A lightweight serum designed to soothe irritated skin and support a weakened skin barrier, formulated with hydrating and calming ingredients including vitamin B12, centella asiatica, and ceramides.
The pink serum earns widespread praise for calming irritated skin and repairing barrier damage, especially after over-exfoliation or active use. Gurus consistently highlight its hydrating, lightweight texture and affordable price point, making it particularly well-suited to oily and combination skin. A few found it lacked the occlusive power needed for very dry skin without pairing it to a heavier moisturizer, and the pipette packaging can be fiddly to use, but those are minor notes on an otherwise solid formula.
Synthesized from 20 expert reviews · most recent take September 2026
"It's fragrance-free, it never pills with skincare products, and it sits great underneath makeup and sunscreen. You can use this everyday to maintain skin health, or use it alongside actives like retinoids and exfoliating acids to help prevent irritation and dryness. This is exceptional and [...] it's one serum from The Ordinary that actually performs. It's amazing."
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"This has good ingredients to hydrate and repair that skin barrier. It's a cheaper alternative, [...] and I love it. [...] This doesn't get enough hype, but the people that talk about it get it. They just know how good this is. If you haven't tried this, you're truly missing out. It's good to have on hand for when your skin is angry. It just works so well to bring your skin back to that normal state. [...] If you want something for hydration and skin repair, this is great."
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"This is great to have on hand as a just-in-case product. If your skin ever becomes compromised and you have that itch, that burning sensation to your skin, and your skin just feels really angry, then start incorporating this. You could also incorporate this right away with your retinal to try and prevent that compromised barrier, and this is exceptional. You can put this on top of the retinal and then go in with your moisturizer afterwards, and that completes the nighttime routine."
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"This is a serum that works. Use this after your water-based serums but before your creams, before your [tretinoin], before your moisturizer, and before your sunscreen. I feel like this is worth the $25.80 Canadian. If you're a fan of niacinamide modulating glucosides, which is a similar serum to this, I think you're going to love it. This is more affordable. Yes, the ingredient list is a little bit different, but they basically do the exact same thing."
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"I do feel like the modulating glucosides works quicker in terms of relieving that discomfort, but this still does a really good job to provide moisture and to repair the skin barrier. This serum is pink, which is actually coming from the vitamin B12 ingredient, and this is wonderful. It really is and it spreads nicely. None of these serums peel on the skin, they all get absorbed into the skin quite nicely."
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"That's when you can start to incorporate this. I love the texture because it has this really nice milky consistency. The coloring is coming from the vitamin B12 ingredient, it isn't an artificial color. But there's also Centella asiatica in here, there's ginger root extract, ceramides, niacinamide, rape seed sterol, and the list goes on. This immediately calms and soothes your skin because of that nice milky consistency."
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"They basically do the exact same thing but of course the ingredients are slightly different. They are both milky in texture and they both help to soothe the skin and hydrate it. [...] The Niacinamide one works quicker when your skin is in bad shape, [...] but this one will still work. I just feel like it takes a little bit longer to work, but it's still a great option. It's more affordable and you honestly can't go wrong with either one."
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"Great for all skin types. I have combination skin. I am very acne prone and this does not break me out. This is very nourishing and hydrating. It will leave a glow to your skin, but it doesn't break me out. So this is absolutely wonderful. [...] When you develop breakouts or cystic acne, they're painful and really uncomfortable. I find that this does a really good job to calm the skin and it actually calms down those blemishes where they're not as painful."
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"It hydrates, it repairs, it keeps my skin nice and comfortable. I have a beautiful glow and it really does help to reduce redness. It does what it says it's supposed to do. I really do recommend this. I think that this is a great option to incorporate, especially now that the fall and winter months are approaching. The only thing negative to say is that it would be nice to see the serum a little bit cheaper than what it's at, but in general there really isn't anything negative about this."
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"The ordinary soothing and barrier support serum is an exceptional serum to use when you have dryness, flakiness, and your skin needs some TLC. This one has a milky consistency and it is pink in color, and that coloring is coming from the vitamin B12 ingredient. This is very soothing and comforting on the skin, especially when you have that itch, that burning sensation, and your skin is just super angry. This really does give that instant relief when you need it."
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"This can be used every day twice a day, or you can also use this when you just need it or pair it up with your active ingredients. This one is more affordable than comparable products. It has a milky consistency but it's pink, and that coloring is coming from the vitamin B12 ingredient. [...] This one is very hydrating and it does help to repair the skin barrier. [...] I'm going to pick up one bottle of this because I do like it."
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"If my skin is super angry, I'm using this because it's one of the serums [...] that gives you almost instant relief. [...] This works better than the Coco kind one [...] when your skin is super angry and you need that relief, especially if you have that burning sensation to your skin. This is going to give you that relief because of how thick and milky it is but also because of the ingredients."
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"The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum is their pink serum they came out with this later in 23 and this is a lovely one for that compromised barrier that has that itch that burning sensation to the skin you have dryness and flakiness. This can be used literally every day twice a day or just use it when you need it or just use it when you're using your [tretinoin] or active ingredients."
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"This is my go-to for when my skin is compromised. It's feeling angry, dry, flaky, tight. It has that burning sensation. [...] If you're someone that gets in office treatments done like laser, micro needling, whatever the case is, this would be a great serum to use post treatment to repair and strengthen your skin barrier. [...] You can be consistent with this and use it every day twice a day just to help keep your skin hydrated and repaired. [...] It works really well."
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"There's also niacinamide in here, Centella asiatica, ceramides, rapeseed sterol, ginger root extract. This is a wonderful serum to use when your skin is compromised, it has that burning sensation, it's really red and inflamed, dry. This is wonderful to use every day up to twice a day until your skin is back to normal, or you can use this everyday as a preventative just to keep your skin barrier nice and strong."
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"I do feel like the neon modulating glucose sides works a little quicker but this is still a great option and I really do like it. This [...] is way more affordable and I can purchase more but also I really like the formulation of this as well so this one has more of that jelly texture more like a hyaluronic acid type of serum so I do feel like this one is a little bit more moisturizing and will be perfect for the winter months."
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"This one is also known as the pink serum, and it's super repairing. If your skin is really irritated and has that burning sensation, this serum is magical for that. If you want something a little bit milkier, thicker, and more moisturizing on the skin, this is a great option."
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"This has a vitamin B12 ingredient giving it that pink hue, and it really helps with the dry, tight, burning sensation you can get when your skin is angry and compromised. This is fabulous to use with exfoliating acids or anything that irritates your skin. You can use this every day if you have sensitive skin, or just [...] when your skin is angry."
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"It's fragrance-free, it never pills with skincare products, and it sits great underneath makeup and sunscreen. You can use this everyday to maintain skin health, or use it alongside actives like retinoids and exfoliating acids to help prevent irritation and dryness. This is exceptional and [...] it's one serum from The Ordinary that actually performs. It's amazing."
"I repurchased it, so I purchased it initially and then I repurchased it a second time during the last sale which is in November. It's got asiaticoside, asiatic acid, and madecassic acid which are all active derivatives or compounds from centella, which are great for soothing skin. They also help with wound healing and skin regeneration. Really great active ingredients there. We've got bisabolol which is great for soothing, and then EGCG for hydrating and soothing. So I really enjoy that stuff."
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"This is great for soothing skin, dry skin, dehydrated skin. Contains some nice hydrating, soothing ingredients as well. You can pretty much use this easily in your evening routine. It has kind of a light texture to it. [...] This one has got really nice lightweight serum. It's easy to fit into your evening routine. You can just use in the place of a serum or in addition to a serum. Great if you have dry skin. It's very soothing and calming."
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"It's the ordinary soothing and barrier support serum which looks like Pepto-Bismol but overall it's a really nice serum and I need to bump up the moisture notch with it because when it gets really cold my skin needs that extra hydration."
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"I found it plays really nicely if I'm going to use like a strong exfoliant in my routine or strong treatment. This really helps balance out the prevention of dryness with those. And it's in the long run pretty affordable. It's got some nice ingredients in it. Obviously the pink is annoying, but I don't use this in my daytime routine ever because for me it didn't work well that way, but at nighttime it was pretty nice for that."
"The Ordinary barrier support soothing serum, it's the one that looks like Pepto Bismol, that one's a nice one for soothing skin that's dry."
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"It's a great nighttime serum to use especially along with retinoids or exfoliants or after exfoliants. We've got Asiatic acid, ginger extract, allantoin for soothing. We also have a couple unique ingredients: one called sensaine, which is an ingredient known to immediately stop burning and sting, which is fascinating. If your skin is irritated, freaking out, things like that, it helps it immediately."
"I'm right now I'm loving The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum as a nice calming product."
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"It's got the Sim Calman ingredient which is a great peptide that helps with if your skin feels itchy, dry, painful, that's an ingredient that you want on your skin because it helps soothe it and calm it down. And it's got propylate. So this is a really nice one."
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"I repurchased it, so I purchased it initially and then I repurchased it a second time during the last sale which is in November. It's got asiaticoside, asiatic acid, and madecassic acid which are all active derivatives or compounds from centella, which are great for soothing skin. They also help with wound healing and skin regeneration. Really great active ingredients there. We've got bisabolol which is great for soothing, and then EGCG for hydrating and soothing. So I really enjoy that stuff."
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"It's very nicely hydrating, though it does feel a little bit greasy, but that's not a huge deal especially if you're going to use it in your evening routine. [...] It does help with skin that's dry or irritated. The impressive thing with this serum is they created something that's very moisturizing and soothing and it's friendly for almost all skin types, even for mostly acne-prone skin. [...] It's pretty friendly for dry skin, oily skin, sensitive skin, and acne-prone skin as well."
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"That looks like Pepto-Bismol and I was happy with it. The vitamin B that's in here gives it the pink color. Overall I was happy with it. I do find it soothing. I think it helps with preventing irritation and redness and things like that. So I was happy with it. I think it's worth a try for soothing and calming issues and there's no fragrance in it and things like that. It's still getting more expensive but it's still in the affordable realm I would say."
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"The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum which is about 13 bucks. It looks like Pepto Bismol so don't be alarmed. [...] This one's a nice alternative to more expensive serums, and it has some nice anti-aging ingredients in it. [...] They're both really nice for calming and soothing and hydrating skin and plumping skin up as well. It's more affordable, saving you about $29."
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"This is their Soothing & Barrier Support Serum. It's just a really nice serum for hydrating your skin. If you have skin that's easily irritated, you're using actives, your skin isn't holding on to moisture very well, this is a really nice one to add into your evening routine. You can use it in your daytime routine but for me I just tend to use it in my evening routine because I like to keep my daytime routine short and simple. Very nice product from The Ordinary."
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"It's a pink serum geared towards those with damaged skin barriers as well as atopic dermatitis. It looks like Pepto-Bismol from the color, and that is from the inclusion of a form of vitamin B which I cannot pronounce, cyanocobalamin or something like that. It also contains lipids, ceramides, and gallic acid. It looks interesting, it looks affordable. This is their first launch since I think their nag and aloe serum, so I'm kind of interested to see how it does."
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"So anyway so I'll definitely do a full review for these but I there's a lot of good products for your barrier repair"
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"So might be a nice option like if you do like a laser treatment or have some issues where your skin's really burning, maybe you overexfoliated it. Uh could be beneficial for that. So, that is worth checking out."
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"It's great for soothing skin and also is known to help instantly decrease skin stinging and burning instantly. I haven't really read of any other product or ingredient that can do that. [...] I would use this at night because if it ends up peeling at all you will look like you have little pink dots on your face. I haven't used this in my morning routine. I always use this one at night anyway, but it might pill under."
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"It's a nice ingredient list. [...] I really don't think the average person needs to use this twice a day, morning and evening, every day. I would say this might be a good backup for micro needling, lasers, whatever irritation, sunburn, overdid it with acids, overdid it with retinol. But if you have maybe a weekend skin barrier issue or you're getting a lot of redness or flakiness, using it twice a day until your skin heals might not necessarily be a bad thing."
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"The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum. [...] This one's nice. No issues with it. [...] The star of the show is vitamin B in here, and it's starting to show up in a lot of other products. It [...] adds some hydration. I already bought a backup of it, so that says something. [...] It's affordable for the most part, and it seems to work well for a lot of people."
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"The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum has some nice anti-itch soothing ingredients, it's actually overall pretty impressive product. I think after using something like that, that's a good product to go with."
"The Soothing and Barrier Support Serum is excellent. It's specifically designed to calm irritated skin and help repair a weakened barrier. I have used this so many times when I've overexfoliated and when I was still tinkering with a lot of tretinoin. It's like a little gem at a little price point."
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"The Soothing and Barrier Support Serum is excellent. It's specifically designed to calm irritated skin and help repair a weakened barrier. I have used this so many times when I've overexfoliated and when I was still tinkering with a lot of tretinoin. It's like a little gem at a little price point."
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"I have a sort of a soothing serum here too. I like The Ordinary. The only thing about The Ordinary is that you have to know exactly what products they're singular product, but I really prefer multi-ingredient products."
"Not to be a slender of the Ordinary, but I tried their pink barrier serum. It ruined my face. It messed me up bad. [...] I have sensitive skin too, so maybe that was an L on my part. Several people in the comments said that they had the same issue."
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"I love this serum, my skin loves this serum. I've been using it twice daily morning and evening for about three months now, [...] and honestly I feel like my skin cannot be without it. I get funny when I don't use it now. [...] The packaging is [...] a bit fiddly, out of the three bottles that I've used and emptied, I always struggle to fill the pipette for one good application and have to keep getting little bits at a time to try and make just a good decent amount of product."
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"My skin loves it. My rosacea loves it, my skin barrier loves it. This contains some really nice ingredients that I think are kind of new for The Ordinary, including Centella Asiatica, Ginger Root Extract, Bissabol, Niacinamide, Vitamin B12, and Ceramides. There's something about this combination and this formulation that my skin just absolutely loves. It's extremely hydrating. According to the website it's a quick action serum that starts working within 2 hours."
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"Not to be a slender of the Ordinary, but I tried their pink barrier serum. It ruined my face. It messed me up bad. [...] I have sensitive skin too, so maybe that was an L on my part. Several people in the comments said that they had the same issue."
"The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum I prefer out of the two barrier support serums I finished this year. My barrier only needs a little support in the cold though, I don't really struggle, so I am not that picky here."
"So I'll shave, I'll put this on and honestly it just makes for the best post shave experience. It's designed to be a caring and soothing serum that you can use all over the skin, and you can absolutely do that. For me, I think some of the other serums that I use in my routine deliver that. This though I save in reserve for when I shave. It's beautiful, it's hydrating, it's calming, it's soothing, and it doesn't have a really funky scent like some calming and soothing serums can do."
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"The calming and soothing barrier support one which people absolutely love. I think a lot of their latest launchers really have hit the mark and people are really excited again for what's next when it comes to The Ordinary."
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"So I'll shave, I'll put this on and honestly it just makes for the best post shave experience. It's designed to be a caring and soothing serum that you can use all over the skin, and you can absolutely do that. For me, I think some of the other serums that I use in my routine deliver that. This though I save in reserve for when I shave. It's beautiful, it's hydrating, it's calming, it's soothing, and it doesn't have a really funky scent like some calming and soothing serums can do."
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"There are other ones on the market, it's definitely worth exploring those, but I think the ordinary have definitely hit a home run [...] when it comes to this product, and I'm going to award it an eight and a half out of ten. A [...] point and a half off for the introduction, that pink coloration, whilst I think it's very photogenic and looks nice, [...] with some of the color correction it could potentially put a few people off."
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"This is impossibly lightweight, you won't even know you have it on the skin, but trust me, skin will look more even in terms of evening out some of that redness. It'll be calmed, it'll be soothed, and instantly hydrated. It's fragrance free and has no artificial fragrance, which I think is an absolute dream to use. One of my new favorite products from The Ordinary, and I definitely think it's worth the [...] investment, especially if you think it's got slightly more in terms of technology."
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"If you're looking to restore the barrier function of the skin, promote overall skin health, reduce redness and irritation, then the Soothing and Barrier Support option is the one for you. It's a beautiful pink color that gets to work after just one application and has lots of the compounds within Centella asiatica in here dialed up to really just calm, soothe and repair the barrier function of the skin."
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"I personally really like this. I put it on and my skin just feels instantly relieved, calmed and soothed. Some of the ingredients in here will offset some of the redness that you have, so if you wake up and maybe you've shaved and you think oh, looking a bit patchy, things are a bit red again, put a little of this on and it just works. It's that universal product that I think everybody should have in their skincare collection for those times when you need it."
"I use this best product I've ever used to minimize the risk. I still get the shaving bump shaving rash but about 50% less using this straight after shaving. If you're somebody that has even on strawberry legs, when you get prickling, this could work on the neck, anywhere you shave where you get that bubble and you get that rash, this is a Holy Grail. I already have another two on order so I won't be without that."
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"This can just cancel that out. What I love about this is it's beautifully hydrating too, so you're getting an extra amount of hydration, you're getting that calming and soothing, and it sinks in so well into the skin. It's got the extract of Centella asiatica, which is one of the core ingredients, which is going to calm, soothe, and hydrate alongside so many other amazing ingredients."
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"This one by The Ordinary, which is the Soothing and Barrier Support Serum, my favorites. When I said I was excited about The Ordinary sale earlier, this serum there's going to be multiples in my basket. I love it. It's got compounds of centella in here, it's also got some really great calming and soothing ingredients and ones to support the barrier function of the skin."
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"The Ordinary's new pink serum, which is their barrier support serum, is a great option."
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"This is their soothing and barrier support serum with aloe and one great all-rounder, slot it into your skincare routine, calm, soothe, hydrate, ticks a lot of boxes. Yeah, it's just so, so, so good. Absolutely love this one."
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"The Soothing & Barrier Support Serum is great if you are looking for [...] barrier support, you're looking to calm the skin. It's amazing. This is the best seller of the two because it's got that pink coloration which looks wonderful on Instagram."
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"The Ordinary is having a little bit of a viral resurgence based around [...] their barrier soothing serum, which is very instagrammable because of its pink coloration and everyone is fangirling about it."
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"The Soothing and Barrier Support Serum, [...] which is the one you see all over Instagram, [...] this is great for razor bumps so I'll use this when I shave just minimize any razor bumps. You can actually use it on the body if you get those razor bumps anywhere, use this it will get rid of them. Absolutely love it."
"That is their newest Soothing and Barrier Support Serum that costs $17. It's a serum that is meant to strengthen and repair damaged irritated skin barrier, calming the skin barrier. It is a pink watery serum that is also hydrating, absorbs really quickly, not greasy, not heavy, really suitable for all skin types. [...] Ingredient-wise, it contains vitamin B12 that has some anti-inflammatory properties and it's what gives the serum its characteristic pink color."
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"The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum is intended to support a skin barrier, to soothe and repair damaged skin barrier. It has wonderful ingredients. It contains vitamin B12 that gives the serum that characteristic pink hue, but vitamin B12 has some anti-inflammatory properties, some soothing, calming properties."
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"That is their newest Soothing and Barrier Support Serum that costs $17. It's a serum that is meant to strengthen and repair damaged irritated skin barrier, calming the skin barrier. It is a pink watery serum that is also hydrating, absorbs really quickly, not greasy, not heavy, really suitable for all skin types. [...] Ingredient-wise, it contains vitamin B12 that has some anti-inflammatory properties and it's what gives the serum its characteristic pink color."
"I do absolutely love it I highly highly recommend the barrier support serum now"
Translated from the guru's original language.
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"The Barrier Repair the pink beautiful rose colored serum by The Ordinary is chef's kiss"
Translated from the guru's original language.
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"I do like the product and I do hope that Ordinary will make a cream version of this"
Translated from the guru's original language.
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"I do absolutely love it I highly highly recommend the barrier support serum now"
Translated from the guru's original language.
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"Yes it is fabulous it is beautiful it works it is such a must have product"
Translated from the guru's original language.
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"I will use the Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum. It's so pretty. [...] This has niacinamide, niacinamide is like the third ingredient, plus hyaluronic acid, B12. It's got lots and lots of good ingredients."
"Even when it does seem that a specific product is consistently causing problems for me, that doesn't mean I can identify why. To this day I don't know why the Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum didn't work out for me, I just know it didn't."
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"Even when it does seem that a specific product is consistently causing problems for me, that doesn't mean I can identify why. To this day I don't know why the Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum didn't work out for me, I just know it didn't."
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"The Ordinary's soothing and barrier support serum, what a beautiful name, sounds like what could possibly go wrong. It did not work for me, I had a horrible reaction to a soothing barrier support serum, come on."
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"I actually think the Soothing Barrier Support Serum is a great, innovative product, and I love that it's affordable. It has a beautiful ingredients list, even more soothing and calming ingredients than they claim, including a synthetic ceramide ingredient, an anti irritant ingredient meant to mimic the effects of oats, two percent niacinamide, and no alcohol and no fragrance. But I had a reaction to it, so it turns out this product isn't for me, and I won't be using it going forward."
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"I noticed this Dr. Ceuracle product has cyanocobalamin in it too, the ingredient we'd talked about, but it doesn't bother my skin, so I don't think the cyanocobalamin was the ingredient responsible for why I couldn't use the Ordinary Soothing Barrier Support Serum."
"This soothing barrier serum is one that I've liked but I've really started to love it, especially as I use it on others who have different skin. When I use it on people with dry skin I have to use it with a moisturizer, but when I use this on people with oily skin they can just kind of use it and go. For $16, $17, this is really good. It's also really fun to apply, and if you can have fun with your skin routine in the morning or in the evening it's just better off overall."
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"This is a very colorful addition to The Ordinary's family and even though I don't like the color I do like the results. [...] I used it on my skin when my barrier [...] was dis freaking destroyed and this did not solve all of my problems but it's a good barrier support serum especially for someone with oily skin. If you have oily skin I love this. If you have dry skin consider using this with a moisturizer."
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"I would bring my Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum to LA, [...] but the problem is that it's so difficult to travel with this that I haven't been able to be as consistent as I wanted to."
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"Phenoxyethanol would be the only thing in here that's kind of thrown me for a loop. It's not bad, it's great that this product is preserved, but for those who are super sensitive you may want to be a little bit more cautious with it. I think it's great for barrier repair, but I would say if you're sensitive be a little more cautious, which is kind of funny because barrier repair is usually made for sensitive skin types, just because that phenoxyethanol can irritate people."
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"This soothing barrier serum is one that I've liked but I've really started to love it, especially as I use it on others who have different skin. When I use it on people with dry skin I have to use it with a moisturizer, but when I use this on people with oily skin they can just kind of use it and go. For $16, $17, this is really good. It's also really fun to apply, and if you can have fun with your skin routine in the morning or in the evening it's just better off overall."
"The name tells you what it does: it helps to calm your barrier and to repair your barrier. It has vitamin B12, which helps to support your skin barrier by reducing dryness and visible redness. It also has centella asiatica and gallic acid. If you are a real nerd, you know that gallic acid helps to target redness associated with external stressors on the skin and by reducing water loss, so it's a very interesting product for your barrier."
"The soothing and barrier support serum contains lipids, ceramides, and other epidermal barrier repair ingredients. This is going to go on your skin after you cleanse, put a little bit on, and you can put a moisturizer over it and repair your skin day and night. You can use this up to twice a day. It's a very great price point and you can use this to reset your skin barrier without breaking the bank."
"I don't think it's a necessary skincare product, especially if you have a moisturizer that's going to already bring in a lot of these ingredients, but definitely approved. I like the product a lot. [...] They put the coloring in to grab your attention but they followed it up with a functionally great formula. [...] The Ordinary nailed it with this one. [...] Just keep in mind [...] this is a barrier product, so [...] don't mix it up with other products if you don't read the labels."
"It has a funky aroma to it, a little earthy. I [...] do use it around my eyes too and it's all absorbed and dry on there. [...] It does give the skin a little hydrated glow. Not the best thing I've ever used, but it does what it claims to do. It soothes, it supports, has that B12 in there for calming down age."
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"It contains Saccharomyces ferment at 30%, which is very hydrating and rich in antioxidants, and squalane is an emollient. The Soothing and Barrier Support Serum came out last October. It's the pink one, the pink comes from B12, which actually shows promise as a topical for helping with itch. Overall this was okay, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't something I'd go out of my way necessarily to repurchase. But I liked it enough to finish it."
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"It's the soothing and barrier support serum. I actually like this. It has B12 in it, so it's bright pink and that's actually good for calming down itch."
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"I'm working my way through The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum. One thing about sebic dermatitis though is that there is a skin barrier issue too because it's an eczema, and so the skin can be very dry, irritated, and flaky as well as oily because it's an oily skin problem, but then the barrier becomes impaired. It's a misconception that sebum is like this perfect moisturizer."
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"It's okay, you know, it's not like the best thing I've ever tried. I think it's appealing because it's bright pink because it has vitamin B12 in it, [...] which actually may help calm down itch. It's an interesting product. It has an odd aroma to it. It feels very emollient while not being greasy. It's a really interesting texture. [...] I have to say when I use this, [...] if I were to just let this dry on my face and be done, it kind of feels a little filmy. I've just been underwhelmed by it."
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"It has a funky aroma to it, a little earthy. I [...] do use it around my eyes too and it's all absorbed and dry on there. [...] It does give the skin a little hydrated glow. Not the best thing I've ever used, but it does what it claims to do. It soothes, it supports, has that B12 in there for calming down age."
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"It's okay. It's moisturizing and it's soothing, but is it really any more magical than any other moisturizing product? No. [...] One thing I like about The Ordinary is they don't make wild claims about their products. The paint color comes from topical B12, which has actually been shown to be helpful for itch in people who have atopic dermatitis. I like to use it on my hands too, hands are neglected territory."
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"I personally was not blown away by it for my needs, but the fact that it has B12 in it I think is novel. [...] B12 topically has been shown to improve itch for patients with atopic dermatitis. [...] Topical B12 hasn't been shown to be problematic for causing acne. [...] It's kind of filming on the skin, which is not what I'd expect from something supposed to be a soothing and barrier support serum. My skin actually feels frankly kind of filmy."
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"For me personally this is not a product that I need to be using in my routine or that is beneficial to me, but that doesn't mean that it will not be helpful to one of you. For me personally I didn't really enjoy using this, it feels a little filmy on the skin, but it is fairly moisturizing. You can layer products on over it like your moisturizer or your sunscreen. It's pretty lightweight, it's very emollient, but at the same time it's not greasy."
"Looking into The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum, [...] this is very expensive for The Ordinary range, they're almost breaking three of the five and ten single actives with this particular product. [...] It is expensive for The Ordinary but it does actually make sense if you do a deep dive into the ingredients. Fifth ingredient here is niacinamide which is good because it means it's in that 2 to 5% range which is what we're looking for."
"An interesting lineup of ingredients, a nice texture if you like something to layer, but I don't think it's going to meet the needs of anybody with a skin type that isn't oily, if you're combination or dry you're probably going to want something with a little bit more. Compared to the other two, this is probably not a full service barrier treatment, you definitely need some kind of occlusive in there, but it's more suitable for daytime than the Cicaplast and the Cicalfate."
"I started using this towards the end of the summer and I have the kind of reactive skin that turns red from too much heat, too much cold, when the wind blows. It's really soothing when my skin feels overheated. I love the texture of it, which doesn't have any oil in it but it does somehow feel lipid, kind of like [...] it has a little bit of richness to the texture. A friend of mine who has oily skin during the summer actually used this in place of a moisturizer and she felt it was perfect."
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"The Ordinary came out with something similar, the Soothing and Barrier Support Serum, which is pepto bismol pink. I personally reach for the modulating glucosides more as a formula. I appreciate just how much more complex that is and also it's just full of powerful antioxidants, which I always want more of in my morning routine."
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"I started using this towards the end of the summer and I have the kind of reactive skin that turns red from too much heat, too much cold, when the wind blows. It's really soothing when my skin feels overheated. I love the texture of it, which doesn't have any oil in it but it does somehow feel lipid, kind of like [...] it has a little bit of richness to the texture. A friend of mine who has oily skin during the summer actually used this in place of a moisturizer and she felt it was perfect."
"The Ordinary's barrier Repair Serum [...] is a great little serum for comforting the skin. It has 10 emollients and 6 humectants, so what's the difference between an emollient and a humectant? We need both to repair your barrier or to help with dry skin. Humectants are just like they sound, they attract water to the skin. Skin needs hydration and water to heal it up. It also needs an emollient, which means that it needs some lipids to create a barrier and protect it."
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"The Ordinary's barrier Repair Serum [...] is a great little serum for comforting the skin. It has 10 emollients and 6 humectants, so what's the difference between an emollient and a humectant? We need both to repair your barrier or to help with dry skin. Humectants are just like they sound, they attract water to the skin. Skin needs hydration and water to heal it up. It also needs an emollient, which means that it needs some lipids to create a barrier and protect it."
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"Hopefully the new Serum by The Ordinary will help accomplish that. In a couple hours, as you can see the redness is diminished, it's not flaky, it's definitely not itching, it feels really soothed and comfortable. So far, The Ordinary's new Skin Barrier Serum is a winner."
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"This is a great little serum, one of The Ordinary's best serums I think that they've come out with recently because it has multiple ingredients, it's not kind of following that theory that they have of one ingredient serum. The key ingredients in here are ceramides which help with transepidermal water loss and skin barrier repair, and two anti-redness products: azelaic acid and niacinamide gallic acid, both of those are for reducing redness and calming the skin."
"I'm going to go in with this from The Ordinary, it is the Soothing and Barrier Support Serum. I bought this probably like a month and a half ago and I just started using it. You can see it has B12 in it that gives it this really beautiful pink tone to it, which I also just think is really fun, but it has other really nice soothing ingredients like Centella asiatica. So again, I'm trying to just make sure that my skin barrier feels really nice and strong and supported."
"Its pink color comes from vitamin B12, and it's a far more complex formulation containing niacinamide, centella, ceramide, vitamin B12, bisabolol, and the antioxidant EGCG, meant to address tightness, redness, inflammation, stinging and burning, while also rebuilding a weak or damaged skin barrier. The Ordinary is great for redness, tightness, and strengthening the skin barrier in a creamy formula that moisturizes dry areas, and it's also going to be your budget pick coming in at $17."
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"If you're somebody who wants a barrier support serum, maybe your skin is just feeling a little stressed, a little tested, a little weak but it's not like full out burning and itching, but you want something that's going to make your skin feel stronger in the long run, that's where I think The Ordinary shines, especially because you're going to save some money when you buy this one. If you're just looking for barrier support, this is a really really good serum."
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"This particular product I like because it is focused on soothing the skin, strengthening the skin, and it really is focused on a healthy skin barrier. I think that that can be incredibly beneficial, especially since The Ordinary has a huge lineup of exfoliants and retinoids and vitamin C's and actives that can be a little bit aggressive on the skin, so it's great that they are really offering some barrier support in their line as well."
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"The Soothing and Barrier Support Serum is really good at giving it a pick me up. Not only does it give you relief on contact with that sensitive ingredient, so that itchy irritated feeling doesn't drive you nuts and you get that relief immediately, but really within a few days I could tell that my skin was improving, it was getting stronger, it was getting better. The serum really has all of those elements to treat multiple symptoms but also the source."
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"The Ordinary Barrier and Soothing Support Serum was an exciting release from the ordinary this year. The ordinary really does approach skincare from a very simple approach and they're generally focusing in on one ingredient, so I love that they have created a product that is not just using one star ingredient they're using multiple star ingredients here with a more complex formula. This is something that is a little bit newer for the ordinary, this is new territory for this particular brand."
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"It really does attack all facets of skin soothing and barrier support from many different angles. From the barrier support stance alone, they have ceramic content in here but it's not your traditional ceramides cholesterol fatty acids kind of barrier support. They are actually using plant-derived ceramides, so these are actually lipids that come from plant sources that can help to fortify your moisture barrier. Our skin and our body knows how to use them because they're seen as skin identical."
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"Its pink color comes from vitamin B12, and it's a far more complex formulation containing niacinamide, centella, ceramide, vitamin B12, bisabolol, and the antioxidant EGCG, meant to address tightness, redness, inflammation, stinging and burning, while also rebuilding a weak or damaged skin barrier. The Ordinary is great for redness, tightness, and strengthening the skin barrier in a creamy formula that moisturizes dry areas, and it's also going to be your budget pick coming in at $17."
What the evidence says.
Independent of what the gurus think, this is what
the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.
Frequently asked.
What is The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum?
A lightweight serum designed to soothe irritated skin and support a weakened skin barrier, formulated with hydrating and calming ingredients including vitamin B12, centella asiatica, and ceramides.
Is The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum worth it?
Mostly yes. 16 of the 20 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 76%.
What is The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum's Guru Score?
The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum holds a Guru Score of 76%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 20 expert reviewers we have collected.
Who is The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum best for?
The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum is generally suited to dry skin and sensitive skin.
Cheaper alternatives the gurus rate.
Lower-priced products in the same category that the experts still rate highly.
