Review: The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution.

While we wait for my next style post, I wanted to share this review of The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution with you guys.

I got the exfoliator about four months ago, as part for the giveaway prize I won from Cassie Dave x Beauty Frenzy and have been using it at least once every week since then. (I briefly mentioned it in my Oily/Acne prone skin regimenpost, see it here). It’s been roughly sixteen weeks now and I feel I can now share my experience and opinion about the product.

A quick recap about my skin/issues: Oily, acne prone, large pores and hyper-pigmentation. A scary cocktail of bad skin factors L

 Another quick dive into what this product is about:

• It is an acid.
• Active ingredients are AHA at 30% and BHA at 2%.
• AHA (Alpha Hydroxy Acids) are a group of natural (and synthetic) acids normally found in foods. Acids such as lactic acid, citric acid, glycolic acid, malic acids, etc., make up AHAs. On the skin, these acids work to peel off/exfoliate the dead cells off the top layer of the skin, while refining and promoting softer, healthier and smoother new skin cells. These mostly work on the surface of the skin.
• BHA (Beta Hydroxy Acid) is also known as salicylic acid. This acid penetrates deep beneath the skin’s surface and into the pores to unclog it, clear our excess sebum, kill bacteria and reduce blemishes.

Now to the review - 

To use, you are to spread the product with your fingertips evenly across clean, dry skin and leaving it on for no more than ten minutes, after which you rinse off with water. I usually allow my face to cool down for about thirty minutes, and then I apply my toner to help bring back balance to my skin.

As the frequency of use was not indicated anywhere on the product, I researched and went the safe route of once a week. Looking at my results and my skin’s history of being hard to affect, I think I would have gotten better results using it more than once a week.

After these months of use, even though my blemishes have significantly reduced and I’ve had much less acne, it didn’t do as much as my Bioderma White Objective exfoliating cleanser in terms of smoothening my skin and unclogging my pores.

My experience has been a little underwhelming, but I’m sure I will have better results with a different combo/formulation, so I will be trying out a couple other solutions from The Ordinary range.

From my research, the Ascorbic Acid 8% + Alpha Arbutin 2% and the Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% are good options for my particular skin issues, so I look forward to trying those out.

Have you tried this brand/product? Please share your experience in the comments!