The Ordinary
Lactic Acid 5% + HA (2019 formulation)
uncategorizedtypically under $12
Cleaner pick · Safest cleansers & exfoliants we have rated
Sodashi
CLAY CLEANSER WITH LAVENDER Travel Size+8 on ingredient safety
16 AUD
Ingredient safetyRaters agree
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Ingredient safety
raters agreeA government authority. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Also screened, nothing found: ANSES Endocrine Disruptors · ECHA SVHC Candidate List · California Proposition 65 · IARC Monographs · EU Harmonised Classification (CLP Annex VI) · US NTP Report on Carcinogens
Recognized on a safer-ingredients list: US EPA Safer Choice recognizes 73% of ingredients as safer choices — a marker, never a score.
Environmental
Also screened, nothing found: EU Microplastics Restriction
Labor
Run by a nonprofit. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. This rates The Ordinary as a company and applies to everything they make, not this product alone. Checked this week. about this rater →
Coverage & match quality
5 ratings · 2 of 4 axes
- Some ratings rest on an automatic match that has not been human-reviewed.
- Fewer raters reach smaller-brand products, so a missing rating is not a clean bill of health, only a gap.
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Packagingno rating
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0 means ignored. Higher = more weight in your composite.
Ingredients, decoded
Data availability
Robust15 of 15 characterized
Our sources have reference data on all 15 listed ingredients.
Worth a look (2)
Health Canada Hotlist — restrictedflagged by 1 of 9 lists
EU-restricted (with limits)flagged by 2 of 9 lists
No flags in our sources (13)
What these ingredient tags mean (2)
These describe what an ingredient is, not whether it is a problem. The stance marks above are the ratings; these are not.
exfoliating acidLactic Acid
- Lactic Acid: An alpha hydroxy acid that loosens surface skin cells; it also makes skin more sun-sensitive while you use it. FDA, "Guidance for Industry: Labeling for Topically Applied Cosmetic Products Containing Alpha Hydroxy Acids as Ingredients" (announced at 70 FR 1721, 10 January 2005; FDA web pages title it "Labeling for Cosmetics Containing Alpha Hydroxy Acids"), which names this acid and recommends the statement "Sunburn Alert: This product contains an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that may increase your skin's sensitivity to the sun and particularly the possibility of sunburn."
humectantGlycerin
- Glycerin: A humectant, and one of the two ingredients a comparison of moisturiser components found made a significant difference to skin hydration. FDA OTC skin protectant monograph, 21 CFR 347.10(h), lists glycerin as a skin protectant at 20 to 45%. On the humectant half: Jeong CB, Han JY, Cho JC, Suh KD, Nam GW, "Analysis of electrical property changes of skin by oil-in-water emulsion components", Int J Cosmet Sci 2013;35(4):402-410, DOI 10.1111/ics.12059, PMID 23621673, found that "glycerine and urea showed significant skin hydration effects compared with other humectants".