Minimalist and The Ordinary: Who Copied Whom?

# Minimalist and The Ordinary: Who Copied Whom?

India's Minimalist (founded 2020) is the country's fastest-growing modern beauty brand. By 2024 it was valued at over ₹2500 crore and had been acquired by HUL in a headline-making deal. Its entire catalogue — single-active serums, beige label-on-white bottles, transparent ingredient lists — reads uncannily like Deciem's The Ordinary.

Is this straightforward imitation, or smart category translation? Both — and that is worth understanding.

The structural similarity

• Ingredient-first naming: "Niacinamide 10%" — The Ordinary calls it "Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%"
• Minimal packaging: Both use beige and cream tones with ingredient-forward labels
• Price point: Both position as "actives without the markup"
• Single-active focus: Both lead with transparency on concentration

The difference: Minimalist formulations are tuned for Indian climate and skin tones. They run warmer (more humid-climate-friendly textures), and shade ranges across their newer products are real.

Head-to-head on key SKUs

Niacinamide 10%

• The Ordinary: Niacinamide 10% + Zinc PCA 1%. Slight niacinamide-flush potential. The OG.
• Minimalist Niacinamide 10%: Niacinamide 10% + Hyaluronic Acid. Lighter texture, less flushing.
• Winner for Indian skin: Minimalist. The zinc in The Ordinary is nice but the lighter texture of Minimalist suits humid climates.

Vitamin C

• The Ordinary Ascorbyl Glucoside 12%: Stable, gentle, medium potency.
• Minimalist Vitamin C 10%: Ethyl ascorbic acid, stable, marketed as gentler on sensitive skin.
• Winner: The Ordinary marginally, for the lower-molecular-weight stability record.

Retinol

• The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% in Squalane: Stable, predictable, well-formulated.
• Minimalist Retinoid 2%: Retinal (the stronger intermediate) at 0.2% — NOT 2% retinol. Note the marketing trap.
• Winner: The Ordinary for formulation honesty. Minimalist's "2%" headline is about total actives, not retinol concentration.

Peptides

• The Ordinary Matrixyl 10%: Peptide complex, workhorse.
• Minimalist Multipeptide 7%: Different peptide blend, similar target.
• Roughly tied.

The verdict on "copying"

It's clear Minimalist took extensive inspiration from The Ordinary — the house style, the naming convention, the ingredient-first architecture. In the beauty industry, this is normal. The Ordinary itself inspired Typology (France), 111Skin, and half the DTC skincare brands of the 2020s.

What Minimalist did WELL was:

• Localise pricing for Indian purchasing power (₹300–700 per product)
• Tune formulations for Indian climate and skin tones
• Build retail distribution through Nykaa and Amazon India that The Ordinary never cracked locally
• Avoid Deciem's chaos — consistent formulations, fewer gimmicks

Should you buy which?

• If you have easy access to The Ordinary: Stock the classics (Niacinamide, Granactive Retinoid, Matrixyl). The formulations have two extra years of refinement.
• If you are in India and shopping locally: Minimalist is the superior pragmatic choice. Faster restocks, climate-appropriate textures, cheaper.
• Honestly: Mix them. A Minimalist niacinamide and a The Ordinary retinoid is a perfectly coherent routine.

The real lesson is that Minimalist proved there was huge latent demand for ingredient-forward skincare in India, and did it with formulation quality that matches the global benchmark. That is worth celebrating, even if the packaging looks identical.