This $6 Anti-Aging Serum Is the Biggest New Thing in Skincare

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Updated on 07/24/19 04:23PM

How much did you pay for your favorite anti-aging serum? My preferred glycolic acid-based serum costs $42. My antioxidant serum of choice costs $163. These are hefty prices, sure. But they're serums. Paying top dollar for high concentrations of anti-aging ingredients is just the way it goes, isn't it?

If you ask Toronto-based beauty brand Deciem, the answer will be a resounding no. The brand is well-known for creating beauty products that provide the same ingredients as luxury items, except these SKUs boast prices as low as $5.

The line is called The Ordinary and offers a variation of products, the most expensive of which is $29. Since launching two weeks ago, the brand has sold over 43,000 units.

Self-termed "the abnormal beauty company," Deciem positions its image on the fringe of the beauty market. In addition to The Ordinary, it offers a variety of unique ranges, like supplement line Fountain, budget skincare collection Hylamide, and high-tech skincare brand NIOD (all of which are available at retailers like CVS, Urban Outfitters, and Anthropologie).

But $5 for a serum sounds especially fringe. Does this stuff really work? Keep reading to find out how.

Deciem

What makes The Ordinary's serums unique is their simplicity—each bottle contains only one or two active ingredients, like vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, and retinoid (all of which we're used to seeing in our pricier serums). Deciem's founder Brandon Truaxe says that because of the low ingredient count, the products can be manufactured and packaged more affordably. He adds that most brands overprice these ingredients and disguise them as "new innovations."

The Daily Mail corroborated The Ordinary's claims by consulting dermatologist Ross Perry, MD, who confirmed that the ingredients in these serums are "well proven, tried and tested ... and are very cheap to source."

So where can you buy them? Deciem sells all of its ranges on the company website, as well as choice retailers around the globe (U.S. brick-and-mortar locations are in the works). Though the company is fairly under-the-radar stateside, it has become wildly popular in the UK, mostly due to the success of their hand and body care brand Hand Chemistry.

Here at Byrdie, we recently become aware of Deciem and fell head over heels for their NIOD Lip Biolipid Concentrate ($60), which instantly plumps lips beyond imagination. (Read a more in-depth review of the product here.)

Want to experience the budget-friendly wonders of The Ordinary? Shop some of their serums below!