The Ordinary Retinol: a Guru Score of 67% from 9 experts

Every take, in full

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

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~Approved

"The Ordinary is a great brand that is affordable and effective and they've got a retinol. When I don't use it for a couple weeks and I go back to using it, my skin looks much better within a day."

All 2 takes from No BS Beauty

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"The Ordinary is a lot of ones that are really nice and moisturizing so you don't end up with super dry skin because if you use a too strong a retinol on skin that's not used to it or acclimated to it it can cause some issues like redness, flakiness, dryness things like that. So start out slow."

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"The Ordinary is a great brand that is affordable and effective and they've got a retinol. When I don't use it for a couple weeks and I go back to using it, my skin looks much better within a day."

Dr. Vanita Rattan

1.22M subs

~Skip

"If you buy it in a jar like for example from the Ordinary you actually don't know how effective it is because retinol is an antioxidant it oxidizes in oxygen."

Mad About Skin

723k subs

~Approved

"This is The Ordinary Retinol. As an antioxidant it's special because it actually provides a shield around the collagen in our skin. It specifically attaches itself to that collagen to give the most robust anti-aging performance of any of the antioxidants on the market. So if anti-aging is your key skin concern, this will be your very best friend. Now this comes in a slightly more oily base, so what I would recommend is actually mixing a couple of drops of this in with your moisturizer, whichever one you use, add a couple of drops of this, blend it in the palm of your hand, then apply it to the skin that way it'll sink in and give you the very best protection. I think this just elevates your moisturizer game to the gods. This one I think works best for those whose key concern is anti-aging, but it's a wonderful, tried, tested and studied antioxidant to add into your skincare routine to boost the levels of collagen for the very best line minimizing results."

Dr. Somji Skin

358k subs

~Approved

"The Ordinary do a great retinol range. I don't recommend starting a retinol until you've done previously with what I discussed with the AM and PM, mainly because the addition of things like AHA acid for a 4 to 6 week period before starting a retinol reduces one of the potential side effects of starting a retinol, which is a purge of acne. So if you start the retinol too soon you're going to worsen your acne and that can be quite demoralizing. This is the reason why I hold off the retinol at probably anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks after starting, and then you can introduce the retinol slowly. You wouldn't use the retinol on the days that you use a salicylic acid and the AHA acid. You could just use it once or twice a week and use a lower concentration. I like to use a 0.2% in squalane, which is what I recommend, and then slowly uptight that concentration as time goes by."

All 4 takes from Dr. Somji Skin

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"The Ordinary do a great retinol range. I don't recommend starting a retinol until you've done previously with what I discussed with the AM and PM, mainly because the addition of things like AHA acid for a 4 to 6 week period before starting a retinol reduces one of the potential side effects of starting a retinol, which is a purge of acne. So if you start the retinol too soon you're going to worsen your acne and that can be quite demoralizing. This is the reason why I hold off the retinol at probably anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks after starting, and then you can introduce the retinol slowly. You wouldn't use the retinol on the days that you use a salicylic acid and the AHA acid. You could just use it once or twice a week and use a lower concentration. I like to use a 0.2% in squalane, which is what I recommend, and then slowly uptight that concentration as time goes by."

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"Much later on, even after about 6, 7 months, maybe just maybe once or even twice a week you can use the lowest strength retinol that The Ordinary has because there's significant evidence showing that small amounts of retinol for rosacea help thicken the skin and help with your barrier over time. If you introduce this retinol too soon then you could just reverse all of the effects that you've got because of a retinoid reaction and the fact that your skin is going to be a lot more sensitive."

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"The Ordinary do great retinol range. I don't recommend starting a retinol until you've done previously with the AM and PM routine, mainly because the addition of things like AHA acid for a 4 to 6 week period before starting a retinol reduces one of the potential side effects of starting a retinol, which is the purge of acne. So if you start the retinol too soon, you're going to worsen your acne. I hold off the retinol at probably anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks after starting, and then you can introduce the retinol slowly. You wouldn't use the retinol on the days that you use the salicylic acid and the AHA acid. You could just use it once or twice a week and use a lower concentration. I like to use a 0.2% in squalane, which is what I recommend, and then slowly titrate that concentration as time goes by."

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"My tip for you for retinols is to use it after your cleanser after you've dried the skin and start low, low and go slow. Start with a lower concentration and then slowly titrate up. There's a great titration process with The Ordinary where you can go up slowly. I recommend the squalane-based ones because they won't irritate the surface of the skin. With retinols you've got your lifetime to increase that concentration, so maybe when you're starting to use it use it once or twice within a week with equal gaps. Even over-the-counter retinols are really quite strong and effective."

Nipun Kapur

401k subs

~Approved

"I like to use my argireline with my retinol pretty much three to four times a week sometimes more"

All 2 takes from Nipun Kapur

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"I really love it and I think it's a fabulous ingredient."

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"I like to use my argireline with my retinol pretty much three to four times a week sometimes more"

Doctorly

3.57M subs

~Approved

"It's inexpensive and it's a retinol that also has some ingredients to help with really just most aging concerns, uneven tone, dark spots, etc. While it's probably not the most effective and aesthetically it's good but not lights out, The Ordinary Retinol is still one of my favorite products. It's been extremely good for gentle sensitive skin."

Dr. Daniel Sugai

718k subs

~Skip

"I actually did not like their retinols. Their retinols felt too oily, greasy. It just didn't feel nice going on on my skin."

Dr. Aanchal MD

3.47M subs

~Approved

"The Ordinary Retinol has a little bit of a thicker texture but it is a potent antioxidant and can help in protecting the skin against UV R. If you don't want to go for any vitamin C serum or a skin lightening agent then retinol is a good option."

Cassandra Bankson

2.45M subs

~Approved

"This one from the Ordinary is under 10 bucks, this is great, and this one's actually an oily solution so if you feel like you have dry skin and acne this can help lock in moisture from like your other products and it can help prevent your skin from drying out while still treating the acne so this is fantastic."

All 2 takes from Cassandra Bankson

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"This is potent. If you've got the money and want something fancy, fantastic, but you use it sparingly and patch test first. It's a 3.5 retinoid complex with squalene, so the oil in here will actually help lock it into the skin."

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"This one from the Ordinary is under 10 bucks, this is great, and this one's actually an oily solution so if you feel like you have dry skin and acne this can help lock in moisture from like your other products and it can help prevent your skin from drying out while still treating the acne so this is fantastic."

Common questions

Frequently asked.

What is The Ordinary Retinol?

The Ordinary Retinol is a retinoid serum available in multiple concentrations, formulated in an oil base with squalane, designed to address signs of aging, uneven tone, and skin texture.

Is The Ordinary Retinol worth it?

The gurus are split. 7 of the 9 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 2 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 67%.

What is The Ordinary Retinol's Guru Score?

The Ordinary Retinol holds a Guru Score of 67%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 9 independent expert reviewers we have collected.