🇨🇦Canada

The Ordinary vs darrow

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

The Ordinary and darrow are two distinct skincare lines offering targeted formulas for daily routines. The Canadian brand centers its serums, moisturizers, cleansers, and toners around hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and squalane, suiting dry and dry sensitive skin best, while the dermatological brand darrow is deeply loved for its gentle cleansers and rigorously tested formulas that suit sensitive, oily, and acne-prone skin best. Although both prioritize skin health through careful composition, the former utilizes specific acids and hydration agents to address wrinkles, hydration, barrier function, and dark spots, whereas every daily step from the latter helps restore natural skin balance.

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

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

Popular The Ordinary vs darrow products

Questions and answers

The Ordinary or darrow: which is better?

The products on this page show that The Ordinary fits dry, dry sensitive, and combination skin best, whereas darrow lists only a single cleanser with lower fit levels across most skin types. Reviewers frequently note that The Ordinary offers affordable and great value serums that are gentle and non-irritating.

What is the difference between The Ordinary and darrow?

The Ordinary offers a large selection of fragrance-free products that Lovi finds fit dry, dry sensitive, and combination skin best, whereas darrow lists just one cleanser on this page with lower fit levels for those skin types.

The Ordinary or darrow: which cleanser is better?

When comparing cleansers, the products on this page show that The Ordinary Glycolipid Cream Cleanser achieves a High fit level for dry skin, whereas darrow Actine achieves only a Caution fit level for dry skin.

Which is more affordable, The Ordinary or darrow?

Shoppers often praise The Ordinary for offering affordable and great value serums among the products on this page, whereas darrow lists only a single cleanser and no specific value mentions. Lovi rates multiple products from The Ordinary as having a High fit for various skin types, while darrow's cleanser shows lower or cautious fit levels.

Which causes fewer breakouts, The Ordinary or darrow?

The products on this page from The Ordinary include options that feature High or Superior fit levels for acne-prone skin, whereas darrow lists only the Actine cleanser on this page, which has a Low fit for acne-prone skin.

When was The Ordinary founded compared to darrow?

The Ordinary was founded in 2016, while darrow was founded earlier in 1969.

Which parent company owns The Ordinary?

The Ordinary is owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

Do any products from The Ordinary or darrow contain fragrance?

Every product on this page from both The Ordinary and darrow lists no fragrance in its ingredients.

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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