingredients, and my skin can’t handle oily skin care products. I discontinued the serum immediately after noticing the breakouts, but this serum left my skin feeling softer and looking smoother upon application after a few days of using it. I liked the way it felt on my skin. I just didn’t like the breakouts that it caused. And no, my skin wasn’t purging. It was clogged by this serum. This serum isn’t compatible with my skin type. So, I’m not using it anymore on my face. It just didn’t work as I had hoped for. If you have clog-prone skin, this serum may cause issues. Just do a patch test first to see if your skin reacts negatively to it or not. Good luck!

Since I’m not using this retinol serum on my face any longer. I still keep it around, since it’s pretty affordable, and I do like the benefits of this serum. I like using it on other parts of my body like my neck and hands. It seems to work better in those areas of my body. My skin definitely feels a lot softer and smoother because of this serum. I enjoy using it too. The texture of the serum is very soft and moisturizing. It feels nice on the skin. The serum also contains tomato fruit extract and rosemary leaf extract to help fight against free radicals, has anti-inflammatory properties, and helps with anti-aging. Looks like a no-go for the face but great on other parts of the body.

Pros & Cons

✅ Pros

• Moisturizing
• Leaves the skin feeling softer and smoother
• Contains 1% retinol
• Contains other antioxidants (tomato fruit extract, rosemary leaf extract)
• Affordable
• Gentle on the skin
• Cruelty-free
• Vegan

❌ Cons

• Feels oily
• Clogs pores if you have clog-prone skin

Conclusion

I really liked this retinol serum for other parts of my skin. It just didn’t work on my face. Since it felt too oily and greasy on my face and clogged my pores. I can see myself using this serum again. It’s also very affordable for a retinol serum, and I love the benefits of retinol. It leaves my skin feeling super soft and smoother than before. It’s not a bad serum at all. Once again, just not on my face, since I have acne-prone skin, and the other ingredients aren’t good for my face. I might try a higher percentage, since my skin was able to handle the 1% very well. So, everyone, a review on the higher percentage when I get my hands on it! I still have a lot of the 1% left! I’m trying to use it up first, haha. Stay tuned for my next review on another retinol product from The Ordinary!