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The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10% for dry skin

Rated by Lovi · Unbiased, science-based skincare AI trained on real user outcomes

The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%

Average

  • AverageDry Skin Fit
  • AverageEffectiveness
  • HighSafety

Works for dry skin; other serums fit it better.

This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with dry skin: flakiness, tightness, dehydration, fine lines, and wrinkles. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.

Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works

Lovi Assistant explains

  • Offers moderate treatment for acne and hyperpigmentation due to the presence of azelaic acid, which is known for its anti-inflammatory and exfoliating properties, but lacks sufficient humectant ingredients for optimal hydration for your dry skin.
  • Dimethicone provides emollient action, offering moderate suitability for dry skin, but the benefits are mostly supportive for your dry or flaky skin due to the lack of specialized ingredients for dryness.
  • The product is safe for your dry skin due to the absence of prohibited or harsh ingredients.

How to apply

  • Apply this serum PM, starting 3×/week and working up to daily use as your skin adjusts.
  • Place the serum after cleansing and toner, but right before your moisturizer.
  • Gently press 2-3 drops of the serum into your skin and let it absorb for a minute.
  • Apply the serum on slightly damp skin to help lock in extra moisture.
  • Avoid the eye area and do a patch test before your first use.

People Say

★4.3Overall rating based on 4.5k+ reviews

While many users report clearer and brighter skin within weeks, a significant portion of reviewers struggle with the formula's tendency to pill under makeup or other skincare layers. This summary is based on a very large amount of data and should be definitely taken into account.

Highlights

  • Reduces redness Mostly Mentioned
    • “calms down the redness immediately”
    • “decreases both redness and acne-like bumps”
    • “saved my skin from constant flushing”
  • Pills under makeup Mostly Mentioned
    • “crumbles and piles under moisturizer”
    • “balls up immediately”
    • “cannot layer anything over it”
    • “pills hella bad”
    • “rolls off my face”
  • Clears acne Often Mentioned
    • “scars and hormonal acne faded”
    • “keeps acne at bay”
    • “cleared up my chin breakouts”
    • “stopped new pimples from forming”
    • “great for fungal acne”
  • Smoothes texture Often Mentioned
    • “skin looks smoother and brighter”
    • “tiny bumps are gone”
    • “texture feels much softer”
    • “got rid of closed comedones”
    • “face feels like glass”
  • Fades dark spots Sometimes Noted
    • “helped lighten post-acne scars”
    • “hyperpigmentation is fading”
    • “acne marks are less visible”
    • “brightens dull skin tone”
    • “spots are much lighter”
  • Matte finish Sometimes Noted
    • “leaves skin feeling matte”
    • “good for oily t-zone”
    • “dries down to a powder finish”
    • “controls oil production”
    • “non-greasy finish”
  • Causes stinging Sometimes Noted
    • “stings really bad upon application”
    • “itchy tingly feeling”
    • “burned my sensitive skin”
    • “felt like ants crawling”
    • “severe burning sensation”
  • Drying formula Sometimes Noted
    • “incredibly drying”
    • “made my skin flaky”
    • “sucked the moisture out”
    • “too drying for daily use”
    • “left dry patches”
  • Thick texture Sometimes Noted
    • “hard to spread”
    • “feels like a thick paste”
    • “heavy silicone feel”
    • “doesn't absorb well”
    • “sits on top of skin”
  • Unpleasant scent Rarely Noted
    • “smell is unbearable”
    • “weird chemical smell”
    • “smells like glue”
    • “earthy scent is off-putting”
    • “has a funky odor”

Sources: lovi.care, ulta.com, sephora.co.uk, theordinary.com, influenster.com, lookfantastic.ie, and more

Questions and answers

How well does The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension work for dry skin?

This product works moderately well for dry skin, offering helpful treatment for breakouts and dark spots, but it lacks enough moisture-locking ingredients for optimal hydration. A product of this type needs rich hydrating and skin-barrier-supporting ingredients like ceramides, niacinamide, peptides, or propolis to properly nourish dry skin.

Pharmaceutics, 2021Dermatology and Therapy, 2024

Which ingredients make this cream a good fit for dry skin?

Dimethicone helps provide basic smoothing for dry skin, though it mostly offers supportive benefits. Products of this type need ingredients that specifically target hydration and skin barrier support, such as soothing agents, ceramides, propolis, niacinamide, and peptides.

Ostomy/wound Management, 2005

What does Dimethicone do for dry skin?

Dimethicone helps protect dry skin and keeps it smooth by forming a gentle, breathable layer on top. It is unlikely to lock in moisture on its own as well as heavy protectants like petrolatum, so dry skin often needs formulas that combine dimethicone with hydrating ingredients like glycerin.

Ostomy/wound Management, 2005Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 2007

Where does this cream go in a skincare routine for dry skin?

This treatment goes in the evening routine after cleansing and before moisturizing. A product of this type needs extra hydrating ingredients and moisture-locking components to properly care for dry skin.

Can I use this cream with retinol, and in what order?

You can use this treatment with retinol by applying the retinol first at night, but a product for dry skin also needs plenty of hydrating ingredients to keep the skin comfortable.

How often should I use this cream?

Start using this treatment once a week in your evening routine, and if your skin feels comfortable and tolerates it well, you may carefully use it more often. A product of this type needs moisture-locking ingredients and deep hydrators to keep dry skin comfortable and properly hydrated.

Can this cream clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for dry skin?

This treatment is unlikely to clog pores or cause breakouts on dry skin, though its drying formula may occasionally cause flaking or irritation. To work well for dry skin, this type of product needs extra hydrating ingredients like glycerin or hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture.

Is this cream fragrance-free and alcohol-free?

Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol.

What the research says

  • Azelaic acid nanocrystal hydrogel 10% achieved a higher success rate and greater lesion reduction than azelaic acid cream 20% in patients with mild to moderate facial acne.

    Pharmaceutics, 2021

  • Application of 15% azelaic acid gel significantly reduced post-inflammatory erythema and hyperpigmentation, decreased hemoglobin and melanin content, improved quality of life, and contributed to acne improvement in patients with mild to moderate acne compared to placebo.

    Dermatology and Therapy, 2024

  • Topical application of a dermocosmetic containing Myrtus communis extract and azelaic acid reduced acne relapses and helped maintain remission compared to a light moisturizing cream in adult females in the acne maintenance phase over 16 weeks.

    Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2023

  • Petrolatum-based skin protectants demonstrated protection against irritants and maceration while providing skin hydration, whereas dimethicone and zinc oxide products showed varying or limited performance across parameters among 18 healthy volunteers compared to positive and negative controls.

    Ostomy/wound Management, 2005

  • Topical administration of 20% azelaic acid cream and 5% tranexamic acid solution comparably improved acne-related postinflammatory hyperpigmentation in patients with acne vulgaris, while tranexamic acid demonstrated a significantly better safety profile at week 4.

    Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 2023

  • Azelaic acid 15% gel showed comparable efficacy to adapalene 0.1% gel in reducing lesions, severity, and Dermatology Life Quality Index in women with adult acne, with significantly lower dryness and scaling, and demonstrated superiority during maintenance compared to no further treatment.

    Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2015

  • Wearing an N95 mask alone compared to using dimethicone cream or hydrocolloid dressing caused more adverse skin reactions among 73 military health care workers, with no significant differences in fit test failure rates between groups.

    Military Medicine, 2024

  • Treatment with a moisturizer containing dimethicone and glycerine increased epidermal thickness by 0.019 mm, improved barrier function by decreasing transepidermal water loss by 13%, decreased melanin intensity, and induced keratins 6 and 16 in fifteen women with moderately photoaged forearms.

    Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 2007

  • Externally applied substances such as ceramides, hyaluronic acid, licorice extracts, dimethicone, petrolatum, and paraffin wax treat skin disease resulting from damage to the skin barrier.

    Clinics in Dermatology, 2012

  • Topical application of an antioxidant serum containing 15% ascorbic acid, 0.5% ferulic acid, and 1% tocopherol prevented particulate matter-induced degradation of extracellular matrix components, inflammation, and oxidative stress in the skin of 15 female volunteers compared to untreated controls.

    Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025

  • Dermatological products containing d-alpha tocopheryl acetate showed non-comedogenic potential with less than a 50% increase in microcomedones in 12 healthy male subjects compared to octyl palmitate.

    Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 2021

  • Topical application of an antioxidant mix containing 15% ascorbic acid, 0.5% ferulic acid, and 1% tocopherol prevented PM and UV-induced skin barrier perturbation, lipid peroxidation, inflammatory markers, MMP9 activation, and Type I collagen loss in 15 healthy females compared to untreated exposed skin.

    Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024

Why other serums fit dry skin better

Ingredients

Water, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Dimethicone, Azelaic Acid, Dimethicone Bis-Isobutyl Ppg-20 Crosspolymer, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Polysilicone-11, Isohexadecane, Tocopherol, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Isoceteth-20, Polysorbate 60, Triethanolamine, Ethoxydiglycol, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin

Behind this fit score

Lovi calculates every fit score 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

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Prices checked 10 Oct – 6 Nov 2026

The Lovi Fit is the same in every country; only the stores and prices differ, and the ones here are for Canada.

How does it fit your skin?

Scan your face, then any product: Lovi shows how well it fits you and what fits even better.

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