Vitamin C | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Apr 7, 2010

Vichy Aqualia Antiox Vitamin C Concentrate 10%

April 7, 2010 By Carleenp 3 Comments

Vichy has a great, and rather unique, Vitamin C Serum: Vichy Aqualia antiox Vitamin C Fresh Serum 10%. This serum contains Pure Citrus Polyphenol™ in the serum and Pure Vitamin C at 10% in a powder sachet that is mixed with the serum before the first use. Vitamin C breaks down easily, so by packaging the powder separately, the product is assured to be fresh and at full potency. The product also contains no parabens. Because of that, it must be refrigerated after mixing.

I am a long time fan of Vitamin C serums, but I often wondered if they were already low on potency by the time that I got them and I would often seek out powder forms that I could mix before use (e.g. Philosophy has a powder form and I have also bought Vitamin C powder from Skin Actives). As a result, I was quite pleased to see that Vichy packaged the vitamin C powder separately. 10% is a decent enough dose as well.

Because I agreed to review the product rather quickly after receiving it, I did not get a chance to try it for a full month as I normally would do before writing a review. However, within a few uses, I could tell I was happy with it. The serum absorbs very quickly and feels quite light. Mostly I love knowing that it really is fresh! I’ll try to report back with more after a month of use. At $45, the price isn’t bad either, considering that a number of brands charge quite a bit more for a good concentration Vitamin C serum.

Note: This review was based on a product given to me by a representative of the company. For more, please see my disclosure page.

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Disclosures: Beauty and Fashion Tech at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

Filed Under: Melasma Treatment, Skin Care Tagged With: Anti-Aging, Melasma Treatment, Skin Care, Vichy, Vitamin C

Feb 7, 2008

Prescriptives Px Vibrant-C Skin Brightening Lotion Moisturizer

February 7, 2008 By Carleenp 1 Comment

Many people think of foundation when they think of Prescriptives, and they do indeed have great foundation. I highly recommend getting color matched if you have not done so before!

But Prescriptives also makes some great skin care items in their Px line. I have previously used their skin tone correcting serum, which I think is now discontinued, and I love the PX intensive Rebuilding Moisturizer.

Based on my past good experiences, I was pretty happy to have the chance to try out Prescriptives Px Vibrant-C Lotion. This light moisturizer reminds me quite a bit of the skin brightening serum, which also focused on Vitamin C, except that it comes in a lotion form. The product has a good vitamin C tingle, which if anything like past Prescriptives Vitamin C products, should be fairly stable and do a decent job of actually brightening the skin and lightening mild melasma or hyperpigmentation. Because it is a moisturizer, it also can be used nicely over other skin lightening serums for creating a combination approach to melasma treatment. For example, I have been using it over my favorite treatment cleanser and serum from PCA Skin Care. It makes for a very nice combination, especially if you like using both serums and lotions.

As a light lotion moisturizer, Vibrant-C also stands out. I found that it absorbed quickly and completely, with only a small amount needed to get the desired effect of adding some light moisture. I suspect that I will be purchasing more of this product when the bottle that I was sent is empty.

Prescriptives has also added a skin brightening moisture cream to the line if you need a higher amount of moisture. They offer a skin brightening eye cream as well. Prescriptives can be found online at various department stores. For example, I usually get their products at Macys.

I also am trying Prescriptives Intensive Rebuilding Moisture-Rich Cleanser. So keep an eye out for a future post on that!

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Filed Under: Melasma Treatment, Skin Care Tagged With: Anti-Aging, Melasma Treatment, Moisturizer, Prescriptives, Vitamin C

Aug 20, 2007

SFRx Age Defying Complex from SuperFoods RX

August 20, 2007 By Carleenp 14 Comments

SFRx Age Defying Complex from SuperFoods RX is a potent vitamin C serum and is also one of my favorite new products. From the company behind the popular and well regarded book, Super Foods RX -- Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life, The serum provides a good amount of stable vitamin C and a lot of antioxidant power.

I am a pretty big fan of vitamin C, both for its antioxidant properties and because it can be useful in the treatment of melasma and hyperpigmentation. I also prefer to deliver it to my skin in a serum. So I was excited to try this product. In addition to vitamin C, the SFRx Complex contains pomegranate, green and black tea, and panthenol, along with other natural ingredients indicated for skin care (also apparently from their list of "super foods").

The SFRx serum is packed nicely in a bottle with a twist up pump. This allows for easy packing and carrying without worry about making a mess. Turn the top and the pump snaps up. Turn it again and it snaps down. Packaging genius!

The serum itself feels oily, but as far as I can tell, it does not contain ingredients of concern for acne prone skin. I also had no problems with breakouts using the product over a two week period. If anything, my acne improved while I was using it. The oily feeling also provides a nice amount of moisture, and I found that I could use the SFRx serum before bed without using a night cream over it. For day use, it absorbs fairly quickly, but not immediately, so it isn't the best to put on if you want to go straight to makeup from the serum application.

The serum also causes quite a bit of tingling and a heating sensation when it is applied. It contains sweet pepper, so that may be part of the reason for the heating sensation. Vitamin C will also usually cause a tingling sensation. It was pretty strong with the SFRx Complex, so people with sensitive skin might want to proceed with caution.

My skin was visibly improved within a matter of days from using the SFRx Age Defying Complex. My skin was brighter, well moisturized, and I had less acne while using the product. Used in combination with my regular skin lightener (the skin brightener from skin actives scientific), I found that I got a bit of extra lightening of my melasma, which was a nice bonus. I certainly got more from this product than I have gotten from the other vitamin C products I have tried. As a result, the Superfoods SFRx Complex has become part of my regular skin care routine.

The Super Foods RX website is currently offering a free trial of the SFRx Complex

Update: The free trial requires a subscription of sorts, and you will be charged if the product is not returned within 30 days of the shipping date (note that is the ship date, not the date it is received, and the item must be returned). Please see the comments for complaints about this process. Because of the comments, I do not recommend the "free" trial, or I suggest that it not be considered a true free sample of the product.