Versus

Dropology Caffeine + Ginseng 5% Serum Versus The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

Serum
Serum
Italian Brand Italy
Canadian Brand Canada

Updated on May 14, 2024

Overview

What they are

These products are both fungal acne (malassezia) safe and reef safe serums. They have a total of 6 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain hyaluronic acid

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for dry skin and brightening skin

Free From

They both do not contain any oils, parabens, silicones or sulfates

What's Inside

They both contain harsh alcohols, common allergens and fragrances

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

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and see relevant ingredients

About this product

About this product

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Benefits

Concerns

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

found in both products

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

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. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water
Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting

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
Skin Conditioning

Caffeine is most associated with coffee, tea, and cacao. In skincare, it helps with calming inflammation and anti-aging.

Caffeine is an antioxidants, which help with the signs of aging. This is because antioxidants help fight skin-damaging free radical molecules.

While caffeine is used to treat cellulite and and dark circles, further studies are needed to prove this. It has been believed to help with these skin conditions due to its ability to dilate blood vessels and increase blood flow.

Some studies are looking into caffeine's ability to protect against UV rays.

Learn more about Caffeine
Absorbent, Emulsion Stabilising, Skin Conditioning

Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide. It is derived from starch such as rice, corn, wheat, or potato starch.

In food, Maltodextrin is used to improve the texture and thicken a product. Due to its structure, it can help create a gel texture. As an emulsion stabilizer, it helps keep the ingredients in a product together.

As a polysaccharide, Maltodextrin has moisturizing properties. Polysaccharides are a type of carbohydrate. The top layer of skin uses polysaccharides to retain water, keeping the skin hydrated.

Maltodextrin is water soluble and has a sweet taste.

Learn more about Maltodextrin
Skin Conditioning

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.

Perfuming, Preservative, Solvent

Benzyl Alcohol is most commonly used as a preservative. It also has a subtle, sweet smell. Small amounts of Benzyl Alcohol is not irritating and safe to use in skincare products. Most Benzyl Alcohol is derived from fruits such as apricots.

Benzyl Alcohol has both antibacterial and antioxidant properties. These properties help lengthen the shelf life of products. Benzyl Alcohol is a solvent and helps dissolve other ingredients. It can also improve the texture and spreadability.

Alcohol comes in many different forms. Different types of alcohol will have different effects on skin. This ingredient is an astringent alcohol.

Using high concentrations of these alcohols are drying on the skin. They may strip away your skin's natural oils and even damage your skin barrier. Astringent alcohols may also irritate skin.

Other types of astringent alcohols include:

According to the National Rosacea Society based in the US, you should be mindful of products with these alcohols in the top half of ingredients.

Any type of sanitizing product will have high amounts of alcohol to help kill bacteria and viruses.

Learn more about Benzyl Alcohol

When to use

8 Routines
63% use in am
38% use in pm
100% use every day
778 Routines
56% use in am
44% use in pm
95% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->

Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

Dropology Caffeine + Ginseng 5% Serum 14 ingredients

Caffeine + Ginseng 5% Serum hasn't been rated yet.
Rate it now

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG 25 ingredients

2.1 /5
from 9 ratings
Hydrating (3) Doesn't Work (3) Sticky (3)
fawns's avatar

🐾

7 months ago
Review

β™‘οΈŽ
- π—π—ˆπ—‡'𝗍 π—‹π–Ύπ—‰π—Žπ—‹π–Όπ—π–Ίπ—Œπ–Ύ, π—€π—ˆπ— π—π—π—ˆ 𝗂𝗇 𝖺 𝗉𝖺𝖼𝗄 π—Œπ—ˆ π—ƒπ—Žπ—Œπ— π–Ώπ—‚π—‡π—‚π—Œπ—π—‚π—‡π—€ 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆 π—Žπ—‰
- π—π—π—‚π—Œ π–½π—ˆπ–Ύπ—Œ π—‡π—ˆπ— π—π—ˆπ—‹π—„ 𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗅𝗅 π–»π—Žπ— 𝗂'𝗏𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗅𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 π—π—ˆ π—†π—’π—Œπ–Ύπ—…π–Ώ 𝖺𝗇𝖽 π—Œπ–Ίπ—’π—‚π—‡π—€ 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂𝗍 π–½π—ˆπ–Ύπ—Œ
- 𝗂 π–½π—ˆ 𝖺𝗉𝗉𝗅𝗒 𝗂𝗍 π—ˆπ–Ώπ—π–Ύπ—‡ π—ƒπ—Žπ—Œπ— π—Œπ—ˆ 𝗂 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅 𝖿𝖺𝗇𝖼𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝖺𝗇 π–Ώπ—‚π—‡π—‚π—Œπ— π—ˆπ—Žπ— 𝗆𝗒 π–»π—ˆπ—π—π—…π–Ύπ—Œ
- π—π—ˆπ—Žπ—…π–½π—‡'𝗍 π—‹π–Ύπ–Όπ—ˆπ—†π—†π–Ύπ—‡π–½

#great value
#light
#absorbs well
#no scent
julienzdravkovic's avatar

Julien z

5 days ago
Review

it irritates my eye area

#expensive
#hydrating
#irritating