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Medicube vs The Ordinary

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

Medicube and The Ordinary are two prominent skincare brands founded in 2016 that offer targeted solutions for diverse complexions. The Korean brand utilizes ingredients like niacinamide, collagen, and hyaluronic acid within moisturizers, serums, toners, and masks to serve dry skin and oily acne-prone skin best. Conversely, the Canadian brand features serums, moisturizers, cleansers, and toners built around hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and squalane to suit dry skin and sensitive skin. Ultimately, they differ through their distinct ingredient formulations and specific product ranges tailored for individual skin needs.

Medicube is a Korean skincare brand founded in 2016 and owned by APR Corp..

medicubereviews.co.ukglossy.co

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

Popular Medicube vs The Ordinary products

People Say

MedicubeThe Ordinary
  • Hydration and Moisture Mostly MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “skin feels bouncier and hydrated — Medicube PDRN Pink Peptide Serum”
    • “glass skin — Medicube PDRN Pink Collagen Gel Mask”
    • “woke up with baby soft skin — Medicube Collagen Jelly Cream”
    • “skin feels immediately hydrated — The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5”
  • Skin Texture 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%”
    • “gives my skin a smooth, glass-like finish — Medicube Zero Pore Pad”
  • Value and Pricing Not notedMostly Mentioned
    • “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%”
  • Acne and Blemish Control Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “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”
    • “active breakouts look less inflamed — Medicube Red Succinic Acid Peeling Pad”
  • Glow and Radiance Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “gave me instant glass skin — Medicube Collagen Jelly Cream”
    • “woke up with glowing skin — Medicube Collagen Night Wrapping Mask”
    • “healthy, dewy glow — Medicube PDRN Pink Peptide Serum”
    • “glass skin effect — The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution”
  • Pore Care and Cleansing Often MentionedRarely Noted
    • “Pores drastically reduced — Medicube Zero Foam Cleanser”
    • “Mochi-like foam — Medicube Zero Foam Cleanser”
    • “Removes every trace of oil — Medicube Red Foam Cleanser”
    • “pores look significantly smaller — The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%”
  • Sticky and Tacky Finish Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “hair sticks to my face — Medicube Collagen Jelly Cream”
    • “feels way too sticky and tacky — Medicube DEEP VITA-C CAPSULE CREAM”
    • “feels very sticky — The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5”
    • “feels very sticky — The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Solution”
  • Irritation and Breakouts Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “broke me out in cysts — The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%”
    • “broke me out in cysts — The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5”
    • “gave me cystic acne — The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution”
    • “caused redness and sensitivity — Medicube Zero Pore Pad”
  • Drying and Stinging Effects Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “Skin feels very tight — Medicube Zero Foam Cleanser”
    • “skin felt very tight — Medicube Zero Pore Blackhead Mud Mask”
    • “Skin feels quite dry after washing — Medicube Red Foam Cleanser”
    • “stings a little but worth it — The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution”
  • Packaging and Quantity Concerns Often MentionedRarely Noted
    • “The 50ml tube runs out way too fast. — The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser”
    • “Wish it came in a pump — The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA”
    • “Expensive for Ordinary — The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 1% Serum”
    • “tube is tiny for the price — Medicube Collagen Night Wrapping Mask”

Medicube vs The Ordinary routines for dry skin

See multi-brand routine · 99% fit

Medicube vs The Ordinary routines for oily skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Medicube vs The Ordinary routines for combination skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Questions and answers

Medicube or The Ordinary: which is better?

Both brands perform well, with Medicube standing out for hydration, glow, and pore care on the products on this page, while The Ordinary offers better value, acne control, and smoothing for skin texture. Lovi rates both brands as Superior for dry skin, though The Ordinary is Superior for oily, combination, sensitive, acne-prone, mature, dark spot, and dry sensitive skin where Medicube is High.

What is the difference between Medicube and The Ordinary?

Medicube offers superior deep hydration and pore care with soothing ingredients like niacinamide, whereas The Ordinary provides better value and texture-smoothing serums. Niacinamide helps reduce cutaneous pigmentation and melanosome transfer, supporting clearer-looking skin.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002Antioxidants, 2021

Medicube or The Ordinary for dry skin?

Both brands offer a Superior routine fit for dry skin. Medicube focuses on deep hydration moisturizers, while The Ordinary features strong value and texture-smoothing serums with ingredients like hyaluronic acid that helps improve skin hydration.

Dermatologic Therapy, 2022

Medicube or The Ordinary: which cleanser is better?

The products on this page show that both Medicube and The Ordinary offer cleansers with High or Superior Lovi fit levels across most skin types, including dry, oily, and sensitive skin. Reviewers note that Medicube excels in pore care and cleansing, while The Ordinary provides better overall value and pricing.

Which is more affordable, Medicube or The Ordinary?

The Ordinary is more affordable on this page, as reviewers often note its affordability and great value serums. Medicube, by contrast, frequently receives complaints about small quantities and pricing issues.

Medicube or The Ordinary: which brand is better for reducing dark spots?

Both brands help with dark spots, but The Ordinary is noted for better acne-clearing and dark spot fading serums. Medicube has a High fit level for skin with dark spots, and its niacinamide helps reduce cutaneous pigmentation. The Ordinary also has a High to Superior fit for dark spots, and its niacinamide may suppress melanosome transfer.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002Antioxidants, 2021

Medicube or The Ordinary: which brand offers better pore care and cleansing?

Medicube offers better pore care and cleansing, outperforming The Ordinary in pore care and cleansing according to reviewer feedback on this page. Lovi shows the routine fit for oily skin is High for Medicube and Superior for The Ordinary.

Medicube or The Ordinary: which brand has a higher percentage of products without fragrance?

Medicube features no fragrance in 23 of its 25 products on this page, while The Ordinary lists no fragrance in every product on the page. Therefore, The Ordinary has a higher percentage of products without fragrance.

Medicube or The Ordinary for oily skin?

For oily skin, The Ordinary has a Superior routine fit, while Medicube has a High routine fit. The Ordinary excels in value, pricing, and acne and blemish control for oily skin.

Medicube or The Ordinary: which moisturizer is better?

Medicube offers superior moisturizers for mature skin and dry sensitive skin with its Collagen Jelly Cream, while The Ordinary offers superior moisturizers for dry skin with products like Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA and Natural Moisturizing Factors + PhytoCeramides. Both brands feature high or superior fit levels for dry skin routines, but Medicube focuses more on deep hydration and radiant glow, whereas The Ordinary provides affordable value.

Medicube or The Ordinary for sensitive skin?

Medicube and The Ordinary both offer a High routine fit for sensitive skin on this page, with Medicube focusing on soothing hydration and The Ordinary providing gentle, fragrance-free formulations. Niacinamide helps control skin aging and pigmentation, and topical hyaluronic acid benefits skin quality and signs of aging.

Antioxidants, 2021Dermatologic Therapy, 2022

Medicube or The Ordinary for acne-prone skin?

Both brands fit acne-prone skin well, with Medicube offering a High routine fit and The Ordinary offering a Superior one. The Ordinary excels more specifically in acne and blemish control across the products on this page.

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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