You would have thought that the self-confessed skincare junkie like me simply could not stay away for too long from this particular place in Old Spitalfields market. DECEIM – The Abnormal Beauty Company – has opened its flagship UK store back in March and I cannot believe it took me five months to actually show my face in there! Thank you, Katie, my dear friend and colleague, for dragging me away from my desk for a lunchtime mooch we both needed!

Of course, I have heard of “The Ordinary” – this brand is, most likely, no stranger to those of you who read online beauty blogs or watch YouTube beauty or lifestyle videos. I went past this DECEIM store a couple of times during my now-rare lunchtime walks and did make a mental note to myself that this hippie brick/white washed walls/lots of wood place with the funny name is “to be visited one day”. The Abnormal beauty company slogan did make me smirk in my head, I remember.

Well, this slogan, written all over the wall inside the store, was the first thing I noticed and it made me think: “Yeah, I think so, too” and made me think and reflect on its meaning much deeper…

Beauty doesn’t rinse off.

Serious thoughts aside, though, it was great to be there for the first time and see what the products were about, and just enjoy the “girl time”. I felt like a kid at the candy store! I love the interior of this trendy boutique – it is light and airy, with the industrial feel to it thanks to exposed brick walls, white tiles, heavy lights suspended on chains, and heavy white metal shelves with loads of dark weathered wood. It reminds me a little of the fanboy mecca (am one of them, admittedly!) – the Apple store!

Deceim Old Spitalfields Market store interior

This particular shelf was of interest to me as it housed the products that I considered buying for targeting specific skin concerns of mine (skin sensitivity, dryness and mild rosacea to be exact – I wrote a little about my skin gripes here in the My winter skincare saviours post), and I was curious to see what else was available from DECEIM – I found out that it owns a fairly large number of brands (16, if I am not mistaken) and most of them were represented here at the store.

The Ordinary was the brand I really wanted to check out: it took the skincare here in the UK by storm, it seems, thanks to its affordable prices (the cheapest product I spotted on the shelf costs a mere £3.90!) and clear nasties-free formulations, so many people are discovering them and are seeing the results! DECEIM sure is big on slogans, and The Ordinary, being one of its brands, has one too: “Clinical formulations with integrity”.

A shelf full of products and foundations by The Ordinary brand

This colourful shelf houses DECEIM’s hair care products: the brand called HIF. An interesting line, I think, and is worth investigating later once I have used up my current hair care products. Like Sachahuan’s Hair Cleansing Cream I am loving so much, HIF products seemed to also have some cleansing conditioners, in addition to a few shampoos.

HIF haircare products

A selection of HIF cleansing conditioners look interesting and are full of clever-sounding ingredients!

HIF cleansing conditioners

Fountain is yet another DECEIM brand which offers a range of nutritional supplements in a form of drink. Hmm, interesting… But not today.

Fountain of youth and beauty potions for internal consumption

Those bright yellow bottles are the part of AB CREW group of products made for fitness, body care and men’s grooming. They looked quite quirky and cute, like a row of yellow ducks on that shelf! That’s just my weird imagination playing again!

A shelf with AB CREW products at DECEIM boutique

I loved the look of this bright shelf with Hylamide range of products. These are pricier than The Ordinary but they contain complex formulas that help with a variety of skin issues. The bottles are so nice to look at!

Five bright bottles from the Hylamide range

Well, after some wandering around this boutique and exploring, I ended up with a couple of products in my shopping basket: it would be rude walking out empty handed! I opted for The Ordinary Azelaic Acid 10% Suspension which should help with my super sensitive areas and calm the redness, and the NIOD Multi-Molecular Hyaluronic Complex which should help to keep my thirsty dry skin well hydrated.

Not a full basket: my purchases from DECEIM

I have not really been too much into acids as I am not that well-educated in skincare department (I really should get into this though, given my age and the condition of my skin!). I have successfully been using a couple of products from SkinCeuticals for a couple of years, and my much loved SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic and Hydrating B5 serum supplies are running low, so I figured I can try something different (and much cheaper too!) and see how it compares.

I have been using my two newly acquired products for the last fortnight or so, and will most definitely write my thoughts on them here in the near future, so watch this space!

Let me know if you have been using DECEIM or SkinCeuticals products and which ones are your favourite!