Anything but ordinary: The $25 serum that shaves five steps off your skincare routine.

You know those moments of self-reflection where you realise that you should have listened to advice from your mum because she’d been there, done that? Things like “Don’t over-pluck your eyebrows!”, “Don’t overheat your hair” and “Start using a night cream every night… even if it’s just a cheapie…”

Well the latter is advice that I wish I had taken. Now that I am on the runway to the big 4-0 all my years of “fun” pre-kids (another moment of hindsight; I should have just been building my sleep bank for these current years of exhaustion) is starting to show.

I’m turning up at Mamamia beauty expert Leigh Campbell’s desk every few days asking “what should I do about this?” and pointing to a new line on my face. “Hydration,” she says…. “hydration, hydration, hydration”.

But here’s the thing, like everyone I know, I live a busy life and as much as I would love to have regular facials and a seven-step skin care routine I simply don’t have time.

So when I heard of The Ordinary ‘Buffet’, one of those new skincare sensations that people seem to be raving on about, I decided to give it a go.

It's called 'Buffet' because it does all the things. It’s like an 'all you can eat' for your face that cuts down the need for lots of different specialist products.

Despite it being from a brand called The Ordinary, the list of ingredients is anything but ordinary – in fact just skip reading them and know this. It’s a multi-purpose peptide skin serum containing a complex formula of:

- anti-ageing and repairing peptides to help smooth fine lines
- a probiotic to rejuvenate and tackle age spots
- amino acids to strengthen it
- several molecular weights of hyaluronic acid to deeply hydrate my skin (which appears to be getting progressively papery….)

The important thing to note about these ingredients is the concentration which indicates the quality of the treatment your skin will be getting. So for less than $25 you get a 30ml bottle with 25 percent concentrate of active ingredients.

It would be rude not to use it every day (yes mum, I know you told me so).

I tried the product as it instructs; morning and night after cleansing.

I started with my normal cleanser followed by micellar water to get rid of the day's makeup and grime. I then poured around six or seven drops onto my fingertips and massaged the serum into my face, but that was too much.

The consistency is a bit more watery and spreads really far, so a few drops is all you need (making cost per use extraordinarily good!). It did feel a bit sticky on my hands but that was probably due to me using too much and to be fair, it was a small compromise for the price point.

After applying it at night I woke the next morning and my skin looked and felt more plump with a dewy appearance.

After cleansing (which consisted of splashing my face with water) I applied the 'Buffet' again underneath my tinted moisturiser. It acted as a primer so my makeup went on more smoothly than normal. I have fairly oily skin so I often look in the mirror at the end of the day and find that my makeup has travelled down my face, but with the only change in my routine being a visit to the 'Buffet', my makeup seemed to stay put.

With serums, you usually need to use the product for a while before seeing clear results but I definitely think the product helped with plumping my skin immediately and I look forward to seeing how it helps my other concerns over time.

Oh and for $24.90, available at Myer, I’m going to buy some for mum just so she knows that I eventually took her advice.

This content was brought to you with thanks to our brand partner, Myer.

Got a serum you love? Have your tried The Ordinary? Do tell below in the comments!

Want to win $100 just for giving us some feedback? Take our quick survey now.