The Ordinary's The Periodic Fable

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The Ordinary's The Periodic Fable Exposes The Beauty Industry

Beauty jargon beware: The Ordinary’s Periodic Fable is hilariously exposing nonsense, one “miracle” claim at a time.

BY HARRIET ISHBEL SWEENEY

16 October 2025

If you’ve ever felt personally victimised by a face cream promising “youthful radiance, cellular rejuvenation, and poreless perfection,” you’re not alone. Enter The Ordinary’s latest mic-drop in the beauty world: The Periodic Fable. It’s part science lesson, part tongue-in-cheek roast of the skincare industry - and honestly, it’s a delight.

The concept is devilishly simple: take the language of skincare marketing - the buzzwords, the pseudo-science, the endless “miracle” claims - and lay it out in the style of a periodic table. Only instead of hydrogen and oxygen, you get gems like “poreless,” “radiance,” and “age-defying.” A little absurd? Definitely. Necessary? Absolutely. Accompanying the table is a surreal, slightly dystopian film where hypnotised students chant skincare trends like mantras - ice rolling, morning shedding, acid peels - until one student dares to break free. It’s a cheeky reminder that not every shiny promise is rooted in science.

Courtesy of The Ordinary

Having been in the beauty trenches for a while, I’ve always given The Ordinary major props for taking a confusing, wallet-emptying industry and… well, making it almost normal. Suddenly, you could actually see what was in a product without needing a PhD in chemistry. That said… if you didn’t already have the basics down, some of the minimalist formulas could feel like secret codes only the initiated could crack. And that’s exactly why campaigns like The Periodic Fable are pure genius. It’s not just a laugh - it’s skincare schooling with a side of sass. It teaches you to question claims, decode ingredients, and say “no thanks” to being sold a dream in a jar. Plus, the interactive digital table where you click through buzzwords to see if they actually mean anything? Slightly addictive.

The Periodic Fable isn’t just a campaign; it’s a wink, a nudge, and a small rebellion against the beauty industry’s obsession with sounding smart while saying very little. It reminds us that skincare should be about actual results, not empty promises - and that it’s okay (more than okay, actually) to call out nonsense with a little humour and a lot of clarity. So next time your cleanser promises “time-defying transformation,” just check the periodic table. You might learn something. Or at the very least, get a giggle.

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