REVIEW: The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% For Acne Scarring – Skin Texture Improvement Essential

by Mia M.

Retinol is a powerful skincare ingredient that repairs skin’s appearance, texture and overall quality – most often praised for its anti-ageing properties. One of its best uses however? Reducing acne scarring! While most retinols will cost you a pretty penny, The Ordinary has a budget friendly range available . . . but how effective are they at reducing scarring? Let’s find out.

If you have oily, acne-prone or textured skin, this product is for you! The Ordinary’s Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion aims to fix skin’s texture problems and boost its overall appearance . . . but can it do it without causing breakouts or moisture overload? Spoiler alert: yes, yes it can.

Hello, wonderful people of the world.. Today, I am going to be sharing with you one of my all-time favourite skincare products. How all time? Let me share.

I have been consistently using the Ordinary’s Retinol range since a recommendation from Hoi Yin Li’s blog well over four years ago and it is one of the only products I have ever used that still consistently works with visible effects. I’ve repurchased it countless times; I actually just bought my fifth bottle of the stuff since being over here in Australia. It is very much now a true essential.

The Results Of Using The Ordinary’s Retinol Products For Acne Scarring

BEFORE:

AFTER:

As you can see, after consistently using their retinol products over the past few years, my skin is clear!

Hey, if you’re looking for more of my top products for healing acne scarring read this post!

But anyways – what is this miracle product supposed to do?

What does The Ordinary’s Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion claim to do?

“A gentle but hardworking serum which targets all signs of ageing and textural irregularities.” – BeautyBay

Retinol products are fantastic for preventing signs of aging (I’m 22 now, apparently this is a thing I’ll have to worry about over the next few years) and fixing issues with skin’s texture. While not a treatment for active acne, it is fantastic for healing acne scars.

The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion

Advanced Retinoid 2% – $13.90

Does it live up to the claims?

Most definitely. I’d give this a full 5/5*s; I personally think it goes above and beyond these claims. Not only does my skin feel like it’s overall in better condition when I use this product, it actually looks it. Your skin glows, and just looks a lot healthier.

While signs of aging aren’t a concern of mine quite yet, I can definitely see how this would work to soften wrinkles as it manages to really reduce the textural irregularities scarring leaves on my face. If you do have any facial scarring, definitely recommend this – especially as it works really well with oily skin.

Does it break you out? Is it too moisturising?

One of the biggest issues I find as a girl with oily skin is finding products that work to moisturise and heal your face, without adding too much moisture and causing breakouts. A common theme you’ll find with most of my reviews are products that manage to walk that line; this is no exception.

What I love about this product:

Yeah, yeah, we all get it by now: I bloody love this stuff. Let me just bullet point exactly why.

Helps reduce large pores or uneven texture left from acne
Improves skins condition visibly; leaves it feeling healthy
When you use it at night, you wake up to skin that’s just . . . better
Super cost effective. A little goes a massive way and, using the pipette included in the packaging, it’s insanely easy to make sure you’re using the right amount. The bottle has a really good amount in it, especially for the price. So there’s that.
Great for reducing acne scars.

A word of warning on using retinol products . . .

If you are interested in glowing like a goddess, protecting your skin from textural nonsense and you do decide to give this product a go . . . just a word of warning: retinols should only be used at night; they increase your skin’s sensitivity to sunlight and UV exposure makes them less effective. Two things we don’t want.

The Ordinary do have a full range of different retinol and retinoid solutions to try, depending on what level you’re after. On my latest repurchase of this goodie, I’ve actually moved up to a full 1% retinol instead of a retinoid to test it out . . . depending on how that goes (and whether I can actually be bothered; this review has been a year in making, after all), you might see a product review floating around one of these days.

Anyways, my loves, this is just a quick ole’ post to finally get use of these product photos! I hope everyone’s doing all good; are any of you big fans of The Ordinary? Do you use retinol products? Let me know your thoughts down below!

Peace,