December Skin Care Empties 🎄

Here are my December skin care empties! 👇🏻

Cosrx Ultimate Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask:

I thought I finished my last bottle of Cosrx Ultimate Rice Overnight Spa Mask, but I still have one more left. *sigh* I’ve been using this moisturizer on my body (not my face). My face can’t tolerate this product. I tried it so many times, and it failed each and every time. It’s just not compatible with my skin type no matter how much I want it to be. I love the niacinamide for the brightening effect, but it clogs my pores. This product contains sunflower seed oil, palm oil, and palm kernal oil. My skin hates oils in general. If they made an oil-free one, maybe I’ll give it a try. This moisturizer just didn’t work on my skin as I had hoped.

Coppertone Defend & Care Clear Zinc 50:

I have 2 bottles of Coppertone Defend & Care Clear Zinc 50. I finally finished my first bottle after a year. Don’t worry, it hasn’t expired. I’m using it indoors anyways on my hands (to finish it). For the face, this sunscreen is way too thick, way too white (ghost-like, leaves the skin powdery white), and it’s too heavy on the face for daily use. I tried it on my face before. It clogged my pores. It contains beeswax, which my skin doesn’t like. On the body, it works just fine. But, it does have a sunscreen smell to it that I don’t like. So, either way, I won’t purchase again after I finish my last bottle.

Cosrx Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream:

I finally finished my fourth bottle (last one!!) of Cosrx Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream! Andddd I won’t purchase it again. It’s a nice moisturizing eye cream, but it didn’t do much for my the skin around my eyes. I can’t tell if it helped to boost radiance, reduce under eye circles, or reduce puffy under eyes. I definitely can say that it didn’t help with fine lines and wrinkles. It just provided good moisture. From my experience and results, that’s all I’ve seen from this product after going through four bottles. It’s time to move on to something else if there is something else out there that works for under eye circles, eye puffiness, fine lines, and wrinkles.

Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin:

I finished a bottle of Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin this month. It’s a good moisturizer that moisturizes, hydrates, heals, protects, and soothes the skin. But, it didn’t work for me in the end (face). I was using it because I have no other moisturizer, and my skin was feeling flaky and dry. But then I realize how terrible this moisturizer is for my skin. I love that it moisturizes. It really does. I’ve never experienced moisturized skin like this before. It’s just that, this moisturizer clogs my pores. I think it’s the squalane. I can’t even use pure squalane oil without it clogging my pores. Since I have a few left, I’m currently using it as an eye cream and on my neck to use it up.

Purito Centella Green Level Eye Cream:

One tube of Purito Centella Green Level Eye Cream down! One left to go! I’ve gone through plenty of this eye cream to say that it’s a pretty below average eye cream. Even though it contains ingredients like centella asiatica extract (49%), shea butter, peptides, sodium hyaluronate, madecassic acid, panthenol, hydrolyzed collagen, cholesterol, macadamia seed oil, and so much more, it didn’t do anything for my eye area/under eyes. It wasn’t moisturizing enough either. It did absolutely nothing to improve my eyes. In my opinion, this product is overhyped. A good moisturizer does the same thing and comes in a bigger bottle than this 30 mL (1 fl. oz.) eye cream. It’s best to save your money.

Benton Fermentation Eye Cream:

Here’s another eye cream I finished this month! It’s the Benton Fermentation Eye Cream. You know, I’m starting to like this eye cream. It’s thick, creamy, and very moisturizing. Maybe it’s because it’s been colder and I’m losing a lot of moisture from the skin around my eyes. My under eyes are getting really dry, but this eye cream has helped replenish the moisture loss along with my other moisturizing skin care products. This eye cream is very rich. Since the texture and consistency of the product is rich and heavy, it’s a bit difficult to spread. I love how moisturizing it is, but I would like it if it was easier to blend into the skin. I’ll keep using it for the rest of winter and see if I’ll repurchase or not. I currently have 2 tubes left. I think that’s more than enough until next year. One tube lasts for months anyways.

Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum:

Unfortunately for me, I purchased a bunch of the Purito Centella Green Level Buffer Serum, lol. I stopped using this serum months ago. I’m glad I did. I haven’t noticed a difference after dropping it from my routine since. My skin doesn’t miss it at all. It has centella asiatica extract (49%), niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate, asiatic acid, madecassic acid, peptides, panthenol, and lots of other beneficial skin care ingredients, but it didn’t do anything for my skin. It provides temporary moisture and soothing effects, but that’s it. I didn’t notice a huge difference in my skin using it. It didn’t make my skin brighter, healthier, or even supple as it claims to do. I guess this serum could work if you’re searching for a basic serum and have sensitive skin. For me, it’s not for me. Seems like a waste of money for something that doesn’t improve my skin over time. It doesn’t really moisturize my skin either.

The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA:

One more The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA down! I did an update on this product not so long ago. I tried using it as an eye serum instead of a facial serum. It didn’t work out. The serum didn’t help with fine lines or wrinkles. It dried my under eyes out and pilled under my other skin care products. It didn’t work underneath sunscreen either. I never saw results with this serum. I just stopped using it anywhere near my face.

The Ordinary Retinol 1% in Squalane:

I haven’t been using The Ordinary Retinol 1% in Squalane on my face. I’ve been using it on my body. This retinol serum clogs my pores (on my face). The other ingredients in this product are not compatible with my skin. It’s just way too oily. I have a few more bottles left of this serum. I’m glad I knocked one out by the end of the year. It’s a very moisturizing retinol serum. It’s gentle on the skin. I can’t tell if it’s doing anything for the skin on my body. I just can’t tell. I don’t have any skin issues on my body besides some dryness once in a blue moon (during the winter). This is another product I’m trying to finish up from The Ordinary, lol.

The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutin 2%:

One more The Ordinary serum I finished up this month! I’m officially on my last bottle of The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutin 2%. I’m ready to just be done with it. So this serum is still oily and greasy. I love the ingredients in it still. If it doesn’t work on my facial skin, I can’t do anything about it. It clogs my pores and irritates it to no end. I’ve tried it so many times with the same terrible results. It also turns my face orange. I walked around with a bright orange glow to my skin all year round because of this product. 😆

The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder:

It took me nearly a year to finish a jar of this vitamin c powder. It’s finally done, and I’m not purchasing another one. In my opinion, it’s not worth it. Ascorbic acid powder can be easily purchased at a much more affordable, lower price than what The Ordinary is selling it for. I love the tiny jar that it comes in, and I’m still using it for my antioxidant powders. But, I’m pretty much done with this particular product. Results were mediocre. I didn’t notice that much of a difference in my skin. I’m still trying to fade acne marks. It’s time to try another vitamin c product out!

The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5%:

I finished The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5%! It’s the last bottle too! Yay! No more! The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5% did nothing for my skin but left my skin feeling oily like a whole bunch of other The Ordinary products I’ve used. It’s so oily and greasy. It didn’t do anything for my skin either. It’s supposed to enhance hydration (nope!) and improve elasticity (nope!). Scavenge free radicals and recycle oxidized vitamin c (who knows if it did any of that). I just can’t tell. Is it doing anything?!! I’m over it. I’m glad I’m done with it. I won’t purchase it again. It took me soooo long to finish the last bottle.

It’s been quite a year. December seems to have the most empties. I’m just cleaning out for the new year! 🥳🎉 Merry Christmas everyone!!

August Skin Care Empties! 🧴

September Skin Care Empties 😎

November Skin Care Empties 🦃

Review: The Ordinary Products (What I’m Trying to Finish)

Here’s a list of The Ordinary skin care products I’m trying to finish. I’ve been trying to use them every night. I couldn’t use most of them during the day. The texture of most of these serums are too thick, heavy, and greasy on my skin. I started to get itchy from them too due to the oiliness of the serums. But I’ve been trying to purge these products from my life. But since I’ve been using them consistently, what are my thoughts on them now? Are they any good? Will I try them out again or just drop them from my routine? Keep reading to find out!

The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5%:

I remember when I first purchased this serum. I thought it would work well with my other antioxidants. The product advertised itself to recycle oxidized vitamin c. It’s supposed to help hydrate the skin and improve skin elasticity. Also, scavenge free radicals and so much more. When I was using vitamin c serums, my face was darker than the rest of my body. My facial skin was literally a pumpkin. 🎃 Who knows if the pycnogenol serum did anything to help recycle oxidized vitamin c. The overall formulation of this product is moisturizing, but it’s more on the greasy, heavy side. It didn’t help to rejuvenate my skin or improve skin elasticity. I didn’t notice any changes in my skin. Why did I purchase this again? lol. The bottle of the serum is tiny. It comes in a 0.5 fl. oz (50 mL) glass dropper bottle. It’s cute and all, but it’s not worth it for me. It did nothing for my skin. I’ve been using more than one drop (more than I usually use) to finish it up. Still, it’s taking forever to finish it. It lasts forever. I guess that’s a good thing if you’re interested in this product. I’m on my last bottle and can’t wait to be done with it!

Hylamide Booster Glow:

Before I begin, this product is a self-tanning serum. It contains a raspberry derived alternative instead of self-tanning ingredient DHA to build pigment in the skin. The purpose of this product is to give the skin some radiance, golden glow after 2-3 days of use. I made a mistake of purchasing this product thinking that it would help fade some acne marks and skin discolorations. It’s a self-tanning product, not a product to help fade acne marks or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. The last time I used a self-tanning product was when I was a teenager. That was when it was all about having that bronze, glowing tanned skin for me. Since I’ve only used self-tanning products to get a tan, I think I saved my skin from UV damage over the years. Looking back, I’m pretty happy with most of my skin care decisions. haha. I said most, lol.

When I first opened this product, it smelled so bad. I almost vomited. The smell of the product just gives me headaches as I continued to use it. The smell lingers on the skin too. I haven’t used this on my face in months due to it having an awful smell. But also, I didn’t really like the results. The times I used it on my face, I took a few drops and pat the serum into my skin, twice a day. After a few days, I noticed some color in my skin. It really does add some pigment into the skin. Unfortunately, it made my skin extremely yellow (just like the color of the serum). I was expecting a more natural, less-yellowish hue to my skin. More like a light tan, bronze shade that I got from my past tanning products. I didn’t get those results from this product. I stopped using it. It takes some time for the color to fade, so my skin was just bright yellow for a while. I don’t remember how long it lasted, but I could clearly recall how yellow my face was. I’ve always liked the smell of tanning products but this one just stinks. 🤢

The Ordinary 100% Plant-Derived Squalane:

I used to love squalane in products when I first started off with skin care. I was able to use them without clogging my pores. But it seems like pure 100% squalane does a number on my skin. The oil sits on top of my skin and doesn’t absorb as quickly. The product claims that this serum is a fast-absorbing oil-like serum. No, it didn’t absorb fast. It felt heavy and greasy on my skin. It saturates the top layer of my skin and just sits there. It just makes my skin appear more oily. It doesn’t hydrate or moisturize my skin either. Maybe oils are just not for me. This squalane oil serum didn’t work for me. I didn’t like the way it felt on my skin. I’ve been using it on my feet to get rid of it, lol. I can’t use it on my upper body. It sticks to everythinga and (once again) it doesn’t sink into the skin properly.

The Ordinary Amino Acids + B5:

One of The Ordinary products that feels like water. 💧 The purpose of this serum is to add hydration to the skin. The key ingredients are Betaine, Arginine, Panthenol, Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, and PCA. It also contains other amino acids, to name a few, Valine, Proline, Isoleucine, Phenylalanine, and Threonine. The product is called ‘Amino Acids’ for a reason. It contains a bunch of amino acids in it. B5 or panthenol is a b vitamin. Panthenol is an ingredient that soothes, moisturizes, and strengthens the skin. I love skin care products with this ingredient. It’s non-irritating and leaves my skin in good condition. But, this serum didn’t live up to my expectations. As I mentioned, the serum feels like I’m applying water to my skin. It didn’t leave my skin feeling hydrated at all. I tried applying it once (didn’t hydrate my skin well) and applying layers of the product to my skin (no hydration or extra hydration, just wasted product). Honestly, I didn’t think this serum did anything special for my skin including something as basic as hydration. It absorbs into the skin quick, but I didn’t see any noticeable improvements in my skin. This serum was a waste of time and money. On my skin, at least.

The Ordinary Retinol 1% in Squalane:

The purpose of this retinol product is to help with uneven skin tone, texture irregularities, signs of aging, and dryness. Bingo. That’s what retinol does for the skin. For me, even though this is advertised as high-strength retinol, I thought it was too gentle on my skin. I wasn’t able to use it for too long due to the other ingredients being incompatible with my skin type. I thought the texture and consistency of the serum was too oily. The first ingredient in this product is squalane. And I know that squalane won’t work on my skin if it’s the first ingredient or base of the serum. It also contains jojoba seed oil and tomato fruit extract. I wish the ingredients were even shorter for my acne-prone skin. This serum ended up breaking me out (not a purge). It clogged my pores, and my skin never improved using it due to the breakouts. I don’t think this is a terrible product. If your skin can handle the other ingredients besides retinol in this product, it could work for you. My skin didn’t like the overall formulation of this retinol product. So, as you can see, I’ve been using it on my body instead.

The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3%:

So the purpose of this serum is to help with dullness and target the signs of aging. I’m a fan of resveratrol and ferulic acid. And I was madly in love with this antioxidant serum for a while. I kept trying it over and over again. I even tried it on my face again not so long ago. I was hoping that it would work on my skin because it’s an affordable serum and contains resveratrol and ferulic acid. Nope, too bad, my skin rejected this serum. I started breaking out in acne out of nowhere. I didn’t have to use this serum for too long to develop breakouts. I think I’m finally over this serum. I don’t have the urge to use it on my facial skin anymore, lol. I love the active ingredients in it, but the overall formulation of the product is too heavy and greasy for my oily skin. It makes my skin even more greasy and shiny. So I’m glad I have finally detached myself from using it ever again (on my face). I thought about purchasing it for the skin on my body (haha!), but I can’t seem to get over how greasy it is. It’s official. I’m over it. It’s time to move on.

The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutin 2%:

Another product that I kept on going back to like the Resveratrol & Ferulic Acid is the Ascorbic Acid & Alpha Arbutin. The purpose of this serum is to even out the skin tone, combat signs of aging and dullness, and it’s also an antioxidant (woohoo vitamin c!!). I was in deep denial when I was using this serum (not the first time, lol). With this serum, I didn’t notice much brightening in my skin. I didn’t notice fading of acne marks or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation either. My skin actually turned orange. It made my face darker than the rest of my body. I just kept using it because it was affordable and contains vitamin c plus alpha arbutin. I didn’t think it was worth using anymore due to poor results. But also, the serum has a greasy, heavy feel to it (like a bunch of other The Ordinary skin care products). I was using it in combination with the Resveratrol & Ferulic Acid serum, and it was a huge disappointment. I can’t believe I stuck with it for years! This serum isn’t coming back to my routine. Once I’m done with it, it’s done.

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA:

I really love lactic acid. It’s one of my favorite aha products. It’s gentle, works to exfoliate the skin, leaves the skin looking glowy and smooth. It’s just amazing. I’ll choose it over glycolic acid any day. It simply works better on my skin with less irritation. So this lactic acid serum is a high-strength exfoliator that works to reveal smoother skin. It’s for uneven skin tone, texture irregularities, and skin dullness. All I needed was a few drops for the whole face, pat it into the skin, and that’s it! It absorbs pretty fast into the skin without leaving any sticky residue and doesn’t feel heavy or greasy on the skin. It’s not like the other The Ordinary serums that I’ve talked about. This one is lightweight and feels decent after application. I’ve used this product on and off over the years. The first time I used it was a mess. My skin was just terrible and nothing was working. Not even this lactic acid serum alone. I stopped using it for a while. I started using it again, and it seemed like it worked better on my skin this time around! I was shocked and excited at the same time. My skin was actually peeling like it’s supposed to when using a chemical exfoliator. Keep in mind that this is the 10% formula. It’s much stronger. If you’re not experienced with lactic acid, The Ordinary has the 5% formula. I haven’t tried the 5% yet. I’ve only used the 10%. I stopped using this product because I went on to use other products to treat my acne like salicylic acid. They seem to work better for my acne than lactic acid. So, in saying that, I would definitely give this serum a try again if it comes to it. That’s if my other acne products stop working. I’m currently using this product up right now because I don’t want to let it expire. It’ll be a waste.

The Ordinary Argireline Solution 10%:

This product is advertised as a ‘non-injective’ solution for dynamic lines. It’s supposed to treat crow’s feet and signs of aging. Some say it’s ‘botox in a bottle’. The star ingredient in this product is Acetyl Hexapeptide-8. I don’t have major dynamic wrinkles, but the product did claim that it’ll help with signs of aging. I have some signs of aging that I could tackle or at least prevent. The serum is a watery liquid and very easy to use. It absorbs into the skin fast and leaves the skin feeling like there’s nothing on the skin. It felt like I was applying water to my skin. As for the results, I didn’t like what it did to my skin. I noticed my skin started to look droopy and saggy. Like, what, what’s going on? I stopped using it immediately, but that was after going through a more than a few bottles. ha! *sigh* My skin bounced back to what it was before using the product. Thank goodness! While using this serum, I would like to mention that my skin didn’t freeze or feel motionless. From my experience with this product, I won’t purchase again. Honestly, I don’t care much about it anymore. Just trying to finish up what I have now (not on my face).

The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA:

With The Ordinary Argireline Solution 10%, I used the Matrixyl 10%. The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA is a skin-firming serum that targets fine lines and signs of aging. This product contains peptides, such as Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38. I’ve gone through several bottles of this serum too. I’m not sure if it did anything for my skin. In my mind, I was hoping that it did and will. 😁 It’s an affordable product that contains peptides. I stopped using this product on my face. My skin doesn’t like the texture of the serum. It’s a gel that blends into the skin well, but it seems to dry out my facial skin and irritates it to no end. After quitting this serum for months, maybe I should try it again? lol. Not on my face but the skin around my eyes. I have some fine lines that I want to get rid of or at least diminish. Hopefully it’ll help with the ‘signs of aging’ too. Why not? I still have it. I think this is the only serum I’ll make an update on soon! Counting down the days and look forward to a new review on The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% HA!!

I do have more products from The Ordinary that weren’t included on this list like The Ordinary EUK 134 0.1% and The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA. They’re on my list to finish up, but I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with the amount of products I’m using right now. 😮‍💨 I’ll get to them when I can. More reviews coming up soon!

4 Months of The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder! My Results!

It’s been 4 months using The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder. Yes, 4 MONTHS! If you need a recap on this product, GO HERE. So I started using this ascorbic acid powder to help with acne marks and to achieve a brighter complexion. I was having trouble with other vitamin c essences and serums. I couldn’t find a vitamin c product that was compatible with my skin. I would get clogged pores and breakouts from other vitamin c products. So I thought, hey, let’s try the powder form instead. It doesn’t contain any other ingredients in it besides vitamin c. It’s 100% l-ascorbic acid powder! 🍊

So this product comes in a jar. It’s tiny. It’s only 20g. Even though it’s only 20g, I still have a ton of product left after 4 months of use. Seems like it’ll last for a couple of years since I don’t use much of it anyways, and I use it on a daily basis. Just a little bit of product goes a long way. It can get annoying when I have unscrew the lid, scoop out the powder, and mix it with my other skin care products. I have to be more careful because I don’t want to spill the product all over the place. It’s just plain messy. I think that’s one of the downsides of this product — it’s not mixed for you, you have to do it yourself.

With this ascorbic acid powder, I can use almost half a scoop without any issues. I worked my way up to that amount of powder over the months. It doesn’t sting or burn my skin. My skin just takes it without any issues. I mix the ascorbic acid powder with my essences, which are the Cosrx Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence and Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence. I mix these two together. Yeah, I’m weird, but I like the combination. I have hyaluronic acid and snail. It’s an amazing combo to lightly moisturize the skin, especially for oily skin like myself. Works great since I’ve been doing it! 👍🏻 And I haven’t had any issues with using them. No irritation, redness, or breakouts. All is good so far!

Now let’s get into the results! It’s been 4 months of using ascorbic powder. Have I seen any results?? Hmmm! Honestly, it’s been tough. I haven’t noticed visible results using it, but I’m not too disappointed in it. I mean, it works as a great antioxidant for my skin. I use it in the morning for the antioxidant properties and to boost my UV protection (while using SPF). Also, since the powder lasts forever, there’s not much to complain about yet besides having to mix it myself in the morning. haha. Even though I’m still using this ascorbic acid powder, I’ve also continued on to using other vitamin c products…

More on my other vitamin c products in another post! 🙂 So, so far, The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder hasn’t been too bad. But, I still think it’s pretty overpriced for what you get. After finishing this powder, I think I’m just going to purchase ascorbic acid powder (not from The Ordinary) from somewhere else. Ascorbic acid powder is pretty cheap. Come on now, right? Why pay more for something that’s just ascorbic acid powder. lol. Those are my thoughts on my experience with this product after 4 months. I hope this was helpful. I’ll see everyone in my next update! Stay tuned!!

Moisturizing is very important! 💧 Check out my thoughts on the moisturizers that I use!

Another Update on My Moisturizers. What I’m Using Now.

Time to get rid of acne scars with The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder!

So my skin looks really good right now. Most of my acne is gone. All thanks to Olay Regenerist Collagen Peptide 24 Cream Cleanser. 👈🏻 Don’t forget to read more about this cream cleanser right here!! I’ll make an update on my progress with this cream cleanser soon. Stay tuned for that too! Since my skin has cleared up so much, and it took so many years to get it all situated out. It’s time to add a vitamin c product into my skin care routine! I’ve been waiting for the right time to include one. I have a few leftover vitamin c serums from before, but they don’t work on my skin. They either cause blackheads, clog my pores, or don’t do anything for my skin. So I picked up a jar of The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder. I’ve had this for a while, but I was waiting until my acne was under control first. I think it’s time! I started using it a week ago, and everything seems to be going well.

What is the purpose of this product?

It’s an antioxidant that brightens the skin, fights free radicals, boosts sun protection when used in the morning, and helps to fade acne scars.

The ingredients…

The ingredients in this product is pretty straight forward. It only contains ascorbic acid. I was having trouble with The Ordinary vitamin c products due to other ingredients that it contains. I think this one might be a better choice for me.

And let’s not forget.

It’s paraben-free, vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and comes in recyclable packaging.

My First Impression

This product comes in a jar with 20 grams of ascorbic acid (vitamin c) powder. Retails at $5.80. It looks extremely affordable (because all of their other products are pretty cheap), but it’s on the expensive side for the amount of product. Ascorbic acid can be purchased for much less on the market. I purchased this ascorbic acid powder a few months ago without thinking too much about it. I was just looking through The Ordinary products that I haven’t tried yet. This was one of them. I thought, hey, let’s give it a shot without much thought. Now here I am with a jar of ascorbic acid from The Ordinary. Let’s try it out! lol.

The jar comes sealed. Like this. It comes with a mini plastic scooper.

This is what the powder looks like. It’s just white powder. Looks a bit clumpy, but that’s OK. It works just fine. There’s nothing wrong with it.

The powder feels very very fine. Not gritty at all. Hoping that it would blend into other products just fine. And guess what? It did! I used it with my moisturizer (and tried it with an essence), which is Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin and Cosrx Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence. The tricky thing about using this vitamin c powder is the pH. For vitamin c to work on the skin, it needs to be acidic but not too low where it irritates and burns the skin. I tested the pH of my mixture, and it’s good to go! When applying the mixture to the skin, there was a slight stinging sensation (not too much), but that’s pretty normal when using vitamin c products. It’s the same stinging sensation I get when using other vitamin c serums that contain ascorbic acid. The stinging sensation goes away pretty quick. The difference is that my skin likes the mixture better vs the store bought serums. There’s less ingredients to worry about. I haven’t found a good vitamin c serum yet due to this issue.

I tried The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutin 2%, and it didn’t work on my skin. It dried out my skin, made it look aged, saw no results after several months of using it. It was such a waste of time and money. So I’m glad I gave the powder a chance. My skin can’t handle propanediol in high amounts from my experience with The Ordinary skin care products with this ingredient. The Ordinary seems to utilize this ingredient quite often. And, it just didn’t work for me as I wanted it to. Oh well…haha.

With the ascorbic acid powder, the instructions states to not mix with formulations that contain niacinamide and EUK 134. You can read about my experience with The Ordianry EUK 134 0.1% Serum here. I like niacinamide, but I haven’t found a serum that works on my skin. The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% (one of the products I’ve used) gave me the worst acne of my life. 👈🏻 For a more in depth review, go check it out! But the whole using ascorbic acid and niacinamide at the same time has to do with skin sensitivity and skin flushing. I’ve used both products at the same time but not mixed (layering) without any issues. I don’t have sensitive skin to begin with. And my skin doesn’t flush with these two ingredients. If you have rosacea or are prone to skin redness, that’s something to keep in mind. Other advisories include making sure to avoid the eyes, do a patch test, don’t use it on broken skin.

I haven’t had any problems with this product yet. I started off using it in the morning and at night, but now I only use it in the morning. I don’t think it’s necessary to use it twice a day (unless I want to). When using vitamin c in the morning, it boosts sun protection. That seems like a great, better idea. 👍🏻 So far, my skin really likes this version of vitamin c. Other vitamin c products contain other ingredients that are pore-clogging and messed up my skin. I’ve already seen minor results after a week of using it. My skin feels smoother, a bit more even, and just looks really good. No breakouts or skin irritation thus far. Also, I would like to mention that I don’t fill up the whole scooper when using this product. I only use about 1/4-1/3 of ascorbic acid powder. Ascorbic acid is an acid (as the name states), so be careful when using. If you have very sensitive skin, make sure to do a patch test first! ⚠ You can burn yourself.

So I like the results I’m seeing using this product, but will I purchase another jar of ascorbic acid from The Ordinary again? Hmmm, I’ll use it all up first and think about it. As I mentioned earlier, this vitamin c powder is definitely expensive for the amount of product. I might just purchase ascorbic acid powder somewhere else. It seems like they want you to do the work for them. haha. They should’ve formulated a better ascorbic acid serum and released that instead. I’m really not impressed with most of their serums so far. But this powder is awesome! My skin is looking soooo good! Cheers to clearer, brighter, acne-free skin! 🥂✨

An update on The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder coming up soon!

If you missed out on my reviews on The Ordinary skin care products, have fun reading them all! 😁