THE ORDINARY | SQUALANE CLEANSER

This review was originally part of my blog article titled, The Ordinary's The Balance Set – Best Products from The Ordinary. You can catch the full piece here.

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I’m a long-time fan of Deciem’s The Ordinary. The democratically priced skincare brand for everyone literally revolutionized skin care.

The Ordinary was one of the first brands that offered a broad range of single-note products — that is, products focused on one primary active ingredient. In doing so, they met the curiosity of consumers to learn about ingredients and how they benefit their skin.

The Ordinary empowers us to weed through the chaos and confusion created by big beauty marketers and truly focus on skin’s unique needs. And to me, The Ordinary is about skin health, first and foremost.

I first began my not-so-ordinary journey with the brand about four years ago, just as The Ordinary was bursting onto the skincare scene. Early favorites were the Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3% serum, Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% serum and the 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder.

In fact, that entirely basic pure Vitamin C powder was the first-ever Skincarma Product of the Year, in 2018!

FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF NOVEMBER

GET 23% OFF ALL SKINCARE FROM THE ORDINARY – INCLUDING THE BALANCE SET

CLICK HERE TO SHOP!

During the month of November, which Deciem brilliantly refers to as KNOWvember, the company discounts all of its already affordable skincare products by an additional 23%. The sale began last year as a way to combat the blatant consumerism of Black Friday. And I’m so excited to see the company making what appears to be a tradition of it!

From Deciem,

Last November, we asked you to shop slowly. We said that skincare purchases should be based on education over impulse, and highlighted the importance of conscious consumption. For us, Black Friday no longer felt like a people or planet-friendly event, and so we closed our stores and website for a moment of nothingness. We did, however, still want to bring you a saving. And so we did something we had never done before by offering 23% off every product for the entire month.

This November, that 23% saving is back, along with a commitment to bring as much educational content to you as possible, over a month we have named as KNOWvember. By offering a month-long discount and daily education, we hope to empower people with the time and information required to buy less, but better.

Hyper-consumerism remains one of the biggest threats to the planet, and we know that an urgent change in how humans produce and consume products is required. The UN communicated that “according to latest projections, the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050. The equivalent of almost three planets could be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles.” (UN.org).

On 27th November (the day formerly known as Black Friday), we will be pressing pause. Our stores and website will be closed, once again, for a moment of nothingness.

Enjoy, and please remember to shop slowly :-)

Recently, the brand introduced its complete collection of skin-health basics, The Balance Set. It’s the perfect assortment of four daily skincare essentials for promoting and maintaining optimal skin health — and all for $29. (Psst…with the KNOWvember discount, The Balance Set is just $23.33!)

What’s in The Ordinary’s “The Balance Set”?

Well, The Balance Set includes two of my all-time faves from The Ordinary — the pore-clearing Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% serum and the ooey-gooey skin-licious Squalane Cleanser, one of the best cleansers for dry skin. Come to think of it, it’s a perfectly legitimate cleanser for all skin types, including oily skin, combo skin and sensitive skin. Rounding out the collection are the super-messy-but-worth-it Salicylic Acid 2% Masque and The Ordinary’s only conventional cream moisturizer, Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA.

The Ordinary | Squalane Cleanser

I can’t say enough about The Ordinary’s skin-licious Squalane Cleanser — the one and only face wash that the brand offers. Not only is it dirt cheap (no pun intended!), but it’s a phenomenal cleanser that gets the job done.

Geez, where do I start?

Well, it’s just $7.90 for a 1.7 oz. / 50ml tube. (And just $6.08 during KNOWvember!) One-point-seven ounces is relatively small for a facial cleanser and Deciem took some slack over it when it launched from die-hard fans of The Ordinary.

Funny, I found that my first tube of it lasted me only about three weeks. Of course I was so into it I used it twice a day and used it up pretty damn fast.

I’d been using the cleansing oil-cleansing balm hybrid since the day it launched about 18 months ago and had gone through maybe a dozen tubes of Squalane Cleanser before Deciem tripled the size in a new supersized offering. Even with the jumbo tube, they managed to keep the cost below $20!

As part of The Balance Set, the Squalane Cleanser is even more affordable — and one of the best face cleansers for the money (or any money for that matter!).

The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser is aptly named because its star, first ingredient is quite simply Squalane — the super replenishing and emollient non-fragrant plant oil found in olives. Squalane also happens to be found in human skin, meaning it’s bio-compatible — the skin already recognizes it. And skin loves ingredients it already knows!

What is Squalane?

There’s an excellent article crafted by the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, What is Squalane Oil and How Does it Benefit Skin? The piece delves into the what makes squalane unique and why it’s so uniquely beneficial to the skin.

What is Squalane Oil?
Squalane oil is an emollient, a type of ingredient that works very much like skin’s own oil (sebum) to prevent moisture loss. Chemically, it’s a hydrocarbon, a group of ingredients made of only hydrogen and carbon. Common skin-friendly hydrocarbons for skin include petrolatum and mineral oil; squalane is the primary one from the plant world, so it’s a good alternative if you want to avoid petrochemicals.
A unique aspect of squalane is that it’s a modified form of squalene, one of the key components in our sebum (1, 2). This fact makes squalane an ingredient skin instantly recognizes and knows how to use, but there’s more to the story than simply being an emollient.
Some people wonder if squalane is a vegan ingredient; traditionally, the squalene from which it’s created was derived from shark liver oil. Today, the majority of skin care brands using squalane are choosing a plant-derived, sustainable source. It occurs naturally in olive, wheat bran, rice bran, and amaranth oils (1, 3). Paula’s Choice uses olive-derived vegan squalane. It can also be produced via biotechnology from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae, where it’s often referred to as sugar derived.

Deciem says that, “the formula incorporates Squalane, alongside other lipophilic esters that are gentle, moisturizing, efficient in dissolving makeup and facial impurities and increasing the spreadability of the product.” I couldn’t have described it any better.

The Squalane Cleanser formula functions much like a cleansing balm or cleansing oil. You need to massage a small amount onto dry skin for a truly ritualistic cleansing experience. Its thick, rich texture emulsifies with warm water to remove grime, sunscreen and makeup, if worn. It feels so effective that I often don’t bother to double cleanse after it, feeling that it’s done the job perfectly well. It’s simply a no-brainer for the price.

SHOP THE BLOG: For the month of November only, purchase The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser for just $6.08 (reg. $7.90) here.

BUY THE ORDINARY SQUALANE CLEANSER