The Ordinary: Marine Hyaluronics & “B” Oil

I’ve been meaning to talk about these two launches from The Ordinary for a while. I’ll start with Marine Hyaluronics. This sounded great I’ll admit. A lightweight marine derived hydrating serum. Details per The Ordinary:

Marine Hyaluronics brings together lightweight marine-derived water reservoirs that attract and hold water like hyaluronic acid (HA) but are lighter than HA in texture and feel. The formula contains exopolysaccharides from skin-friendly marine bacteria, Hawaiian red algae, Glycoproteins from Antarctic marine sources, micro-filtered blue-green algae and several health-supporting amino acids. All marine derivatives in Marine Hyaluronics are sourced sustainably. The total concentration of active ingredients in this formula is 23%. 

This formula is exceptionally light in texture. If you prefer a more viscous formula, please explore Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5.

Ingredients

Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Algae Extract, Pseudoalteromonas Exopolysaccharides, Pseudoalteromonas Ferment Extract, Ahnfeltia Concinna Extract, Arginine, Glycine, Alanine, Serine, Valine, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Histidine, Phenylalanine, Aspartic Acid, PCA, Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, Salicylic Acid, Citric Acid, Propanediol, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Ethoxydiglycol, Polysorbate 20, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Salicylate, Sodium Benzoate, Hexylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol.

 

This has a water light texture. Seriously the best lightweight texture. Sinks in and gives a nice cushy layer of hydration. This has algae, amino acids, marine glycoproteins (hydrating, reinforce skins barrier) and marine exopolysaccharides (hydrating, helps with skin barrier function). It layers well with everything and I loved everything about the serum and texture. It smells terrible. Like marine poop. Stinky marine feet. It’s not a pleasant scent at all and while I adored the texture I could not force myself to use it. And I use a lot of stuff that smells bad. Even Biologique Recherche Placenta and this is worse than that. It just wasn’t worth it. Love the concept, price and product. Sadly I gave mine away. For $6.80 it’s totally worth trying. It’s a shame too as this sounded so good.

“B” Oil is the first blended oil by The Ordinary. All of their other facial oils are single oils. I’m not a huge single oil fan and love the blended versions more. For $9.20 I jumped all over it and it ended up being the best blended cheap oil I’ve tried. Details per The Ordinary:

“B” Oil solubilizes a purified form of micro-algae in a blend of squalane and oils of marula, argan, baobab, pataua, brazil nut, inca inchi, rosehip and borage to support healthy skin defense, to enhance radiance, to quench free radicals and to help balance pro-irritant mediators. The formula imparts a golden green hue and a mild herbal odour as a result of its high micro-algae concentration. 

Notes: Supplied in UV-protective packaging.

Ingredients

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Squalane, Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil, Bisabolol, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Ethylhexyl Stearate, Isochrysis Galbana Extract, Adansonia Digitata Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Borago Officinalis Seed Oil, Rosa Canina Seed Oil, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Oenocarpus Bataua Fruit Oil, Plukenetia Volubilis Seed Oil, Bertholletia Excelsa Seed Oil, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Fruit Extract, Hydroxymethoxyphenyl Decanone, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Tocopherol.

The oil has a deep green hue with an herbal scent. It’s got a medium weight texture and I was able to use it both night or days. I’ll come back to the first ingredient later. “B” Oil has squalane (lightweight, similar to sebum), abyssinian, jojoba (lightweight, similar to sebum), algae (antioxidant, hydrating), baobab (omega 3/6/9, vitamins A, D, E, F), argan (high in vitamin E), borage (anti-inflammatory), rosehip (antioxidant rich), marula (hydrating, antioxidant, high omega 9), pataua, sacha inchi (high antioxidants, omega 3/6/9), brazil nut (high in vitamins and minerals, antioxidant) & tomato fruit extract (antioxidant rich, high in lycopenes).

So this oil has fractionated coconut oil. I’m not usually a fan of fractionated coconut oil. It makes facial oils have a thicker dry touch texture that I don’t prefer. I personally can’t use regular coconut oil but fractionated seems to be OK most the time. It depends on the brand. I didn’t experience any break outs or anything while using this oil so it was OK for me. It is on the medium end so it won’t be for someone looking for a really lightweight oil. For a blended oil under $10 this one is worth checking out. I ended up preferring my high end-green beauty-coconut oil free facial oils to this one in the long run so I gave mine away, but it was decent for the price.

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