The Controversial Ordinary
So recently I dealt with a difficult loss. I was in pretty bad shape and after a week or so found myself looking at a truly messed up stranger in the mirror. Facebook must have known I needed a distraction because I found myself part of this new group about all things The Ordinary along with another group called FOREVER 35. Lord did I go down the rabbit hole. These were my people. Just as obsessed with skincare as I normally am. I dare say even worse.
The concept of The Ordinary is right up my alley. Individual ingredients sold separately for shockingly low prices. I'm the person who at times has purchased ingredients wholesale in bulk to make my own moisturizer. So this of course intrigued me.
Now I want to preface this by saying you really do need to do your research before buying all of The Ordinary products and slapping them on your face. This is pretty potent stuff. One poor soul posted a photo today of a nasty chemical burn on her cheek from putting a high concentrate Lactic acid on her face over night. If I'm not mistaken, this same soul was also in my opinion way too young to use a chemical peel. There is absolutely no reason to over work you skin in your 20's and early 30's. But that's another blog altogether. Just please, read and follow the instructions to the letter!
The man behind this brand, Brandon Truaxe, is very controversial himself. His vision is providing everyone access to high quality ingredients for a reasonable price. Who can fault him for that? But apparently he gets himself into loads of trouble on social media by having public meltdowns. To the point where I see people deciding not to partake in the brand as a result. I honestly don't care and don't care to know what he's saying. As long as this company is selling products, I will purchase them.
So here is the water in which I dipped my toe first. Peptides. I had recently switched from my beloved Peter Thomas Roth Unwrinkle to some other duo of peptide serums which will remain nameless because they were expensive and terrible. So as tempting as it was to buy everything on The Ordinary website, I purchased three peptides products and one antioxidant product that will not be reviewed here because in my mind the jury is still out on that particular item.
The first thing I want to mention is that all four products cost me about $45. You read that correctly. The pricing is off the charts reasonable. You can understand my initial excitement and skepticism.
I really do need to cover all three of these peptides in this blog because I see a major improvement and I started using all three at the same time. So here is what is working for me.
First I apply the 10% solution of Argireline. According to the website, this is a proprietary blend of Acetyl Hexapeptide-8. I apply this first because it has a water base. So it is the thinnest serum type product I put on my face. Thin to thickest folks!
I put about seven drops of the Argireline into the palm of my hand and dip my finger in to apply it only to my problem areas. Around my eyes of course, in between my eyebrows to attack those infuriating elevens, across my forehead, along my marionette lines, over my top lip, and along the dratted creases on my neck.
This stuff is called the botox of peptides. So keep that in mind when you apply it. Some have complained about it making them droopy. I have not had this experience because I don't in fact place it in areas that droop.
Then I put two or three drops of the 10% Matrixyl solution into the palm of my hand and dip my finger in to apply it to the same areas. All potential wrinkle spots. I also put this along my orbital bone under my eyebrows.
Then I put three drops of "Buffet" into the palm of my hand and rub my hands together to pat it all over my face and neck. Pat mind you and let it dry before the next step.
After that I pat on my eye cream, wait for a minute, pat on my moisturizer, wait for a minute, and pat on and then smooth out my sunscreen mixed with BB creme.
Some people complain about pilling with The Ordinary products but this system seems to work for me. Patting the products on is the key.
Anyway, you guys! I'm pretty darn happy with the results I'm seeing. Like I mentioned those terrible expensive peptide serums I was using were not working at all and I was literally seeing timber with my face. It wasn't good. Now I can tell things are firming up.
I love it when I hear these young folks talking about how they don't know if their serums are working or not. I remember those days. This is not the case for someone my age. We can tell if a serum is working and we notice the difference pretty quickly if we stop using a good serum.
So long story short, I love these peptides! I'm so grateful because I really needed this boost. This group along with the podcast Forever 35, truly popped into my life at a moment where I very much needed to be reminded of the concept of self care. Allowing myself to obsess about skincare again really was the healing balm I needed.
Plus it returned me to this very neglected blog. So there's that too.
The concept of The Ordinary is right up my alley. Individual ingredients sold separately for shockingly low prices. I'm the person who at times has purchased ingredients wholesale in bulk to make my own moisturizer. So this of course intrigued me.
Now I want to preface this by saying you really do need to do your research before buying all of The Ordinary products and slapping them on your face. This is pretty potent stuff. One poor soul posted a photo today of a nasty chemical burn on her cheek from putting a high concentrate Lactic acid on her face over night. If I'm not mistaken, this same soul was also in my opinion way too young to use a chemical peel. There is absolutely no reason to over work you skin in your 20's and early 30's. But that's another blog altogether. Just please, read and follow the instructions to the letter!
The man behind this brand, Brandon Truaxe, is very controversial himself. His vision is providing everyone access to high quality ingredients for a reasonable price. Who can fault him for that? But apparently he gets himself into loads of trouble on social media by having public meltdowns. To the point where I see people deciding not to partake in the brand as a result. I honestly don't care and don't care to know what he's saying. As long as this company is selling products, I will purchase them.
So here is the water in which I dipped my toe first. Peptides. I had recently switched from my beloved Peter Thomas Roth Unwrinkle to some other duo of peptide serums which will remain nameless because they were expensive and terrible. So as tempting as it was to buy everything on The Ordinary website, I purchased three peptides products and one antioxidant product that will not be reviewed here because in my mind the jury is still out on that particular item.
The first thing I want to mention is that all four products cost me about $45. You read that correctly. The pricing is off the charts reasonable. You can understand my initial excitement and skepticism.
I really do need to cover all three of these peptides in this blog because I see a major improvement and I started using all three at the same time. So here is what is working for me.
First I apply the 10% solution of Argireline. According to the website, this is a proprietary blend of Acetyl Hexapeptide-8. I apply this first because it has a water base. So it is the thinnest serum type product I put on my face. Thin to thickest folks!
I put about seven drops of the Argireline into the palm of my hand and dip my finger in to apply it only to my problem areas. Around my eyes of course, in between my eyebrows to attack those infuriating elevens, across my forehead, along my marionette lines, over my top lip, and along the dratted creases on my neck.
This stuff is called the botox of peptides. So keep that in mind when you apply it. Some have complained about it making them droopy. I have not had this experience because I don't in fact place it in areas that droop.
After that I pat on my eye cream, wait for a minute, pat on my moisturizer, wait for a minute, and pat on and then smooth out my sunscreen mixed with BB creme.
Some people complain about pilling with The Ordinary products but this system seems to work for me. Patting the products on is the key.
Anyway, you guys! I'm pretty darn happy with the results I'm seeing. Like I mentioned those terrible expensive peptide serums I was using were not working at all and I was literally seeing timber with my face. It wasn't good. Now I can tell things are firming up.
I love it when I hear these young folks talking about how they don't know if their serums are working or not. I remember those days. This is not the case for someone my age. We can tell if a serum is working and we notice the difference pretty quickly if we stop using a good serum.
So long story short, I love these peptides! I'm so grateful because I really needed this boost. This group along with the podcast Forever 35, truly popped into my life at a moment where I very much needed to be reminded of the concept of self care. Allowing myself to obsess about skincare again really was the healing balm I needed.
Plus it returned me to this very neglected blog. So there's that too.
Comments
I, too apply the Argireline first, due to its watery consistency, but thank you for confirming that. It helps me to know I am doing something right in this mad world of skincare :)