The Ordinary
Soothing & Barrier Support Serum
uncategorizedtypically under $12
Cleaner pick · Safest serums & essences we have rated
Africology Skincare & Spa
Aloe Ferox Serum+10 on ingredient safety
30ml · 569 ZAR · 1896.67 ZAR/100 ml
Ingredient safetyRaters agree
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All 1067 cleaner options, safest first We show the best 12, including the strongest on each axis.
Every rater, every axis
Ingredient safety
raters agreeIndependent — 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 →
A 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 →
Also screened, nothing found: ANSES Endocrine Disruptors · ECHA SVHC Candidate List · Health Canada Ingredient Hotlist · US NTP Report on Carcinogens · California Proposition 65 · IARC Monographs
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
Robust44 of 45 characterized
Our sources have reference data on 44 of 45 listed ingredients; 1 is uncharacterized in our data — a gap, not a clean bill.
Worth a look (4)
EU harmonised skin sensitizerflagged by 1 of 9 lists →
EU harmonised skin sensitizerflagged by 2 of 9 lists →
EU-restricted (with limits)flagged by 2 of 9 lists →
Mild sensitizer for someflagged by 1 of 9 lists →
No flags in our sources (40)
- aqua
- propanediol
- isodecyl neopentanoate
- pentylene glycol
- niacinamidesoothing
- hexyldecanol
- cetearyl alcohol
- xylitylglucoside
- ceteth-20 phosphate
- asiaticoside
- asiatic acid
- ethyl linoleatefragrance material
- madecassic acid
- naringenin
- cyanocobalamin
- panthenyl triacetate
- 4-t-butylcyclohexanolfragrance material
- hydroxyphenyl propamidobenzoic acid
- cetylhydroxyproline palmitamide
- bisabololsoothing
- brassica campestris sterols
- sphingolipids
- phospholipids
- epigallocatechin gallatyl glucoside
- gallyl glucoside
- 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
- ethylhexylglycerin
- chlorphenesin
No data in our sources (1)
Not a verdict — our authorities simply have no reference for these.
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.
fragrance materialbenzyl alcohol
- benzyl alcohol: Used both as a fragrance component and as a preservative; the EU names it either way. EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, Annex III entry 45: a fragrance substance whose presence must be indicated in the list of ingredients above 0,001% in leave-on and 0,01% in rinse-off products, because of established contact-allergy risk. That entry carries transition footnote (38), which is footnote (37) plus a condition: stock that does not comply may still be made available until 31 July 2028 only "provided that they comply with the restrictions applicable on 15 August 2023", and only if it was lawfully placed on the Union market before the 31 July 2026 cut-off. Entry 45 covers its non-preservative use; it is separately an allowed preservative at Annex V entry 34.
soothingniacinamide, bisabolol
- niacinamide: A vitamin B3 form that supports the skin barrier and has anti-inflammatory activity; it turns up in products aimed at acne, rosacea and eczema. Camillo L, Zavattaro E, Savoia P, "Nicotinamide: A Multifaceted Molecule in Skin Health and Beyond", Medicina (Kaunas) 2025;61(2):254, DOI 10.3390/medicina61020254, PMID 40005371, open access: it "is extensively used in ... the treatment of dermatological conditions such as blistering diseases, atopic dermatitis, rosacea, and acne vulgaris", and contributes to reducing inflammation. On the acne evidence specifically: Liu H, Yu H, Xia J, Liu L, Liu GJ, Sang H, Peinemann F, "Topical azelaic acid, salicylic acid, nicotinamide, sulphur, zinc and fruit acid (alpha-hydroxy acid) for acne", Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2020;5:CD011368, DOI 10.1002/14651858.CD011368.pub2, PMID 32356369, records "low-quality evidence" for every nicotinamide comparison it could pool, and none of its four nicotinamide studies measured the physician global assessment at all.
- bisabolol: The main soothing component isolated from chamomile. Eddin LB et al., "Health Benefits, Pharmacological Effects, Molecular Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Potential of alpha-Bisabolol", Nutrients 2022;14(7):1370, DOI 10.3390/nu14071370, PMID 35405982, open access: it "is integrated in many cosmetic formulations due to its skin soothing effects, well documented dermal absorption and the absence of dermal irritations or photosensitivity following its application". The EMA HMPC assessment report on Matricaria recutita (EMA/HMPC/55837/2011) discusses its anti-inflammatory data.