The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum Review – The Results are NOT GOOD!

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If you have sensitive and acne-prone skin and are wondering to invest in The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum, you need to go through this article before you make your decision. The day I saw this viral pink serum from The Ordinary on my Instagram reels and when I got to know more about it, I made up my mind to buy it for me.

I have sensitive and acne-prone skin and I have been an oily skin person all my life but over the past few years, ever since the allergies happened and my childhood eczema made a return, I have experienced some of the worst dryness attacks. There were days when I had flare-ups resulting in dry, red, and flaky skin. Not just regular dry, but a cement-rock kind of dry.

If you are someone with atopic dryness or dermatitis, you would know what I am talking about.

Jump Directly to Review.

About The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum – The Viral Pink Serum

Price: Rs.1800/- for 30ml

I bought mine from Nykaa but it is currently out of stock.

Available at Lookfantastic and Ulta.

Product Details

The Soothing and Barrier Support Serum is a multi-active solution targeted at reducing the look of irritated skin. It repairs and strengthens a damaged skin barrier and provides an immediate 86%* boost in skin hydration. This helps soothe feelings of discomfort and reduce signs of redness over time.

By strengthening the skin barrier, The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum also improves the look of uneven texture for a smoother appearance. Formulated with multiple vitamins, lipids, and phytotechnologies, this comprehensive serum is suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin.

The multi-active formula contains 8 key technologies:

• Vitamin B12: Helps support the skin barrier by reducing dryness and the look of redness, while also imparting the serum’s characteristic pink hue.

• Gallic Acid Derivatives: A combination of 3 activated forms of gallic acid (propyl gallate, gallyl glucoside, and epigallocatechin gallyl glucoside (EGCG)) help soothe skin discomfort and target the look of redness associated with external stressors.

• Bisabolol: Helps reduce the look of skin redness.

• Soothing Complex: Reduces feelings of skin tightness and discomfort from dryness.

• Ceramide Complex: Plant-derived ceramides (sphingolipids and phospholipids) provide topical delivery of key skin components.

• 2% Niacinamide: Supports essential skin components that help promote hydration.

• Sugar-based hydrators: Offer long-term hydration and help support skin barrier function.

• Centella Asiatica Phytotechnologies: Isolated triterpenes (asiaticoside, madecassic acid, and asiatic acid) derived from Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola) that support protection against external stressors.

Testing results:

• Repairs and strengthens the skin barrier
• Provides an immediate 86% boost in skin hydration
• Provides hydration that lasts all-day
• Reduces the look of redness
• Improves the look of uneven skin texture for a smoother appearance

*Clinical testing in 34 people, 2x per day for 6 weeks.

Ingredients

Aqua (Water), Propanediol, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Pentylene Glycol, Niacinamide, Hexyldecanol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Xylitylglucoside, Ceteth-20 Phosphate, Anhydroxylitol, Ethyl Linoleate, Asiaticoside, Asiatic Acid, Madecassic Acid, Naringenin, Cyanocobalamin, Panthenyl Triacetate, 4-t-Butylcyclohexanol, Hydroxyphenyl Propamidobenzoic Acid, Cetylhydroxyproline Palmitamide, Bisabolol, Brassica Campestris Sterols, Sphingolipids, Phospholipids, Epigallocatechin Gallatyl Glucoside, Gallyl Glucoside, Propyl Gallate, Xylitol, Zingiber Officinale Root Extract, Stearic Acid, Dicetyl Phosphate, Isoceteth-20, Xanthan Gum, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Tocopherol, Dehydroacetic Acid, p-Anisic Acid, Phytic Acid, Sodium Phytate, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Hydroxide, Benzyl Alcohol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin.

How to Use

Apply a few drops to the face in the morning and evening.

As mentioned on the Nykaa Website.

The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum was introduced as a gem for people with dry-flaky skin. It was marketed as a “must have” for anyone who faces redness and rashes as this one would soothe and heal those rashes. I obviously had to get one for my eczema skin which constantly faces redness and painful rashes when triggered.

If you have been looking for an in-depth review of The Ordinary Barrier repair serum, you are on the right page. Let us get into the details.

Review – The Ordinary Barrier Repair Serum

My Skin Type: Sensitive, acne-prone, and eczema-prone skin with atopic dryness and dermatitis. My skin gets easily triggered by allergens resulting in redness, flaky skin, and painful rashes.

Packaging: It comes in the standard The Ordinary packaging. A glass bottle with a dropper cap. Easy to store, use, and travel with. The bottle itself doesn’t have many details on so you will need to store the outer packaging for details like expiry date or ingredients.

Fragrance: Okay I do not like the fragrance at all. It smells so plastic-y and not at all appealing.

My Experience with The Ordinary Barrier Repair Serum

It cost me Rs.1800/- so you can imagine how excited and curious I was to try this serum on. My hopes for this The Ordinary pink serum were high thanks to all those videos that mentioned how helpful it is for people with dry-flaky skin and how it will treat their redness.

As usual, I tried this serum on after cleansing my face. I took a few drops onto my palm gently patted all over the face and kept patting until it was absorbed. I did not find the texture to be sticky but it does take some time to be absorbed. I waited for a few minutes to proceed with my moisturizer.

After applying and massaging the serum, I noticed it left a slight amount of pinkish color. Nothing major but can be seen up close. Me being so habitual of seeing redness peeking through my skin, that pink tint was not a healthy sight. It wasn’t looking like a healthy pink glow but more like when you get red under the Sun.

A lot of videos mentioned how moisturising it is and how you can wear this alone but in my case, I couldn’t do without my moisturizer. I had to apply my Cetaphil Moisturizer or else my skin felt way too dry with only the serum on.

My skin looked nourished and glowy and I continued this routine for a few days until I had to stop using the serum.

After a few days of usage, I noticed the appearance of my skin was not that healthy. It was not looking good as it does regularly. My pores looked big and the texture of my skin looked disturbed.

The next day, I noticed tiny bumps on my skin and I started to feel it was the serum that was breaking me out. Giving it the benefit of the doubt, I kept on using it to thoroughly experience it until a few days later, I started noticing redness peeking through resulting in an eczema rash. An eczema flare-up is one of those painful moments that can’t be put into words.

I still was not 100% sure of this serum giving me the rash because it was supposed to work the other way around. I thought my skin was triggered due to some other allergies but I was not ready to pin-point it on the serum.

I took that rash as an opportunity to see how effective The Ordinary Pink serum is on the rashes. I took a drop and applied it on my rash as a spot treatment and it was my biggest mistake. My skin and my rash started to burn and the serum made it worse. It was so painful that I had to wash it off and apply some aloe vera gel. I sat there holding ice on my face.

I had my doubts when it started giving me giant pores and when my skin texture looked weird but I was hoping that it would work on the rash as this is what this serum was supposed to do. To soothe my skin! And it did the opposite.

I am sharing a picture of my rash in the button below. Ignore my messy hair as I had oiled it.

I stopped using the serum from that moment and decided to go through online reviews to see whether it was only me or if there were people with similar stories.

No doubt a lot of people seem to love The Ordinary pink serum but I also read some reviews where people shared that it damaged their skin barrier and how it reacted to their skin, just like mine.

I landed on this YouTube Video where she shared her story and how she dug further into the ingredients. The product reacted to her skin as well and turns out there are some allergens in the ingredients especially reacting to people with dermatitis.

I went through Nykaa and Sephora Reviews and it was loaded with people sharing similar experiences of how The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier support serum ruined their skin. Forums like Reddit had some positive reviews and then there were people with neutral experiences as well but I was surprised to see how many people experienced the same reaction with The Ordinary Pink Serum.

The Ordinary skin barrier serum triggered my eczema and I had to deal with a very painful reaction resulting in redness and rash. It ruined my skin texture. Between all those reviews and my experience if there is anything in common it is that we share sensitive skin with allergic dryness. A weak skin barrier that gets easily triggered resulting in rashes. Looks like we all had to spend days repairing our skin.

What I did to repair my skin was apply Cetaphil moisturizer multiple times a day. I further used my Klairs supple toner and applied boroline on the rash. I even reached to Calarise lotion which I use to soothe any discomfort.

Not only that, I further used a layer of Bioderma Cicabio to soothe my skin and even a steroid-based cream that my skin doctor prescribed which I had to use every time I had a flare-up. My rash got so bad that I had to take a steroid-based medicine which my doctor prescribed me for emergencies.

At times it feels like it was one of those situations where people share their experience and then get a giant amount of compensation. All I could think of how costly this serum was and how much my skin suffered.

I am writing this article after almost a month now so my skin is all good and healthy *touchwood. My current skincare routine consists of Neutrogena Daily Wash and Cetaphil Gentle Wash. Yes, I use them on an alternate-day basis. Followed, by Nykaa Vitamin C Serum or Deconstruct Retinol serum once a weak. I do not use these serums together. Never pair any serum when using Retinol. And finally finishing it off with a moisturizer. I am currently testing out Hyphen Moisturizer so it is a part of my skincare routine at the moment. During the day, I complete my routine with sunscreen. Either Nykaa Matte Sunscreen or the UV Doux Blue-light sunscreen. Attaching links to the review of all the products I mentioned in the button below.

Well, for me The Ordinary Barrier Support Serum was a total money waste. To be honest, my experience with The Ordinary products has not been that good. I remember their eye caffeine serum reacting to my eyes and their niacinamide making my eczema worse. Maybe The Ordinary is not just for me. I like Nykaa SkinRx serums way better.

Although with eczema I am not really left with many options and my skincare routine is mainly focused on moisturizers and anything with hydration.

To everyone who is reading this and faced a similar situation, I hope you were able to heal back your skin.

The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum Images

This was it for today. I hope you have found my experience and review of The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum helpful. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Have a Good Day.