Spent 3 hours chasing a breakout's root cause before realizing it was just my new vitamin C serum

I swapped to a different brand of L-ascorbic acid last week and wasted an entire afternoon rethinking my whole routine when the pilling and irritation was just that one product oxidizing way too fast, anyone else had a new serum sabotage their progress like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

jones.angela5d agoMost Upvoted

and on top of what @dakota_taylor39 said about the pH, I've found that even the airless pumps can be a gamble if you store them in a bathroom that gets steamy and warm. I honestly just buy the small trial sizes or sample packs of vitamin C now because even the best packaging won't save it if it's sitting on a shelf for months before you even open it. The fridge trick is solid too but I always forget to put it back and then it's lukewarm again by morning which kinda defeats the purpose. I think the real secret is to not buy more than you can use in like three weeks and to check the batch date if the company even lists one.

nina_lane165d ago

Angela is spot on about the steamy bathroom being a death sentence for these serums. I ruined a full bottle of Skinceuticals that way, it turned brown and smelled like hot dog water within a week. Now I keep mine in the fridge too and I actually set a timer on my phone to remind me to put it back, sounds silly but it works. And @dakota_taylor39 is right about checking the pH, I finally got a pack of those little test strips and found my favorite brand was way too high, no wonder it stung.

dakota_taylor395d ago

Yeah I've been there for sure, that orange tint and weird stinging had me thinking my moisture barrier was blown out or something (it was just the serum going bad after like two weeks). The L-ascorbic acid formulas are super finicky about air and light exposure, so now I only buy the ones in those airless pump bottles or really tiny dropper bottles that I can finish fast. Also worth checking the product's pH level if you haven't already, a lot of vitamin C serums need to be around 3.0 to 3.5 or they'll irritate like crazy even if they're fresh. Keep it in the fridge too if you can, that slowed down the oxidation on mine by a good bit.