Move over, The Ordinary! There’s a new brand in town that delivers powerful actives for the price of a cup of coffee (or two).
Skincare fanatics, meet The Inkey List. If you’re on a budget – and you’re tired of all the drama at The Ordinary – The Inkey List will become your new BFF.
But what’s worth the little splurge? Here are, imo, the best The Inkey List products:
Best For Dry Skin: The Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid (£4.99)
Hyaluronic acid is one of those ingredients that works for everyone. It attracts and binds to the skin up to 1000 times its weight in water. It’s a great way to give dry skin that extra boost of moisture it badly craves and keep oily skin hydrated without adding more oil to it. The Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid has a whooping 2% hyaluronic acid at different molecular weights to hydrate every layer of your skin. In winter, it’s a must!
Available at: Cult Beauty and Feel Unique
Related: Why You Should Add Hyaluronic Acid To Your Skincare Routine
Best For Anti-Aging: The Inkey List Retinol Serum (£9.99)
If you’re serious about antiaging, you need some form of vitamin A in your skincare routine. Vitamin A is a multitasker that fights wrinkles on 3 fronts: it destroys free radicals, boosts collagen production and speeds up cellular turnover (the skin’s natural exfoliating process). The Inkey List Retinol Serum uses TWO forms of vitamin A: 1% stable, slow-release retinol + 0.5% hydroxypinacolone retinoate (a.k.a. granactive retinoid). FYI, brands will tell that granactive retinoid is more powerful than retinol. Maybe so, but for now the only studies showing this come from the manufacturer so take it with a pinch of salt. One more thing: this is NOT for newbies. If you’ve never used retinol before, start with a smaller concentration and work your way up slowly to avoid flaking, dryness and irritation.
Available at: Cult Beauty and Feel Unique
Related: What Strength Of Retinol Is Right For YOU?
Struggling to put together an anti-aging skincare routine that really reduces the look of wrinkles and gives your skin a youthful glow? Download your FREE “Best Anti-Aging Skincare Routine” to get started (it features product recommendations + right application order):
The Inkey List Turmeric Moisturiser (£7.99)
If you’ve got dry, sensitive skin, The Inkey List Turmeric Moistruizer is made for you. It’s loaded with soothing ingredients like oats and turmeric that soothe irritations and calm down redness while fighting off free radicals. Plus, the rich coconut and squalane base keeps skin soft and smooth even in the harshest of weathers. Oily skin? Don’t be tempted. Coconut oil could give you pimples.
Available at: Cult Beauty and Feel Unique
Related: 9 Ingredients That Soothe Sensitive, Irritated Skin
The Inkey List Rosehip Oil (£6.99)
If I could use only one facial oil for the rest of my life, it’d be rosehip oil. For starters, it’s a natural source of vitamin A, a powerful antioxidant that fights free radicals and boosts collagen. Plus, it’s high in Linoleic acid, a fatty acid with soothing and moisturizing properties. Like that’s not enough, linoleic acid helps treat acne. Acne sufferers have less linoleic acid than normal in their skin. Adding it back helps heal mini pimples. And at this price, The Inkey List Rosehip Oil is one of the most affordable on the market.
Available at: Cult Beauty and Feel Unique
Related: Why Rosehip Oil Is My Go-To For Every Skincare Woe
The Inkey List Lactic Acid Serum (£7.99)
The brand makes 3 exfoliants but I picked The Inkey List Lactic Acid Serum for two reasons. First off, few brands give you lactic acid alone. That sucks because sensitive skin needs to use it alone. Others acids may irritate it. The second reason? It doesn’t have irritants like citrus extracts. Phew! This gentle exfoliant dissolves the glue that hold skin cells together so they can slough off and hydrates skin to boot. Just what the doctor ordered for sensitive skin.
Available at: Cult Beauty and Feel Unique
Related: How To Choose The Best Exfoliator For YOUR Skin Type
How do these Inkey products compare to the Ordinary versions?
Claudia, they’re very similar. They both give you just one or two actives per product, at a cheaper price. In the end, it all comes down to personal preference (texture, smell etc).
The Inkey List HA serum also contains Matrixyl. Bonus!
K, I couldn’t agree more. 🙂
On the ingredient list for the retinol, the retinol is listed after the retinoate, but has a higher %. Makes no sense
Jeff, after you hit the 1% mark, ingredients can be listed in random order. So you can have more retinol than retinoate and list them in inverted order.
I used to be all about single ingredient products but the more i learn about skincare the more i dont really like them as i would rather have a fully realised product even if it costs more money
http://www.theskincaresaviour.com
Andrew, I agree with you. I think there is a place in skincare for single ingredient products. For ex, if you’ve already got your skincare routine down to a T and want to add just ONE new ingredient, like an acid or retinol.
Otherwise, multitasking products are the way to go. When you do the math, you often realise that buying 6/7 one single ingredient products turns out to be more expensive!
I have the hyaluronic acid from The Inkey List, and it is simply amazing! I have also tried the one from The Ordinary, which gave me almost nothing. This is much more hydrating for my skin, which is really dry (usually flaky dry for the next couple of winter months here in icy Denmark). But this hyaluronic acid delivers so far, and i have used it for about 3-4 weeks 🙂 What about the Zinc Oxide Cream Moisturiser? Is it any good as a sunscreen? Also for people with sensitive skin.
Sofie, glad to hear their Hyaluronic Acid serum works so well for you. I haven’t personally tried Zinc Oxide Moisturizer yet so I can’t comment on the texture, but it also contains octinoxate. So if you don’t want any chemical UV filters at all, this isn’t for you. But if that doesn’t bother your skin, it does provide adequate sun protection.
What about their VItamin C serum? It is better than the The Ordinary’s?
Ana, I’m not a fan of these cheap Vitamin C serums, from either brand. Neither of them also contain ferric acid or vitamin E, which help boost the effectivess of Vitamin C.