Verified Beauty Data

Dupe report Nº 010 / Lactic acid treatments

Sunday Riley Good Genes dupes, ranked by formula match

A $60 cult serum whose active is undisclosed lactic acid — and a $9 bottle that discloses 10%.

Some links earn us a commission. It never changes the verdict — the methodology is public.

02 / The scoreboard

3 formulas, one number that matter

Read the actives column first — it is the apples-to-apples comparison. $ per gram of active is what the working ingredients cost you; the base-formula score is supporting evidence, not the verdict.

Product Actives vs original $ / g of active Price Base formula Verdict
Sunday Riley Good Genes All-In-One Lactic Acid Treatment Ingredient disclosed; concentration undisclosed $0.00 $59.50 30 mL 100% the reference The original

✓ same % as original ≠ different % ? in formula, % undisclosed — not in formula

03 / The original

Why the original is the original

Good Genes built its cult on an "instant glow" — and that part is real. But the active doing the long-term work is lactic acid, an alpha-hydroxy acid that resurfaces the skin surface and is a component of the skin's own natural moisturizing factor. The catch: on the Good Genes ingredient list, lactic acid sits eighth — below seven botanical extracts — and Sunday Riley discloses neither its concentration nor the formula's pH, the two numbers that actually determine how much exfoliating work an acid does.

The immediate radiance is largely light-scattering emollients and licorice extract, not lactic acid working in three minutes — AHA exfoliation plays out over hours and weeks. The botanical blend and the brand are what you are paying the premium for, not a uniquely effective acid. Lactic acid itself is a commodity active that works at a disclosed, effective percentage.

So the comparison is simple: a treatment with an undisclosed amount of lactic acid below seven botanicals, versus a serum that states 10% lactic acid on the label for a fraction of the price. One honest caveat on the original's reputation, too — in 2018 the FTC charged Sunday Riley with posting fake reviews on Sephora over two years, with the CEO directing employees to write them. The candidates below are ranked by how much of Good Genes' actual formula they share, with the disclosed-percentage acids scored on price per gram of active.

04 / The candidates

Every candidate, examined

01 / The Ordinary

The winner
$3.07 per g of active
$9.20 retail · 30 mL
40% base formula · highest of 6

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA

Shared formula DNA 1 of 28 original ingredients present
Water Opuntia Tuna Fruit (Prickly Pear) Extract Agave Tequilana Leaf (Blue Agave) Extract Cypripedium Pubescens (Lady's Slipper Orchid) Extract Opuntia Vulgaris (Cactus) Extract Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (Yeast) Extract Lactic Acid Caprylic Butylene Glycol Squalane Cyclomethicone Dimethicone PPG-12 Stearic Acid Cetearyl Alcohol Ceteareth-20 Glyceryl Stearate PEG-100 Stearate Arnica Montana (Flower) Extract PEG-75 Meadowfoam Oil Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Oil Triethanolamine Xanthan Gum Phenoxyethanol Steareth-20 Dmdm Hydantoin

shared with original not shared rare marker — weighs more in the score

What matches
Discloses 10% lactic acid at a verified pH of 3.5–4.5 — the clinically active window for an AHA. That is a disclosed, effective concentration versus Good Genes' undisclosed amount sitting 8th in the INCI below seven botanicals. Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer adds hydration; Pepperberry (Tasmannia Lanceolata) extract reduces irritation. At $3.07 per gram of active, the most transparent cost-per-active on this page. 4.3-star average across 684 Amazon ratings.
What differs
No botanical blend, no emollient skin-feel, no lemongrass oil aromatic finish. The formula is minimal — 14 ingredients — and delivers lactic acid efficiently without the cushioning texture Good Genes is known for. You are buying the acid, not the glow serum experience.
Who it's for
The winner — for anyone who wants a disclosed, effective lactic acid treatment for exfoliation, brightening, and texture at a fraction of the price. $9.20 versus $59.50. If the Good Genes glow was the goal, buy the original. If the lactic acid was the goal, this is it.
Ships in
Packaging not verified No brand or retailer statement on the bottle — we won’t guess.
pH
pH 3.5-4.5 brand-published — we have not lab-tested it
Data source
Concentration disclosed in product name The Ordinary discloses 10% lactic acid in the product name; INCI verified via INCIDecoder and Ulta product page. pH 3.5-4.5 published by brand.

$9.20 for 30 mL → $3.07 per gram of active — 0.0× cheaper per active gram than the original's $0.00.

Buy on Amazon $9.20

02 / The Ordinary

Skip
$4.33 per g of active
$6.50 retail · 30 mL
36% base formula · 2nd of 6

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 5% + HA

Shared formula DNA 1 of 28 original ingredients present
Water Opuntia Tuna Fruit (Prickly Pear) Extract Agave Tequilana Leaf (Blue Agave) Extract Cypripedium Pubescens (Lady's Slipper Orchid) Extract Opuntia Vulgaris (Cactus) Extract Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (Yeast) Extract Lactic Acid Caprylic Butylene Glycol Squalane Cyclomethicone Dimethicone PPG-12 Stearic Acid Cetearyl Alcohol Ceteareth-20 Glyceryl Stearate PEG-100 Stearate Arnica Montana (Flower) Extract PEG-75 Meadowfoam Oil Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Oil Triethanolamine Xanthan Gum Phenoxyethanol Steareth-20 Dmdm Hydantoin

shared with original not shared rare marker — weighs more in the score

What matches
Same base formula as The Ordinary 10% — identical Pepperberry extract, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, clean minimal 15-ingredient deck — but at 5% lactic acid and a gentler pH of 5.0–6.0. Concentration and pH are both fully disclosed. At $6.50 it is the most affordable disclosed-concentration lactic acid on the market.
What differs
Half the concentration of the 10% version at a less exfoliating pH range. Results for texture and tone take longer and may be less pronounced. No emollient skin-feel. At $4.33 per gram of active, it costs more per active unit than the 10% version — you are trading potency for gentleness.
Who it's for
The sensitive-skin pick. If you are new to AHAs, have reactive skin, or have found the 10% version too much, 5% at a gentler pH is the appropriate entry point. The same transparent formulation at $6.50 — start here and step up only if your skin tolerates it well.
Ships in
Packaging not verified No brand or retailer statement on the bottle — we won’t guess.
pH
pH 5.0-6.0 brand-published — we have not lab-tested it
Data source
Concentration disclosed in product name The Ordinary discloses 5% lactic acid in the product name. INCI verified via INCIDecoder (incidecoder.com/products/the-ordinary-lactic-acid-5-ha-2). pH 5.0-6.0 (gentler range) per brand.

$6.50 for 30 mL → $4.33 per gram of active — 0.0× cheaper per active gram than the original's $0.00.

price on Amazon ($6.50) — not recommended as a dupe

05 / Methodology

How we verified this

Verified 2026-06-13

Every formula on this page was tokenized — split into its individual INCI ingredients — and matched against the EU CosIng ingredient database, so "Aqua," "Water," and "Eau" all resolve to the same ingredient.

The base-formula match score works like this: sharing a rare ingredient counts far more than sharing a common one. Almost every serum contains water and glycerin — that proves nothing. Almost nothing contains Ethoxydiglycol or Laureth-23, so when a candidate shares those with the original, it says something real about how the formula was built. (For the statisticians: it is an IDF-weighted Jaccard similarity over the normalized ingredient lists.)

Scores are computed, not opinions. The verdict tags are our editorial read of the actives, the scores, and the prices — and the methodology stays public so you can disagree with us precisely.

Where the ingredient lists come from

  1. Ingredient disclosed; concentration undisclosed

  2. Concentration disclosed in product name

Sources for this report

  • INCIDecoder product pages (live crawl 2026-06)
  • Brand DTC product pages (live crawl 2026-06)
  • products.json ingredient data (verifiedbeautydata internal, 2026-06)
  • Sunday Riley FTC settlement: In re Sunday Riley Modern Skin Care, LLC, FTC File No. 182-3175 (2019)

06 / Questions

Frequently asked

Is The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% as good as Sunday Riley Good Genes?
For the lactic acid effect — exfoliation, texture, tone — yes, and arguably better: The Ordinary discloses 10% lactic acid at a verified pH of 3.5–4.5, the clinically active window. Good Genes does not disclose its lactic acid concentration or pH. The Ordinary costs $9.20 versus Good Genes' $59.50. What Good Genes has that The Ordinary does not: an emollient botanical base (squalane, dimethicone, prickly pear extract), an instant-glow light-scattering finish, and a skin-feel experience that the stripped-down acid serum does not replicate. Buy Good Genes if you want the experience. Buy The Ordinary if you want the acid.
Why is Sunday Riley Good Genes so expensive?
You are paying for the botanical blend, the brand prestige, and the sensory experience — not a uniquely potent lactic acid. The lactic acid in Good Genes is undisclosed and sits 8th in the INCI below seven botanical extracts. The emollient skin-feel (squalane, dimethicone, cyclomethicone), the instant-glow finish, and Sunday Riley's positioning as a professional-grade brand drive the $59.50 price. The Ordinary delivers a disclosed 10% lactic acid for $9.20. The $50.30 premium is real; decide what you are buying it for.
What percentage of lactic acid is in Sunday Riley Good Genes?
Undisclosed. Sunday Riley has never published the lactic acid concentration in Good Genes, nor the formula's pH. Lactic acid appears 8th in the INCI, below Water, Prickly Pear Extract, Blue Agave Extract, Lady's Slipper Orchid Extract, Cactus Extract, Aloe Extract, and Yeast Extract. Its INCI position suggests it is not the dominant ingredient by volume. The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA discloses 10% lactic acid at pH 3.5–4.5 — the comparison Good Genes does not invite.
What is the Sunday Riley FTC settlement about?
In 2019 the FTC settled a case against Sunday Riley Modern Skin Care, LLC (FTC File No. 182-3175) over fabricated product reviews posted on Sephora.com between late 2016 and mid-2018. The FTC found that Sunday Riley and the company directed employees to post fake positive reviews under fake accounts, then reported the negative reviews for removal. The company did not pay a fine under the settlement but agreed not to engage in the conduct again. The settlement is public record. It is not a reason to dismiss the products — Good Genes genuinely has a loyal customer base — but it is context worth having when evaluating a brand's reputation.

→ / Related

Dig into the ingredients