Step 6: SeoulCeuticals Day Glow Serum with 20% Vitamin C, E, Ferulic Acid
This product I discovered on Amazon while looking for an affordable Vitamin C serum. It’s supposed to be a dupe for the fancy and uber-expensive SkinCeuticals Vitamin CE Ferulic Serum which is a whopping $166 and supposed to be a magical anti-aging serum with a magic specific ratio formula. Vitamin C, which is supposed to be-and in my experience is a good brightening skincare ingredient (such as for uneven skintone and hyperpigmentation), and supposed to be great for anti-aging as well, and is supposed to work great with Vitamin E which is supposed to stabilize it and augment the effects, and when combined with Ferulic Acid is really supposed to be a “magic potion” for anti-aging.
I just started trying it so I can’t testify to its efficacy, but I did notice a noticeable sort of strong tingling sensation which I take as a sign to mean it’s working, and also is consistent with/makes sense given the 20% Vitamin C concentration (which is pretty high, but it hasn’t yet irritated my sensitive skin!). The serum is not clear but cloudy, and smells kinda citrusy/fruity like orange cough syrup.
Warning: When using Vitamin C as an active ingredient on your skin, always use it in conjunction with a product with SPF 30 or higher (actually I recommend higher like SPF 50 if you can find a product with that that works with your skin) such as a moisturizer with sunscreen or even just an actual sunscreen if you aren’t too lazy to put one on everyday.
Why? Vitamin C has a photosensitizing effect and can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight, which can lead to darkening of the skin (obviously nothing wrong with that by itself, but if you want a tan use a self-tanner because UVA rays can lead to premature aging and wrinkles!) for example uneven skin tone or hyperpigmentation. However, when Vitamin C is used in conjunction with sunscreen/products with SPF, it actually increases the effectiveness of the sun protection! This is because Vitamin C is an antioxidant and when applied topically it will reduce free radical damage caused by UV rays.
Actually I know this is a broken record, but in general you should always use SPF or sunscreen everyday to prevent premature aging (and ofc skin cancer if anyone actually still cares about that) (I recommend using it on both your face and neck the first major areas where aging shows), but with Vitamin C (and other active ingredients such as acne treatment ingredients such as salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide and retinol) it’s a necessity and def not something you can forget, otherwise you may cause more damage to your skin because active ingredients often sensitize your skin.
Vitamin C Serum Storage/Care Tips:
- Vitamin C is an unstable ingredient that has a tendency to go bad quickly, is photosensitive and it may degrade when exposed to light or direct sunlight, thereby losing some (or all) of its efficacy. Not ideal I know, but that’s how it goes. To keep your Vitamin C fresh and useful/effective for as long as possible, it’s recommended to keep yours inside a dark medicine cabinet or cupboard away from light, or if you have a mini skincare fridge (I just bought one, so anticipate an upcoming blog post about it!) in your bathroom or room, you can keep it in the fridge to keep it fresh longer.
Pro Tip: I wouldn’t recommend keeping it in your normal fridge as it’s probably a trip to your fridge and you will probably forget it there and not use it for a long time, wasting time you can use it while it’s fresh during which time it may oxidize/go bad and defeating the purpose.
- People also recommend only buying Vitamin C Serums packaged in dark-colored bottles to protect it from degrading/going bad from the light. In my experience I used the K-beauty cult favorite Klairs Vitamin C Serum which was in a clear bottle and has 5% vitamin C, and it stayed good for a pretty long/decent amount of time, while people say that their CosRX Triple C Lightning Serum which is in a dark bottle and 20% vitamin C, went bad really fast. While dark packaging probably helps, the rule is the higher the concentration of Vitamin C the faster it will go bad.
- “Why is my Vitamin C Serum yellow/brown/changed color?”: Vitamin C oxidizes or turns a darker color when it becomes less fresh and less effective, aka goes bad. Some people say that the Vitamin C serum is still 50% effective and can still be used when it’s yellow and only needs to be tossed when it’s brown, other people throw it away the second it turns yellow.
- In general, whatever you believe, you should remember to use your Vitamin C serum often and go through it quickly since its average shelf life is supposed to be only 3 months before it goes bad. (You should also keep that in mind before investing in a very expensive one, IMO, and probably/definitely only buy one Vitamin C Serum at a time.)
Application Tips: Vitamin C is a pH-sensitive ingredient that works best at a certain pH, in this case the lower the pH the better (3.5 being ideal when used on your skin because any lower will probably irritate the crap out of your skin), so ideally to make sure the product is working in its best environment and has the most efficacy put this ingredient on your skin at a lower step in your skincare routine. In my case I put it on right after my toner and active ingredients, but if you don’t use active ingredients then just putting it right after your toner is fine (toner is supposed to balance your skin’s pH levels); some people even put it on before their toner (though how they manage to do that, I’m not quite sure).
My Affordability Grade: Affordable But An Investment (Well to broke AF people like me anyway)
Where to get it: Amazon for $16.99 (as of the time of this blog post being published). Available with Amazon Prime Same-Day Shipping if you have that.
EDIT:
I realized after writing this review that my serum was cloudy, meaning it had already oxidized and become ineffective, and even possibly harmful to the skin. That’s why I felt like it wasn’t doing much. I ended up returning it to Amazon in-person at Kohl’s, which is now an option!
I do NOT recommend buying it for this reason, as many others in the Amazon reviews also received oxidized serums and the only way to buy it is from Amazon as of the time of publishing this blog post.
The Queen of Skincare Addiction’s Diary 