The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA On your shelf ✓
Our read, in one look
Mandelic Acid is the reason to consider this exfoliant, with Glycerin behind it.
The case for it
- Mandelic Acid, moderate evidence for oil and breakouts
- Glycerin, strong evidence for hydration
- No fragrance, alcohol, silicones or parabens
Mind this
- Sunscreen the next day, acids leave skin more sun-sensitive
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readThe Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA is an exfoliant built around Glycerin, Mandelic Acid and Crosslinked sodium HA. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair, oil-control & blemishes. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and oily skin. Go slow: the active is potent enough to irritate if overused.
Skip it if your barrier is already sensitised or compromised: the acids can sting broken or over-exfoliated skin.
The formula, drawn
Every ingredient in label order, coloured by the job it does here.
10 of the 13 sit above the 1% line. The other 3, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Hydrators
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
- No fragrance anywhere on the label
What it delivers
How it feels A middleweight lotion, enough to comfort without feeling heavy. (estimated from the formula)
What's in it that matters
Classic humectant with strong evidence for improving skin hydration and supporting barrier when combined with emollients.
Gentle AHA with larger molecular size that exfoliates, helps acne and pigmentation while being better tolerated than glycolic acid, especially on sensitive or darker skin.
Crosslinked sodium hyaluronate that forms a hydrated gel matrix at the surface. Used in serums for longer lasting hydration that visibly softens fine lines while it is in place.
Short chain diol that works as a light humectant, co solvent and preservative booster. It keeps a formula less sticky and microbially stable while hydrating the outer layers.
How to use it
In the evening, and not every night: 2–3 times a week is plenty. Follow with a moisturiser, and wear sunscreen the next day.
Keep it away from
- Retinoids (retinol, tretinoin)
- Benzoyl peroxide
- Other exfoliating acids the same night
Where it acts
The same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Crosslinked sodium HAderived from what it is
- Glycerinderived from what it is
- Mandelic Acidderived from what it is
- Pentylene Glycolderived from what it is
4 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend.
Against the average exfoliant
It scores higher than the median exfoliant on brightening.
On hydration, barrier repair and anti-aging it is level with the median, so that is not what sets it apart.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
The full ingredients list, decoded
Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first). We link the 12 our library knows, name what each one does, and flag anything that can irritate or clog. The rest we leave plain, nothing is hidden.
All 13 ingredients, decoded
- PropanediolHumectant
- Aqua (Water)Solvent (base)
- Mandelic AcidExfoliant
- GlycerinHumectant
- Dimethyl IsosorbideSolvent
- Sodium Hyaluronate CrosspolymerHumectant
- Pentylene GlycolHumectant
- Polysorbate 20Emulsifiermild irritant
- Sodium HydroxidePh adjustermild irritant
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Ethylhexylglycerin down, these 3 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- EthylhexylglycerinPreservative booster
- 1,2-HexanediolPreservative booster
- Caprylyl GlycolPreservative booster
Copy the raw INCI list
Propanediol, Aqua (Water), Mandelic Acid, Glycerin, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Tasmannia Lanceolata Fruit/Leaf Extract, Pentylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Sodium Hydroxide, Ethylhexylglycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol
Worried about clogged pores specifically? The pore-clogging checker reads this same list against the published comedogenic ratings.
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
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Common questions
Is The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, dehydrated, oily skin. The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA is an exfoliant built around Glycerin, Mandelic Acid and Crosslinked sodium HA. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair, oil-control & blemishes. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and oily skin. Go slow: the active is potent enough to irritate if overused.
How do you use The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA?
In the evening, and not every night: 2–3 times a week is plenty. Follow with a moisturiser, and wear sunscreen the next day.
What are the key ingredients in The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA?
The actives that do the work are Glycerin, Mandelic Acid, Crosslinked sodium HA, Pentylene Glycol. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
Does The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA contain fragrance?
No. By our reading of the ingredient list it is fragrance-free, which is a plus for sensitive or reactive skin.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA beside a cross-section of skin, with 3 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Glycerin and Mandelic Acid and Pentylene Glycol in the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer where most skincare works. Depths come from the same sourced layer data as the rest of this site, and any ingredient whose layer is not established is left out rather than guessed.
