The Ordinary Hair Care Review: Worth It or Skip It?

The Ordinary is a skincare company whose products are affordable, effective, and formulated with minimal targeted ingredients. Did you know that in addition to skincare products, The Ordinary offers haircare products?

The Ordinary has a shampoo, conditioner, and other products for the scalp.

I tested them for about a month and have been using their other haircare product, The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density, on and off for years.

I will share my experience with these hair products in this The Ordinary hair care review.

About My Hair: My hair has seen its fair share of damage – from heat styling, coloring, and daily wear and tear. My hair is medium textured, and over time, it has become more prone to breakage and less manageable.

Drugstore shampoo and conditioner never seem to provide enough moisture and frizz-fighting benefits for my hair, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Ordinary’s haircare line.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised!

The Ordinary Sulphate 4% Cleanser for Body and Hair

The Ordinary Sulphate 4% Cleanser for Body and Hair is a fragrance-free shampoo from The Ordinary that can be used on your hair and also as a body wash for your body.

This very mild cleanser contains SLES-2, a mild sulfate designed to be gentle on the skin and without contributing to color fading of the hair.

The Ordinary notes that SLES-2’s chemical structure allows it to be included in the cleanser at a lower concentration to minimize the risk of irritation.

The no-frills formula also contains tocopherol (pure vitamin E), a natural antioxidant that protects against UV damage.

The cleanser has a thin, slippery, gel-like consistency. I found that the foaming action of the shampoo was minimal, and it produced small, creamy bubbles.

As a shampoo, it was so-so for me since I am used to fragrance and the more robust lather that comes with most shampoos.

But I do like the fact that the cleanser can double as a very gentle body wash. For the low price, it’s a nice product to have on hand and would be a great 2-in-1 body/hair cleansing option for travel.

The Ordinary Behentrimonium Chloride 2% Conditioner

Don’t let the technical-sounding name of The Ordinary Behentrimonium Chloride 2% Conditioner deter you. This is an AMAZING conditioner for the $9.20 price point.

Another no-frills formula, this conditioner excludes the bulky ingredients often found in other conditioners.

This The Ordinary conditioner contains only seven ingredients and, like the shampoo, is fragrance-free. It absorbs quickly into my hair and doesn’t leave a slippery film on my hair like most other conditioners.

After waiting a few minutes and rinsing, it leaves my hair soft and silky smooth.

The most impressive quality about this conditioner is how manageable my hair is. It does not leave my hair knotty or hard to brush and leaves my hair looking full, shiny, and healthy.

I still love Olaplex to control my frizz, but for the price point, this is one of the best affordable conditioners that I’ve used on my dry, damaged hair.

The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density

It all started with The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density. This is not a new product from The Ordinary, as it was launched in 2018 as their first haircare product.

This hair serum is formulated to create thicker, denser, and healthier hair.

Like the rest of The Ordinary products, the serum, which comes in a 2 oz. bottle, contains no filler ingredients, and uses technologies that yield results.

The technologies amount to 21.15% of the serum:

• Redensyl Complex (with Larix Europaea Wood Extract and Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract): Targets hair loss and hair growth. Clinical results have shown that volunteers have up to 17% more hair in 84 days, and the results are better than hair transplant surgery.
• Procapil Peptide Complex (with Biotinoyl Tripeptide-1): This hair growth peptide complex helps fight against premature hair loss and strengthens hair from the root.
• Capixyl Peptide Complex (with Acetyl Tetrapeptide-3 and Trifolium Pratense Flower Extract): This peptide complex contains a biomimetic peptide combined with a red clover extract for stronger, thicker hair.
• Baicapil Complex (with Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Triticum Vulgare Germ Extract, and Glycine Soja Germ Extract): This complex contains three plants to reduce hair loss and improve the condition of the hair follicle.
• AnaGain (Pisum Sativum Extract): Uses organic pea sprouts to stimulate signal molecules to reactivate hair growth.
• High-Solubility Caffeine (1% net caffeine by weight): Helps reduce hair loss. This clinical study determined that caffeine should not be considered inferior to minoxidil 5% solution for men dealing with androgenetic alopecia (also known as male-pattern baldness).

With so many technologies, you might think that the serum would feel heavy, sticky, or greasy on the scalp. It doesn’t. It is super lightweight, slightly thicker than water in consistency.

You apply it to your scalp with a glass dropper. It absorbs easily and doesn’t leave a film or interfere with my hairstyle.

I’ve been using it on my scalp around my hairline above my forehead and temples, and I’ve seen new hair growth over the many months that I’ve been using this concentrated serum.

It’s so lightweight that once absorbed, I forget that it’s even on my scalp.

Drawbacks

If you only wash your hair a few times a week, you might notice that it starts to build up on your scalp.

I apply it in the evenings and can go about two applications without it becoming noticeable. This works out well when I wash my hair every other day.

Also, it’s a little pricier than most The Ordinary products, but at around $23, it’s still an affordable hair growth serum for thinning hair that has worked for me.

You just have to be consistent and know that results most likely won’t come in days but rather months.

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA Scalp Serum

Like The Ordinary’s Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA for the skin, The Ordinary now offers The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA Scalp Serum.

This hydrating scalp serum contains ingredients that mimic the skin’s natural moisturizing factors (NMF). The NMFs are compounds that play a key role in retaining moisture in the skin.

The thin, white, milky serum also contains hyaluronic acid (HA), which acts like a sponge to soak up water, provides hydration, and helps the scalp maintain moisture.

Squalane, a lightweight moisturizer similar to squalene (a natural component of the skin’s sebum), is also included to help the scalp to seal in moisture.

Squalane is non-comedogenic, which means it won’t clog your pores.

The scalp serum also contains arginine, an amino acid that is a building block of the collagen in our skin and the keratin in our hair.

Several additional amino acids are also included in the formula to bind water and hydrate the skin.

The serum comes with an easy-to-use dropper with a sloped tip to pinpoint the application of the serum. There is no greasiness to the serum, and it feels weightless on my scalp.

My scalp gets a little itchy in the winter months, and I’ve noticed the itchiness has been reduced since starting to use this scalp serum.

This would be an excellent choice for dry scalps that deal with dry, flaky skin.

Where to Buy The Ordinary Hair Care Products

You can purchase The Ordinary shampoo, conditioner, hair serum, and scalp serum at Sephora, Ulta, and The Ordinary’s website.

Alternatives To The Ordinary Shampoo and Conditioner

If The Ordinary’s shampoo and conditioner aren’t the right fit, Vanicream and Acure offer affordable, gentle options:

• Vanicream Shampoo & Conditioner: Fragrance-free and ideal for sensitive skin. They cleanse and condition without harsh ingredients but don’t target specific concerns like frizz or dryness.
• Acure Ultra Hydrating Shampoo & Conditioner: Great for dry hair, with ingredients like argan oil, pumpkin seed oil, and aloe. Lightly almond-scented, they hydrate and nourish without weighing hair down.

For a budget-friendly hair growth serum alternative, try Minimalist Hair Growth Actives 18% Hair Serum. It uses the same core peptides as The Ordinary’s serum (at slightly lower concentrations) and is available at a lower price point.

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• Olaplex Dry Shampoo Review
• How To Use Olaplex No. 0 and No. 3
• Oribe vs Olaplex

The Ordinary Hair Care Products: Worth It or Skip It?

I was pleasantly surprised by all of The Ordinary’s hair care products, given their low price points.

But which products are worth it, and which should you skip?

If I had to choose between the shampoo and conditioner, I’d choose The Ordinary conditioner every time.

The Ordinary Behentrimonium Chloride 2% Conditioner doesn’t leave my hair feeling heavy or coated in product, which is a common issue with other conditioners I’ve tried. While the shampoo is nice, if I had to skip one, it would be the shampoo.

Another product I think is 100% worth it is The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density.

I’ve been seeing great results with this hair growth serum, but it doesn’t happen overnight. You must be patient because it may take several months of use to see a difference in hair growth.

Another product I’d skip if it wasn’t in my budget is The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA for Scalp. Although this hydrating serum is a nice added bonus if you have a dry scalp, it’s not necessary for everyone.