Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule Versus The Ordinary "Buffet"

See how these products line up with your preferences

Here's our complete breakdown comparing the ingredients, attributes, and more of Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule versus The Ordinary "Buffet" .

Last updated on July 18, 2023. Published on March 06, 2023

Overview

What they are

These products are both cruelty-free and reef safe . They have a total of 18 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain hyaluronic acid

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for dry skin, brightening skin, sensitive skin, scar healing and better texture

Free From

They both do not contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, fragrances, parabens, silicones or sulfates

We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that need an update? Let us know.

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Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule

The Ordinary "Buffet"

Ampoule South Korean Brand

Serum Canadian Brand Canada

Ampoule

Ampoules are created to target one area of concern. They are usually highly concentrated with active or beneficial ingredients.

Serum

Serums are highly concentrated with ingredients to provide skin with benefits. They should be used after cleansing and before moisturizing.

Price

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Buy Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule

Starts at $9.99

Shop

Buy "Buffet"

Starts at $19.90

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and view relevant ingredients.

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule 41 ingredients

The Ordinary "Buffet" 51 ingredients

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule 41 ingredients

The Ordinary "Buffet" 51 ingredients

Notable Ingredients

AHA

Hyaluronic Acid (3)

Benefits

Hydrating

Redness Reducing (2)

Reduces Irritation

Skin Texture (2)

Reduces Large Pores

Anti-Aging

Scar Healing (2)

Brightening (3)

Concerns

Irritating (2)

Rosacea

Benefits

Hydrating (2)

Redness Reducing

Reduces Irritation

Skin Texture

Scar Healing

Brightening

Concerns

Drying

Acne Trigger

Rosacea (2)

Eczema

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Ingredients Compared

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule 41 ingredients

The Ordinary "Buffet" 51 ingredients

Water • Glycerin • Butylene Glycol • 1,2-Hexanediol • Dipropylene Glycol • Propanediol • Carbomer • Tromethamine • Ethylhexylglycerin • Citric Acid • Tricholoma Matsutake Extract • Disodium EDTA • Sodium Citrate • Hydrolyzed Cicer Seed Extract • Rhododendron Chrysanthum Leaf Extract • Sea Water • Hyaluronic Acid • Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid • Sodium Hyaluronate • Houttuynia Cordata Extract • Sedum Sarmentosum Extract • Glycine • Serine • Glutamic Acid • Glycyrrhiza Uralensis Root Extract • Aspartic Acid • Leucine • Alanine • Lysine • Arginine • Tyrosine • Phenylalanine • Proline • Threonine • Valine • Isoleucine • Saccharide Isomerate • Histidine • Cysteine • Methionine • Hizikia Fusiforme Extract

Water • Glycerin • Lactococcus Ferment Lysate • Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 • Pentapeptide-18 • Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 • Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 • Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 • Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate • Acetylarginyltryptophyl Diphenylglycine • Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer • Sodium Hyaluronate • Allantoin • Glycine • Alanine • Serine • Valine • Isoleucine • Proline • Threonine • Histidine • Phenylalanine • Arginine • Aspartic Acid • Trehalose • Fructose • Glucose • Maltose • Urea • Sodium PCA • PCA • Sodium Lactate • Citric Acid • Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin • Sodium Chloride • Sodium Hydroxide • Butylene Glycol • Pentylene Glycol • Acacia Senegal Gum • Xanthan Gum • Carbomer • Polysorbate 20 • Ppg-26-Buteth-26 • Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil • Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate • Ethoxydiglycol • Sodium Benzoate • Caprylyl Glycol • Ethylhexylglycerin • Phenoxyethanol • Chlorphenesin

Ingredients Side-by-side

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

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Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Water

What it does: Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 1.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 1.

Glycerin

What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Learn more about Glycerin

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 2.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 2.

Butylene Glycol

What it does: Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Community Rating: Mixed

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

It is a solvent, meaning that it helps to dissolve other ingredients. This also enhances the absorption of the product into one's skin.
It is a humectant, which means that it helps attract moisture into the skin.
It helps improve product application.

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient. It is unlikely to irritate skin, and works well with pretty much all other ingredients.

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 3.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 37.

Carbomer

What it does: Emulsion Stabilising, Gel Forming

Community Rating: Disliked

Carbomer is a polymer of acrylic acid. Its main role is to create gel consistency within products.

Carbomer is commonly found in many types of cosmetics products. It is found to be safe in concentrations up to 15%. However, a high amount of carbomer can cause pilling or balling up of products. Most products contain 1% of less of carbomer.

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 7.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 41.

Ethylhexylglycerin

What it does: Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Mixed

Ethylhexylglycerin (we can't pronounce this either) is commonly used as a preservative and skin softener. It is derived from glyceryl.

You might see Ethylhexylglycerin often paired with other preservatives such as phenoxyethanol. Ethylhexylglycerin has been found to increase the effectiveness of these other preservatives.

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 9.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 49.

Citric Acid

What it does: Buffering, Masking

Community Rating: Disliked

Citric Acid is an AHA derived from citrus fruits (think oranges, lemons, and limes!).

If you spot Citric Acid near the end of an ingredient list, it's likely there as a pH adjuster rather than an active ingredient.

As an AHA, Citric Acid removes the top layer of skin cells from the newer layer of skin underneath. This helps skin to remove dark spots and look more even.

Read more about some other popular AHA's here:

Learn more about Citric Acid

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 10.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 33.

Sodium Hyaluronate

What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Sodium Hyaluronate is hyaluronic acid's salt form. It is commonly derived from the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid.

Like hyaluronic acid, it is great at holding water and acts as a humectant. This makes it a great skin hydrating ingredient.

Sodium Hyaluronate is naturally occurring in our bodies and is mostly found in eye fluid and joints.

These are some other common types of Hyaluronic Acid:

Learn more about Sodium Hyaluronate

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 19.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 12.

Glycine

What it does: Buffering, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Glycine is an amino acid that helps build proteins. It is already present in our skin as our bodies produce them naturally.

Glycine helps keep skin hydrated and reduce signs of aging. Amino acids help transport moisture throughout our skin; glycine already plays a role in helping keep our skin moisturized.

As collagen is made up of glycine and other amino acids, it is believed Glycine may help our skin produce more collagen. Collagen helps keep skin plump and firm.

Learn more about Glycine

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 22.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 14.

Serine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Serine is an amino acid naturally found in our body. Our bodies use amino acids to create protein.

Amino-acids help give keep our skin hydrated. They play an important role in the skin barrier, which keeps the skin plump and firm.

Serine is a non-essential amino acid, meaning we don't need to obtain it from eating foods.

Learn more about Serine

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 23.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 16.

Aspartic Acid

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Aspartic Acid is an amino acid that our bodies produce naturally. It is an antioxidant.

Our body uses Aspartic Acid to help build collagen and elastin. It also plays a role in hydrating skin.

Antioxidants help mitigate damage from free-radical molecules. These are molecules that originate from external sources such as pollution, cigarette smoke, or the sun.

Learn more about Aspartic Acid

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 26.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 24.

Alanine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Alanine is an amino acid and is already found in the human body.

Alanine has antioxidant properties and can help with anti-aging.

Alanine is used by fibrous proteins such as collagen, elastin, and keratin. These three help make a strong skin barrier. Having a healthy skin barrier leads to more plump and youthful skin.

Learn more about Alanine

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 28.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 15.

Arginine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Mixed

Arginine is an amino acid that is important for human development. Your body uses is it to produce hair keratin and skin collagen.

As a cosmetic ingredient, Arginine has antioxidant properties and can also help repair damaged skin. This ingredient is derived either synthetically or from animals.

Arginine isn't fungal acne safe when used in the presence of other lipids (fats, fatty acids, oils, esters, etc). Oils and fats occur naturally within the skin, so take caution when using Arginine if you're prone to fungal acne.

Learn more about Arginine

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 30.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 23.

Phenylalanine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Phenylalanine is an amino acid. It is a skin soothing and hydrating ingredient. Amino acids play a crucial role in wound healing and skin hydration.

Phenylalanine is also used to help even out skin tone due to its ability to disrupt the melanin production process.

Two structures of phenylalanine exist: L-phenylalanine and D-phenylalanine. L-phenylalanine is essential, this means our bodies cannot produce it naturally and we must get it from foods. Our bodies convert D-phenylalanine to neurotransmitters, and D-phenylalanine is found in our bodies naturally.

Some foods that contain L-phenylalanine include eggs, soybeans, beef, milk.

Learn more about Phenylalanine

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 32.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 22.

Proline

What it does: Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Proline is an amino-acid. It helps moisturize the skin and plays an important role in creating proteins.

Proline is one of the building blocks for producing collagen. As we age, our bodies produce less collagen. Collagen helps the skin look plump and firm.

In medicine, proline is used as an osmoprotectant. This means it helps prevent oxidative degradation in other drugs.

Our bodies are able to produce proline naturally, but certain conditions may inhibit this production. In that case, proline can be obtained from eating egg whites, soy protein, dairy products, asparagus, mushrooms, and seaweed.

Learn more about Proline

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 33.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 19.

Threonine

What it does:

Community Rating: Loved

Threonine is an amino-acid. It helps hydrate the skin and has antioxidant benefits.

Threonine is vital for creating collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin support youthful and firm skin. Our bodies decrease collagen production naturally with age.

Humans are not able to create threonine and must get it through eating foods such as fish, lentils, poultry, sesame seeds, and more.

Learn more about Threonine

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 34.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 20.

Valine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

We don't have a description for Valine.

Acwell Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule contains this as ingredient number 35.

The Ordinary "Buffet" contains this as ingredient number 17.

Isoleucine

What it does: Skin Conditioning