🇩🇪Germany

The Ordinary vs Sebamed

The Ordinary and Sebamed are distinct skincare options rooted in targeted, ingredient-led formulations. The Canadian brand centers on serums, moisturizers, cleansers, and toners built around hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and squalane, whereas the German brand is known for thoughtful moisturizers and gentle cleansers that rely on scientifically balanced formulas. The former fits dry skin and sensitive skin best, while its counterpart suits sensitive, reactive, and problematic skin because of a skin-neutral pH. They differ primarily in approach, as the first offers specialized treatments for acne, dark spots, and aging, while the second maintains a steady focus on barrier health through reliable, pH-balanced offerings.

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

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Sebamed is a German skincare brand founded in 1967 and owned by Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG.

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

Questions and answers

The Ordinary or Sebamed: which is better?

The Ordinary is a better choice for most shoppers because the products on this page offer a much wider variety of targeted serums, toners, and moisturizers with high fit levels for dry, sensitive, and spot-prone skin.

What is the difference between The Ordinary and Sebamed?

The Ordinary offers a much larger variety of targeted serums, toners, and moisturizers that fit dry and sensitive skin best, while Sebamed features only a couple of basic products for cleansing and hydration. Both brands provide fragrance-free options across the products on this page.

The Ordinary or Sebamed: which cleanser is better?

The products on this page for The Ordinary include multiple cleansers like the Glucoside Foaming Cleanser, which has a High fit level for dry, sensitive, and oily skin types, while Sebamed features the Facial Cleanser, which also reaches a High fit level for combination, oily, and sensitive skin.

Which is more affordable, The Ordinary or Sebamed?

The products on this page for The Ordinary are frequently noted by reviewers for being affordable and providing great value. Sebamed has a much smaller selection on this page and does not feature affordability highlights among reviewers.

Which causes fewer breakouts, The Ordinary or Sebamed?

Both The Ordinary and Sebamed offer products on this page that are a high fit for acne-prone skin, meaning either brand helps manage breakouts well.

Do any products from The Ordinary or Sebamed contain added fragrance?

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

When was Sebamed founded compared to The Ordinary?

Sebamed was founded in 1967, which is a bit earlier than The Ordinary since it was launched in 2016.

The Ordinary or Sebamed: which moisturizer is better?

The products on this page show that The Ordinary offers a much wider variety of moisturizers and hydrating treatments tailored to different skin types, whereas Sebamed provides just a single targeted option. For instance, The Ordinary features formulas with ingredients like hyaluronic acid which helps provide anti-aging and antioxidant effects in skin damage.

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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.

How does it fit your skin?

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