The Ordinary’s Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2% Review

Back in January, I declared my love for Sunday Riley’s Good Gene’s. This lactic acid treatment left my skin luminous, healthy and even toned (review here). The only set back with this miracle product was that it was $175.00. So despite Good Gene’s being effective I had my ears open for any lactic acid treatment. Coming in at $6.70, literally less than 26 times the price of Good Gene’s I decided to give The Ordinary’s Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2% a try. 

Like any good blogger I need to be fully transparent. When comparing Good Gene’s to The Ordinary’s Lactic Acid 10% it’s important to keep in mind you’re getting a lot of things that The Ordinary doesn’t contain. For example Good Gene’s contains prickly pear extract, blue agave extract, yeast, lemongrass oil and Montana flower extract. All these extracts and fermentations add to the price, thus making it a luxury skin care product. With The Ordinary you’re not getting all the bells and whistles, but what you are getting is a brilliant, respectable lactic acid treatment. 

Let’s start from the beginning Lactic acid is a alpha hydroxy acid (AHA). Basically this skin care ingredent eats away at dead skin cells leaving you with luminious lookin skin. In addition lactic acid also helps stimulate collegen production which helps plump up the skin. Despite the fact that AHA’s sounding like a horror movie they are relivitly gentle. In fact most skin types can seek some sort of benefit from lactic acid. 

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% has the pH of 3.8 making it gentle, but an aggressive chemical exfoliator. Personally, in comparison to Good Gene’s pH of 2.6 The Ordinary has an undoubtly more gentle composition. This is the kind of acid that I can use everday without redness or irrtation. However should you feel like tiptoeing your way into the world of chemical exfoliators they make a 5% lactic acid. Which I haven’t tried because I want all of the exfoliation. Another reason why you shouldn’t be scarred of this exfoliator is the addition of addition of Pepperberry, which helps reduce irritation. At mentioned before I did not have the slightest irritation… so fear not. 

After 4 weeks of (almost) everyday use I have to say I love this stuff. My skin is luminous, even toned and hydrated. Yes, hydrated because they also put hyaluronic acid in the formula just to give your skin some extra love. So if you were thinking about buying Good Gene’s and you wanted to spurge I say do it. However if you’re looking for similar results, but at a fraction of the cost you need to stop what you’re doing and get some The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2% right now.