PRODUCT REVIEW: BEAUTY STAT UNIVERSAL C SKIN REFINER – ONE OF THE BEST VITAMIN C SERUMS FOR FACE
BEAUTY STAT | UNIVERSAL C SKIN REFINER
This review was originally part of my blog article titled, Brands I Love: Beauty Stat and Some of the Best Vitamin C Facial Skincare Products. You can catch the full piece here.
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I could literally spend the rest of my life testing, reviewing, and posting about Vitamin C products and be perfectly happy. (But you’d get bored and find a more interesting skincare blog to read — like that BeautyStat Blog!)
That’s the thing though — I’m never bored with Vitamin C. It’s not sexy; and skin care isn’t really supposed to be sexy. That’s the nonsense spun by big beauty brand marketers. Now, we’re all accustomed to expecting the next big unheard of thing that will lead us like sheep to the fountain of youth. Take snail slime, for example. Apparently, there are a lot of snails swimming in that fountain!
That Vitamin C only recently came into play as a skincare essential has everything to do with the fact that it’s so difficult to formulate just right — especially at high, active levels.
A poorly formulated Vitamin C serum that oxidizes can actually become pro-oxidant.
That means that rather than functioning as a protective anti-oxidant in the skin, the molecules will damage the skin by disrupting normal skin cell functions on par with stress, pollution and other environmental aggressors.
From an Oregon State University report, “The oxidation of vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is brought about by the loss of two hydrogen atoms as the vitamin is converted to dehydroascorbic acid.” And that’s doesn’t sound so good for the skin, does it?
You can tell if your Vitamin C serum has oxidized because it will shift in color from the time you opened it. So, as a first rule of thumb, make a mental note of how the product appears the first time you use it. (Try taking a picture so you know for sure!) If it oxidizes, cut your losses and toss it into the bin.
Over the last year, formula innovation has accelerated and you’re suddenly seeing Vitamin C products formulated at levels of fifteen percent, twenty percent — even twenty-five percent of the vitamin.
There are two ways to look at a Vitamin C formula — water-based and water-less.
Unlike many Vitamin C facial skincare products on the market, including another of the best Vitamin C face serums, the Clinique Fresh Pressed, BeautyStat’s Universal C Skin Refiner is not a water-based serum; rather, it’s a richly-textured, waterless lotion — what’s called a “suspension”. Another popular Vitamin C serum that’s a suspension is the Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%.
Formulated with 20% L-Ascorbic Acid, the most potent form of Vitamin C, and an encapsulated delivery system, the silky Universal C Skin Refiner formula contains an active ingredient called Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG).
I had no idea what that was either. So I googled it…
EGCG is the most important component of green tea! It happens to perfectly sync up with Vitamin C for reliable, potent antioxidant protection that prevents skin damage.
With just seven ingredients, the Universal C Skin Refiner has a very tight ingredient list, accounting for the fact that the vitamin doesn’t play well with other actives. Overload it and the mixture collapses — like a soggy cake made with too many wet berries and fruits. That would never happen at Junior’s!
The first ingredient in BeautyStat’s Universal C is Cyclopentasiloxane, an innocuous, lightweight silicone that forms the formula base and protects the Vitamin C by effectively preventing oxidation. Plant-derived Squalane, a bio-available substance recognized by the skin, helps to nourish and moisturize the outer skin layers.
And, the addition of the alpha-hydroxy Tartaric Acid helps to balance skin’s pH as it enhances absorption of the other actives. Tartaric Acid is one of the six AHAs and is found in many plants, including grapes and tamarinds. It’s also one of the main component acids in wine.
The fact that Universal C is packaged in an airtight pump makes it top shelf — one of the best Vitamin C products I’ve come across. It’s heartening to know that the beauty editors at Allure, Cosmo, Glamour and Just Bobbi agree with me. In fact, Bobbi Brown and her editorial team named it one of “the 9 Best Beauty Products of 2019,” along with Then I Met You’s Living Cleansing Balm, also a personal fave.
So, about that innovative BeautyStat delivery system? Ron and his team patented it! You won’t find it in any other Vitamin C product anywhere. There are two patents, in fact: #9,901,532 and #9,901,533.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the BeautyStat Universal C Skin Refiner for $80 here.
Be sure to check out the BeautyStat Universal C Skin Refiner Vitamin C Serum on AMAZON.COM.
Be sure to check out BeautyStat Universal Pro-Bio Moisture Boost Cream Moisturizer on AMAZON.COM.
The Ingredient List of the BeautyStat Universal C Eye Perfector:
aox|sb|buff, Mica col, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter 
emo|vc, Silica vc, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891) col 0 0, Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil emo, Cannabis Sativa Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract aox, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract aox|so, Tartaric Acid buff|exf, Linoleic Acid sii|emo|surf, Hydroxyapatite abrasive/scrub, Cholesterol sii|emo 0 0, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Creatine, Caffeine aox|perf, Magnolia Grandiflora Bark Extract aox|amic, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Glabridin sb, Ormenis Multicaulis Oil (Moroccan Chamomile), Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate emo|emu|surf 0 2, Salvia Sclarea (Clary Sage) Oil, Hordeum Vulgare Extract emo, Iron Oxides (Ci 77491) col 0 0, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil emo|h
The Ingredient List of the BeautyStat Universal C Skin Refiner Vitamin C Serum:
aox|sb|buff, Isocetyl Stearate emo 0-1, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Polysilicone-11, Petrolatum emo, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (Pure Egcg Green Tea) aox|so, Tartaric Acid buff|exfThe Ingredient List of the BeautyStat Universal Pro-Bio Moisture Boost Cream:
Water, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Cetearyl Olivate, Polyacrylamide, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Sorbitan Olivate, Polysilicone-11, Ceramide 2, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Sterols, Ganoderma Lucidum Extract (Asian Mushroom Extract), Linoleic Acid, Lactose, Milk Protein, Sodium Hyaluronate, Bifida Ferment Lysate, Betula Alba Bark (White Birch) Extract, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Laureth-7, Sodium Citrate, Tocopheryl Acetate(Vitamin E), Sorbic Acid, Citric Acid, Propanediol, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Hydroxide, Xanthan Gum, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Benzoate.
