Why Does The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA Score 'Poor' on Yuka?

Yuka reads The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA at 43 out of 100, "Poor". The reading was taken in the app on 12 October 2026, searching the product by name. Four ingredients come back flagged. Forty-two come back risk-free.

Forty-six in total, which is exactly the length of the current ingredient list published on INCIDecoder when we fetched it on 13 October 2026. So for once we can say with some confidence that the formula Yuka scored is the one on sale.

The amino acids, the sugars, the urea, the hyaluronic acid and the plant lipids that the cream is named for all pass. The score comes from the parts that keep it preserved and hold it together.

The Four Flags, and What European Law Says About Each

Yuka's flagged list, at the risk levels it assigned:

• Phenoxyethanol, moderate risk. The preservative. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annex V, entry 29: maximum 1.0% in the finished product.
• Triethanolamine, low risk. A pH adjuster. Annex III, entry 62 covers it with the other trialkanolamines: at most 2.5% in a leave-on product, never combined with nitrosating systems, a minimum purity of 99% and a nitrosamine limit of 50 μg/kg.
• Carbomer, low risk. The thickener that turns the formula into a cream. Inventory record only, no annex entry.
• Isoceteth-20, low risk. An ethoxylated emulsifier. Inventory record only, no annex entry.

We checked each one on 13 October 2026, in CosIng, the European Commission's ingredient database, and in the text of the Regulation itself. Triethanolamine is the one that needed the second step: CosIng's exact-name search returns no annex row for it, because the Annex III entry is filed under the group name "trialkylamines, trialkanolamines and their salts". An empty search there would have led us to print the wrong answer.

How 46 Ingredients Become 43 Points

Yuka's published rule is that the worst ingredient sets the band. Phenoxyethanol is moderate risk, so the cream can score no higher than 49 whatever else is in it. The three low-risk flags then take two points each, and 49 minus 6 is 43.

That is the same mechanism we measured across The Ordinary's range the same day. The Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 has phenoxyethanol and nothing else flagged and reads 49; the Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% adds one low-risk flag and reads 47.

So the triethanolamine, the carbomer and the isoceteth-20 are costing six points between them. The phenoxyethanol is costing the other fifty-one.

The Preservative Yuka Did Not Flag

The list also contains chlorphenesin, the last ingredient on it. EU law caps chlorphenesin at 0.3% under Annex V, entry 50, which is a tighter limit than phenoxyethanol's 1%. Yuka rated it risk-free.

That is worth knowing because it shows what the score is and is not. It is not a measure of how heavily regulated a product's preservatives are. Phenoxyethanol was reviewed by the EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, which concluded in 2016 that it "considers 2-phenoxyethanol safe for use as a preservative with a maximum concentration of 1.0%". Yuka disagrees with that one molecule and not with the other. You can agree with the app or with the committee; you just cannot read the 43 as the law speaking.

Who This Is Still Fine For

• Normal to dry skin that wants a plain, fragrance-free daily cream at a very low price. That is what this is, and nothing on the flag list is about irritation.
• Anyone using it as a buffer around stronger actives, a job it does well because it is so unremarkable.
• People who have used it for months without a reaction. Your skin's record beats a hazard list.

The case for switching is narrow and real. If you want your moisturiser above Yuka's 50 line, this one cannot cross it while it contains phenoxyethanol, and there are creams that do the same job without it.

For the brand-wide picture, see why The Ordinary scores so unevenly on Yuka; every reading is on The Ordinary's brand page.

Higher-Scoring Moisturisers We Have Read

• Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer, 100/100. The closest in spirit: fragrance-free, barrier-focused, no phenoxyethanol.
• Typology Moisturizing face cream, 100/100. Preserved on potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate instead.
• Embryolisse Lait-Crème Sensitive, 100/100. Richer, for drier skin.
• La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair, 93/100. Ceramides and niacinamide, with one low-risk flag on dimethicone.

The Ordinary's cream is sold as a budget product, so compare prices before you switch. For some readers the score will not be worth the difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Yuka score for The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA?

43/100, "Poor", read in the app on 12 October 2026. Phenoxyethanol is flagged at moderate risk; carbomer, isoceteth-20 and triethanolamine at low risk; the other 42 ingredients are risk-free.

Is the urea or the hyaluronic acid a problem?

Not on Yuka's reading. Every ingredient that gives the cream its name is risk-free in the app.

Our Verdict

An ordinary cream in the good sense, held to 43 by a preservative the EU's safety committee has cleared at 1% and by three texture ingredients worth six points between them. If phenoxyethanol does not concern you, nothing else here should. If it does, Vanicream gets you to 100 without giving anything up but price.