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The Ordinary Vitamin C suspension 23% + HA spheres vs. The Ordinary Vitamin C suspension 30% in silicone

The Ordinary makes a handful of Vitamin C products. Let's compare and contrast two of them, and determine which one we like better.

When companies sell very similar versions of a product, I get confused (like CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion PM vs. Skin Renewing Night Cream). Ugh, why they just make one good version so we don’t have to do the research? So what’s the deal when it comes to The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% vs. Vitamin C suspension 30% in silicone? Should we just fork over the extra dollar to get a a higher concentration of vitamin C? But if that’s the case, why would they…

The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs. Paula's Choice RESIST 10% Niacinamide Booster

Two popular products, each with 10% niacinamide. Is Paula's Choice worth paying ~7x more?

The first time I saw The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% on Sephora’s website, I was so surprised at the price that I tried adding it to my cart right away. Only I couldn’t—it was sold out. Not to be dissuaded, I looked for it when I visited Deciem’s storefront in SoHo. Sold out again. Then I tried looking for it at my local Ricky’s. Strike three. I began to think that maybe I was never going to get my hands on this mythical $5.90 serum.

The (new) ordinary: How do you add new products into your skincare routine?

I asked Deciem for advice on how to incorporate new The Ordinary products into my skincare routine. Here's what they recommended.

Do you remember PEMDAS? It’s an acronym that we used in math class to remember the proper order of operations: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction? Or, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (Poor Aunt Sally, what did she ever do to deserve being excused?).