This £6 serum is going viral on TikTok again (after becoming the product with the most waitlist sign-ups EVER on Cult Beauty)

What makes a beauty product go viral? It's hard to say, but racking up the biggest ever sign-up list in the history of beauty giant, Cult Beauty, and getting 10.7M views on its TikTok hashtag is a pretty spectacular way to go about it.

That's exactly what The Ordinary's AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution has done, generating 108,000 sign-ups on the website – the most for a single product. It's no splash in the pan either. The product isn't new, so the continual hype is based solely around the it's outstanding performance (the product previously amassed an 85,000 person wait-list when it sold out early last year).

So what exactly makes it exceptional?

The long-winded name looks confusing but it makes use of both AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) and BHAs (beta hydroxy acids), both of which are chemical exfoliators that help to smooth away rough texture, de-clog pores and improve skin clarity and brightness for a fresher complexion.

The combination of the two skin acids mean they get to work on different layers of the skin for a thoroughly deep clean. BHAs (like salicylic acid) work slightly deeper, decongesting pores and killing bad bacteria. AHAs work on the top surface of the skin, polishing away dead skin cells that create a dull layer on top of the skin when they shed too slowly. What's remarkable about this product is the concentration of AHA – most exfoliators use around 5%, this uses 30%. Because of this, it's best used weekly, rather than every day so as not to dry skin out. Adding to its credentials, it's also vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free and priced at an accessible £6.30 for the 30ml bottle.

The hype around the product has, in part, been helped by one teenager who posted a video of herself using The Ordinary’s AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution directly onto her skin and documenting each stage of it clearing her acne.

@kaelynwhitee / TIKTOK