Holy Grail Beautyy . . .

Storytime

I was running out of my first vitamin C serum, Answers From Nature Peptide C Serum  and I was unable to purchase another, so I was on the hunt for another good vitamin C product.  I ended up on Amazon after reading good reviews on Serumtologie Vitamin C 22% on a few websites devoted to skin care products.  I bit the bullet and ordered it from Amazon.  It took two weeks to get to me as I live in Australia.  It was in perfect condition on arrival. 
I paid $50 in total with some of that being shipping to Australia and the exchange rate.  It arrived in two weeks with no issue and I received tracking information and updates throughout the two weeks.



Serumtologie C Serum is an off white liquid, with an inoffensive light smell that dissipates quite fast.  You draw up as much as you can  in the dropper and apply to your face, neck, decolletage and tops of hands.  Its absorbed very quickly, and can give a tight feeling when applied over the whole face which does dissipate after a little while.  Due to its formulation its best to use this by itself and not immediately layer products on top of it for at least half an hour. The directions say to use morning and night but I found that if I used it in the morning, it would not react well with my Revlon Photoready BB Cream Skin Perfector as I tried to apply it on top of the serum it started to ball up everywhere.  I need to protect my skin over using this serum in the daytime so I changed to evening only or on days when I am not leaving the house only application.  Oils are also not advised to be applied afterwards as the serum balls up and off the skin.


After two months of using this serum every night my thoughts are that this serum is not as powerful as the Answers From Nature Peptide C Serum I used previously which contains a different form of Vitamin C which is L-Ascorbic Acid.  It did not exfoliate my skin like a good amount of Vitamin C should be doing alone and in conjunction with my other products like AHA and the Retinol.  So I decided to check out what these 'beneficial' ingredients are as it was obvious to me it wasn't as great as I hoped it would be or some of its excellent reviews online.   Here are the ingredients contained within:

Deionized water Why is it used?
Organic Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola) What are the benefits?
Wildcrafted Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) What are the benefits?
Wildcrafted Taraxacum Officinale (Danedelion) Is this beneficial?
Wildcrafted Geranium Maculatum (Wild Geranium) What are the benefits?
Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf (Aloe) What are the benefits?
Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C) What are the benefits?
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) What are the benefits?
Cassia Angustifolia Seed Polysaccharide (Botanical Hylauronic Acid) What are the benefits?
Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Is this beneficial?
Carbomer What is it for?
(2s)-2-Amino-5-guanidinopentanoic Acid (L-Arginine) What are the benefits?
Ferulic Acid What are the benefits?
d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) What are the benefits?
Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba Oil) What are the benefits?
Phenoxyethanol What is it for?
Ethyl Hexyl Glycerin What is it for?


What I noticed was when I applied this formula it would plump out my skin but when it was not freshly applied to my face; my skin did not look like it was actually changing my skin so it would look progressively better as it should with vitamin c being part of the formula. 

Vitamin C  IN the form of Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate is not proven to be a very effective version of Vitamin C - compared to the more common forms.  It was not exfoliating my skin and apart from plumping my skin temporarily it wasn't actually doing much of anything.  It is an antioxidant but that is not enough to exfoliate the skin successfully.  Gotu Kola is part of the base of the serum and that too is not empirically proven to successfully help skin's appearance like retinols, AHA's etc.  It is said to have potential to help.

This blog article from The Beauty Brains delves into the different types of Vitamin C in skincare and it shows that the type of Vitamin C in Serumtologie C Serum does not penetrate the skin and has limited ability in being effective. Various types of Vitamin C in skincare


Witch Hazel is a known irritant even though it contains anti oxidants from the tannin in the bark the alcohol added is for distillation of the bark  and it also includes alcohol in its formulation.  Alcohol is a big no no for healthy skin.

Horsetail Extract is a very common ingredient in skincare but it is not proven to have any skin soothing or anti oxidant activity on the skin. 


I found the dropper applicator to not be the best dispensing tool for vitamin C products as you are constantly opening the bottle top to access the dropper.  A pump dispenser for products like this is the best kind as well as having an opaque container to avoid sunlight deterioration of the product contents.  This bottle is dark blue which is good.  Ideally you should keep any products like this in dark cool areas for preservation. 

I feel after two months of use I can conclude it is not a good Vitamin C product for skin.  The vitamin C is supposed to be the star ingredients of this product and it does fall short.  I don't recommend it however it does have some good ingredients that make up somewhat for it.

I have ordered a new product from a company called Skin Actives so my next vitamin C product review will be after trying that product.

* If you have sensitive skin you should patch test a little of the product on yourself first before applying to your face and ALWAYS use sunscreen.


Thank-you for reading.
Not sponsored.
Image my own.

Storytime

This Neutrogena product has become an absolute essential skincare staple for me.  It contains enough Retinol to elicit healthy visible change in my skin.  I use it at night alongside Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing Elixir which is an AHA product.  Both Retinol and AHA products are keys to great skin.  I also use Neutrogena Pore Refining Scrub, Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Moisturiser prior to applying this Neutrogena Retinol product.


Beauty Guru

Retinol is a strong product so as it is advised on the packaging - if you experience sensitivity, any kind of peeling etc than change frequency as directed on the packaging until you become acclimatised to the product.  Because I had already been using AHA products the Retinol was fine for my skin.  This product also contains Hyaluronic Acid which helps to plump the skin and our bodies already make this so this is a great addition.  It is hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic meaning it does not clog pores.


The Retinol - SA it refers to on the box means Sustained Action - so it works throughout the night at level pace to help your skin look its best.  *Two weeks is the time suggested by Neutrogena on their website as to when you should see results.  The only con for me is the size as its only a 39gram product and in Australia it costs $30 AUD.  So I will have to buy another one in a week or so to avoid going without.  I got it in early January and its now the end of February.  At first I only used it on my face but now I use it on the tops of my hands, neck and decolletage.

Please use sunscreen on your skin but especially so if using Retinol and AHA/BHA products due to heightened skin sensitivity.  Sun damage is one thing your skin will never acclimatize to - do not be fooled if you tan naturally.  Help yourself now to avoid the pain of skin cancer in the future.  Wear a hat, apply and reapply sunscreen every four hours or if you have been in the water and/or sweating profusely.

I definitely recommend this product.

Thankyou for reading.
*Not sponsored.
Image via google.com
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