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The Ordinary vs Allies of Skin

Rated by Lovi · Unbiased, science-based skincare AI trained on real user outcomes · How the Fit score works

The Ordinary and Allies of Skin are skincare brands offering serums, moisturizers, cleansers, toners, and eye products built around key ingredients like hyaluronic acid, glycerin, squalane, and niacinamide. The Canadian brand features formulations that fit sensitive and combination skin best, while the second brand suits dry and acne-prone skin best thanks to deeply nourishing and clarifying products. Both brands address acne-prone skin, dark spots, and mature skin through targeted treatments, differing primarily in their ingredient focus and overall product luxury.

The Ordinary is a Canadian skincare brand founded in 2016 and owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. since 2021.

glossy.coen.wikipedia.org

This page compares some of the most popular The Ordinary and Allies of Skin products; for every product of both brands, with a fit score for your own skin, use the Lovi app.

Popular The Ordinary vs Allies of Skin products

People Say

The OrdinaryAllies of Skin
  • Skin Texture Improvement and Smoothing Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “glass skin effect — The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution”
    • “skin feels baby butt smooth — The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution”
    • “skin looks smoother and brighter — The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%”
    • “Woke up looking well-rested — Allies of Skin Retinal & Peptides Repair Night Cream”
  • Hydration and Plumping Sometimes NotedMostly Mentioned
    • “nourished and hydrated — Allies of Skin Peptides & Omegas Firming Eye Cream”
    • “more like a spray serum — Allies of Skin Molecular Saviour Probiotics Treatment Mist”
    • “Skin feels hydrated — Allies of Skin Copper Tripeptide & Ectoin Advanced Repair Serum”
    • “skin feels immediately hydrated — The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5”
  • Great Value and Pricing Mostly MentionedNot noted
    • “lasts forever — The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution”
    • “can't beat the price — The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Solution”
    • “extremely affordable — The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%”
  • Gentle and Non-Irritating Formulation Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “Leaves my face feeling soft and not tight at all. — The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser”
    • “Finally a cleanser that doesn't sting my face. — The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser”
    • “Best retinol for sensitive skin — Allies of Skin Retinal & Peptides Repair Night Cream”
    • “feels super soothing, doesn't trigger redness — Allies of Skin Tranexamic & Arbutin Advanced Brightening Serum”
  • Acne Clearing and Blemish Reduction Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “pimples disappear within a day — The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Solution”
    • “scars and hormonal acne faded — The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%”
    • “faded dark spots — The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution”
    • “Dramatic impact on acne — Allies of Skin Retinal & Peptides Repair Night Cream”
  • Lightweight Absorption and Texture Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “sinks easily into damp skin — Allies of Skin Tranexamic & Arbutin Advanced Brightening Serum”
    • “Absorbs instantly without sticky feeling — Allies of Skin Peptides & Antioxidants Firming Daily Treatment”
    • “Sinks in immediately — The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 1% Serum”
  • High Price Point Rarely NotedMostly Mentioned
    • “Expensive for Ordinary — The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 1% Serum”
    • “Pricey — Allies of Skin Copper Tripeptide & Ectoin Advanced Repair Serum”
  • Sticky and Tacky Finish Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “didn't like how sticky face feels — Allies of Skin Molecular Saviour Probiotics Treatment Mist”
    • “feels very sticky — The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5”
  • Stinging and Skin Irritation Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “Slightly irritating... when I first started — Allies of Skin Copper Tripeptide & Ectoin Advanced Repair Serum”
    • “rashes popped up on my neck — Allies of Skin Tranexamic & Arbutin Advanced Brightening Serum”
    • “stings my eyes — Allies of Skin Peptides & Omegas Firming Eye Cream”
    • “stings a little but worth it — The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution”
  • Slow or Ineffective Results Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “no change in pigment — The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG”
    • “not a miracle worker overnight — The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA”
    • “Didn't do anything special — The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA”
    • “still not impressed with the results — Allies of Skin Tranexamic & Arbutin Advanced Brightening Serum”

The Ordinary vs Allies of Skin routines for dry skin

Buy Allies of Skin routine · AED 1,027.85 · 96% fitBuy The Ordinary routine · AED 542.90 · 89% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

The Ordinary vs Allies of Skin routines for oily skin

Buy Allies of Skin routine · AED 1,405.73 · 93% fitBuy The Ordinary routine · AED 833.82 · 91% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

The Ordinary vs Allies of Skin routines for combination skin

Buy Allies of Skin routine · AED 1,294.67 · 94% fitBuy The Ordinary routine · AED 712.46 · 92% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Questions and answers

The Ordinary or Allies of Skin: which is better?

The Ordinary delivers superior value and texture smoothing, while Allies of Skin provides superior hydration and a better routine fit for dry and acne-prone skin. Both brands offer fragrance-free formulations, though Allies of Skin may cause initial skin irritation.

What is the difference between The Ordinary and Allies of Skin?

The Ordinary offers great value and effective skin texture improvement, while Allies of Skin provides superior hydration and plumping for the products on this page. Lovi rates The Ordinary as a Superior fit for combination, sensitive, mature, and dark spot-prone skin, and Allies of Skin as a Superior fit for dry, acne-prone, oily acne-prone, combination, sensitive, mature, and dark spot-prone skin.

The Ordinary or Allies of Skin for dry skin?

Both The Ordinary and Allies of Skin are great options for dry skin, with Allies of Skin achieving a Superior routine fit and The Ordinary achieving a High routine fit. The products on this page help hydrate and plump the skin while locking in essential moisture.

Dermatologic Therapy, 2022

The Ordinary or Allies of Skin: which moisturizer is better?

When it comes to moisturizers, Allies of Skin achieves a Superior routine fit for dry skin on this page, whereas The Ordinary achieves a High fit. The products on this page for Allies of Skin are also noted by reviewers for being gentle and effective moisturizers.

Which is more affordable, The Ordinary or Allies of Skin?

The Ordinary offers much greater affordability, featuring affordable and great value serums among the products on this page, whereas Allies of Skin carries a high price point.

The Ordinary or Allies of Skin for dark spots?

Both brands fit skin with dark spots well, with Lovi giving The Ordinary a Superior rating and Allies of Skin a High rating for that skin type. The Ordinary features key ingredients like niacinamide and vitamin C derivatives that help fade dark spots,.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002Experimental Dermatology, 2003

Which brand has a better routine fit for mature skin?

Both The Ordinary and Allies of Skin provide a Superior routine fit for mature skin. The products on this page help improve various signs of aging through ingredients like hyaluronic acid and retinol.

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2000Dermatologic Therapy, 2022

How do the prices of The Ordinary and Allies of Skin compare according to reviewer feedback?

Reviewers note that Allies of Skin comes with a high price point, whereas The Ordinary offers great value and pricing.

The Ordinary or Allies of Skin for oily skin?

Both The Ordinary and Allies of Skin achieve a Superior Lovi fit level for oily skin. The products on this page help provide effective oil management and lightweight hydration without clogging pores.

The Ordinary or Allies of Skin for sensitive skin?

Both The Ordinary and Allies of Skin achieve a Superior Lovi fit level for sensitive skin. The Ordinary features gentle, non-irritating serums on this page, while Allies of Skin offers calming serums and gentle, effective moisturizers.

The Ordinary or Allies of Skin for acne-prone skin?

For acne-prone skin, both brands work well, but Allies of Skin has a Superior routine fit while The Ordinary has a High routine fit. The Ordinary features products on this page that help with blemish reduction and blemish clearing, whereas Allies of Skin focuses on gentle and effective moisturizers and calming serums.

Research behind their key ingredients

Behind this comparison

Lovi compares products by their fit scores, calculated from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.

  • Nadia Kapleva, MS

    Nadia Kapleva, MS

    Co-founder, Medical Director

    Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer

  • Alexey Shagraev, PhD

    Alexey Shagraev, PhD

    Co-founder, CEO and CTO

    PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex

  • Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc

    Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc

    Medical Board

    Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine

  • Aishani Shah, MD

    Aishani Shah, MD

    Medical Board

    Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD

  • Asya Zubkova, MS

    Asya Zubkova, MS

    Medical Board

    Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member

  • Hanna Kurets, MD

    Hanna Kurets, MD

    Medical Board, Medical Advisor

    Dermatology MD

  • Elina Nazarenko, MD

    Elina Nazarenko, MD

    Medical Board

    Dermatology and diagnostic consultant

  • Victoria Derkova, MS

    Victoria Derkova, MS

    Medical Board

    Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist

How does it fit your skin?

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