Jan 3

Jan 3 PRODUCT REVIEW: MATTER OF FACT ASCORBIC ACID 20 BRIGHTENING C SERUM - BEST VITAMIN C SERUM, BEST BRIGHTENING SERUM

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MATTER OF FACT | ASCORBIC ACID 20 BRIGHTENING C SERUM

I invite you to explore my most recent picks of the best Vitamin C serums in my blog article titled, My Top Vitamin C Picks Fw21: New Vitamin C Serums I’m Crushing on from Algenist, Naturium, Goop Glow and More. You can catch the full piece here.

There are two ingredients that I wish everyone on Earth who’s serious about their skin health would incorporate into their own skincare routines — Vitamin C and Vitamin B3, or Niacinamide. Both are indispensable antioxidants — and much, much more. In the case of a good Vitamin C treatment, it can be one of the best anti-aging serums in your arsenal.

Yes, like sunscreen, antioxidants are anti-aging. And you can’t get enough of them in your skincare and in your skin.

Back in my time working at Kiehl’s as the company’s first-ever copywriter, the marketers didn’t understand the value of antioxidants. In fact, no one really did. Antioxidants like Vitamin C were considered “preventable”; that is, they prevented signs of aging. They were marketed to young women in their 20s. As if everyone at every age isn’t interested in preventing signs of aging. We all know it can get worse!

What Are Antioxidants and What Do Antioxidants Do for Skin?

Antioxidants possess numerous benefits for the skin, including preventing skin damage and multiple signs of aging. There’s an excellent article from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, How Antioxidants Fight the Signs of Aging that you can catch here. This is what I found most insightful:

Antioxidants for Skin Benefits
Antioxidants play a unique role when it comes to diminishing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Years of environmental damage (including unprotected sun exposure—one more reason to apply that broad-spectrum sunscreen!) slowly chip away at skin’s natural ability to look and feel healthy. As this damage builds up, skin gradually loses its ability to recover and bounce back as it once did. It’s not an exaggeration to say that after years of damage, skin becomes overwhelmed, and its “look young systems” begin to slow down.
Antioxidants in skin care step in to help shield skin’s surface from further deterioration by calming stressed skin and defending against the visible effects of pollution —something all of us encounter on a daily basis.
What happens as a result of applying antioxidants to your face is truly impressive: Skin’s appearance begins to turn around! It regains a firmer feel and more even skin tone—and those wrinkles you’re probably not fond of will visibly soften.

The Best Vitamin C Serums and Face Creams

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Until very recently, Vitamin C was perhaps the most under-appreciated of all skincare ingredients. Mainly because it seemed to be old news. And marketers don’t push what’s old; they spend their marketing dollars on what’s new, fresh, sexy and innovative — whether it works or not. Their job is to make you believe what they’re pushing does.

Not so long ago, antioxidant Vitamin C was really tough to formulate with. It’s been nearly impossible to keep high levels of Vitamin C stable in a skincare formula. The truly effective levels weren’t possible. Until you get to ten percent or more, you don’t really get the power-brightening, collagen-building benefits that Vitamin C has to offer.

Right at the start of summer, I published my first article of the year on my favorite Vitamin C serums of 2021 in a piece titled, Collab with Antonio Jefferson Studio: New Vitamin C Serums I’m Crushing on from Wander Beauty, Glossier, Kat Burki and More – which you can catch here. It was a collection of the latest and greatest Vitamin C serums, brightening face oils, anti-aging lotions and I’d say, the best dark spot treatments out there.

COLLAB WITH ANTONIO JEFFERSON STUDIO: NEW VITAMIN C SERUMS I’M CRUSHING ON FROM WANDER BEAUTY, GLOSSIER, KAT BURKI & MORE

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Among my top picks were some of my favorite brightening Vitamin C serums to this day, the turmeric-infused Beautycounter Counter+ All Bright C Serum, the Wander Beauty Sight C-er Vitamin C Concentrate and Glossier Super Glow Vitamin C + Magnesium Serum — one of the best Vitamin C serums for oily skin.

Also in the mix were the Kat Burki Retin-C Treatment Complex and Algenist Blue Algae Vitamin C Dark Spot Correcting Peel — a really wonderful brightening peel that’s perfect for reinvigorating your complexion on #selfcaresunday.

What Does Vitamin C Do for Skin?

There’s an excellent article on the remarkable benefits of Vitamin C for the skin from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, What is Vitamin C and How Does it Benefit Skin?

Vitamin C is one of the most exciting, research-proven ingredients you can apply to skin. This water-soluble antioxidant is a natural component of healthy skin. When we’re young, vitamin C levels in skin’s outermost two layers (epidermis and dermis) are abundant, but as we age, these levels naturally deplete. Unprotected sun exposure (UV damage) and pollution can accelerate this decline, leading to skin looking and feeling dull, uneven, and less firm than it once was.
Luckily, there are topical skin care solutions that can help mitigate this damage, so skin looks and feels healthier and younger longer.
Vitamin C Benefits for Skin
Vitamin C’s benefits for skin are vast, including its ability to even out skin tone and diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. While this powerhouse ingredient is well-known for its skin-brightening benefits, research also shows it can shield skin from the visible impacts of environmental stressors, including free radical damage. This synergy of mitigating problems both before and after they occur makes vitamin C a force to be reckoned with.
When and How to Use Vitamin C in Your Skin Care Routine
All forms of vitamin C mix well and layer with other skin care ingredients, including exfoliating acids and other vitamins and antioxidants, such as retinol and niacinamide (11, 12).
Vitamin C can be used twice daily, both morning and night. After cleansing, toning and exfoliating, apply the rest of your products in order from thinnest to thickest texture (commonly: serum, moisturizer, treatments). During the day, always finish with a moisturizer with broad-spectrum SPF 30 or greater.

WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW

MY 2021 VITAMIN C PICKS + THE BEST VITAMIN C SERUMS TO BRIGHTEN UP THE COMPLEXION!

ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

With the understanding that Vitamin C can be a real game changer for your skin health (and your complexion!), let’s take a look at one of the Vitamin C serums that I’ve been crushing on recently — the Matter of Fact Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum.

Matter of Fact | Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum

A few weeks back I was introduced to the new cool clinical skincare brand, Matter of Fact. The brand came on the scene in 2021, launching with two products — a Vitamin C treatment and a face cream.

The Matter of Fact Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum is a potent, water-free Vitamin C treatment with a 20% concentration of Ascorbic Acid, or pure Vitamin C. The brand’s Minimalist Hydrating Cream is an interesting, lightweight lotion infused with Panthenol, Lecithin, two derivatives of centella asiatica and Glycyrrhetinic Acid — a component of Licorice Root with potent brightening benefits.

But Matter of Fact’s Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum had me most intrigued. I’m always up for a new Vitamin C serum and a 20% concentration of Ascorbic Acid is serious stuff.

The question is: Can your skin tolerate 20% Ascorbic Acid?

The Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum is a relatively simple formula with just six ingredients: Propanediol, Ascorbic Acid, Urea, Ferulic acid, Diglycerin, and Pinus Pinaster Bark Extract.

If you’re familiar with The Ordinary’s unusual The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5% antioxidant serum, the Pycnogenol is a derivative of Pinus Pinaster Bark Extract, an extract derived from the pine bark of pine trees. Weird, I know!

PRODUCT REVIEW: THE ORDINARY PYCNOGENOL 5% SERUM – ONE OF THE BEST ANTIOXIDANT SERUMS

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But the Matter of Fact Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum is actually more reminiscent of another product from The Ordinary — the Ethylated Ascorbic Acid 15% Solution, which is composed of just two ingredients: Propanediol and Ethylated Ascorbic Acid. With Vitamin C serums, less is more; less keeps it more stable.

The Ascorbic Acid 20 Serum is a literal antioxidant powerhouse that helps protect skin from environmental damage while delivering a powerful brightening benefit. But, again, the 20% Ascorbic Acid is intense. Some days, my skin tolerates it, others it doesn’t. Because it’s so active, it can leave a slightly uncomfortable burning sensation for an hour or more.

If your skin isn’t normally reactive, you might just love and benefit from Matter of Fact’s Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum. It’s a superb formula with multiple antioxidants — some of the most potent, in fact.

I do appreciate it’s velvety, slightly oily texture, especially now when the temperatures are dropping here in Brooklyn. It’s relatively easily layered after application of water-based serums and before a heavier face cream or facial oil.

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What I like about it: The Matter of Fact Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum is a really potent Vitamin C serum with a 20% concentration of pure Vitamin C, or Ascorbic Acid. That’s a really high level and, if your skin can tolerate it, you’ll benefit from a near instant brightening benefit.

What I don’t like about it: There are no skin soothers in the formula to help cushion skin from the potential sensitization of such a high concentration of Ascorbic Acid. Even though the sensation is temporary, I don’t think it would have been too much of a formulation challenge to include even the simplest of soothing actives — like Vitamin E or Panthenol.

Who it’s for: All skin types, except very sensitive and reactive skins.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Matter of Fact Ascorbic Acid 20 Brightening C Serum for $92 here.

BUY MATTER OF FACT ASCORBIC ACID 20 BRIGHTENING C SERUM