Let’s play a game: Name the most minimal, most buzzworthy and most affordable skincare brand available right now.
If you shouted The Ordinary, we commend you. The brand does, indeed, offer up a spectacular lineup of skin heroes, and some of the brand’s main talking points are simplistic, in-demand formulas clocking in at very impressive (i.e., budget-friendly) price points. However, as much as we love The Ordinary, it’s actually not the holy-grail skincare brand we’re referring to. Beauty lovers everywhere, meet The Inkey List—the under-the-radar brand that delivers sleek and minimal product formulas for under £15 each. Yep, you read that right!
Founded by former Boots’ branding and product developers Colette Newberry and Mark Curry, the British company has been garnering lots of talk and excitement about its unique M.O.: formulating whip-smart products made with the most well-known—and wanted—skincare ingredients. (Think rosehip oil, hyaluronic acid, collagen, retinol and more.) That said, there are a few exceptions, as its Polyglutamic Acid, Multi-Biotic Moisturiser and Heptapeptide Serum are touted by the brand as “innovation” formulas due to the very causal fact there’s nothing else on the market quite like them. Cool, no?
Of course, as we mentioned, people can’t help but compare The Inkey List to The Ordinary since they contain common denominators like single-ingredient-oriented product formulas, high-efficacy actives and non-terrifying price tags. After trying out almost all of the brand’s offerings ourselves, we don’t think it’s quite fair to compare.
Since there are quite a few products to choose from all boasting very enticing claims and labels, we thought we’d give you a head start by listing some of the most-loved products from The Ordinary, and the most exciting counterparts or next-to-try bottles and tubes from The Inkey List. Keep scrolling for all of our recommendations.
