🇺🇸United States

The Ordinary vs Principia

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

The Ordinary and Principia are two skincare brands offering targeted solutions for diverse complexions. The Ordinary, a Canadian brand founded in 2016 and owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. since 2021, provides serums, moisturizers, cleansers, toners, and more, built around hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and squalane. Meanwhile, Principia is widely loved for its thoughtful cleansers and precise formulas. The former brand fits dry skin and dry sensitive skin best, while the latter suits balanced to oily skin best, helping maintain a healthy, balanced complexion.

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 Principia products; for every product of both brands, with a fit score for your own skin, use the Lovi app.

Popular The Ordinary vs Principia products

Questions and answers

The Ordinary or Principia: which is better?

The Ordinary offers a much wider selection of skincare products on this page compared to Principia, with options that fit dry, dry sensitive, and oily skin best.

What is the difference between The Ordinary and Principia?

The Ordinary offers many fragrance-free products on this page across multiple categories like cleansers, serums, and moisturizers that fit dry skin, dry sensitive skin, and oily skin best, whereas Principia features only one facial cleanser.

The Ordinary or Principia: which cleanser is better?

The Ordinary offers a wider variety of cleansers on this page, with options like the Squalane Cleanser and Glucoside Foaming Cleanser achieving High fit levels for dry and oily skin types, whereas Principia lists only the Gel de Limpeza GL-01, which has Average or lower fit levels for those skin types.

Which is more affordable, The Ordinary or Principia?

The products on this page for The Ordinary are frequently noted by reviewers as affordable and offering great value. Principia features only one cleanser on this page and does not provide comparable affordability feedback here.

Which causes fewer breakouts, The Ordinary or Principia?

The Ordinary is a better choice for breakout-prone skin as the products on this page help manage breakouts, whereas Principia's cleanser has a low fit level for acne-prone skin.

When were The Ordinary and Principia founded, and who owns them?

The Ordinary was founded in Canada in 2016 and has been owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. since 2021. Principia was founded in 2020 and is owned by Viziera Participações Ltda.

Which brand offers more products for dry skin and dark spots on this page?

The Ordinary offers more products for dry skin and dark spots on this page, with multiple serums and moisturizers achieving high or superior Lovi fit levels for both concerns. Reviewers frequently note that the products on this page provide great value, and the brand's routines fit dry skin best.

Do products from either The Ordinary or Principia contain added fragrance?

Every product on this page from both The Ordinary and Principia 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?

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

QR code: get the Lovi app
Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play