PRODUCT REVIEW: PAULA’S CHOICE C5 SUPER BOOST MOISTURIZER - BEST VITAMIN C FACE CREAM, BEST VITAMIN C MOISTURIZER FOR SENSITIVE SKIN
PAULA’S CHOICE | C5 SUPER BOOST MOISTURIZER
I love the benefits of Vitamin C for skin. In addition to its ability to brighten your complexion, Vitamin C offers superb antioxidant protection against environmental skin aging. And when used consistently over time, it can help to boost collagen production to firm sagging skin.
I use a dedicated Vitamin C serum twice daily — in both my AM and PM skincare regimens. Among my favorites and the best Vitamin C serums for face are Drunk Elephant’s C-Firma Fresh Day Serum and the goop beauty GOOPGLOW 20% Vitamin C and Hyaluronic Glow Serum.
I recently reviewed each of these potent, freshly activated Vitamin C serums in a blog article titled, The Best Fresh Activated Vitamin C Serums to Get Your Complexion Lit in the New Year. You can catch it on the blog here.
The Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum has quickly become one of my all-time faves and I’ve just recently repurchased it. The #fomo was real! The new C-Firma is powered by a 15% concentration of pure Ascorbic Acid, combined with Vitamin C’s two favorite stabilizers, Ferulic Acid and Vitamin E. The three combined form a potent antioxidant shield against signs of environmental aging, including dark spots and hyperpigmentation.
THE BEST FRESH ACTIVATED VITAMIN C SERUMS TO GET YOUR COMPLEXION LIT IN THE NEW YEAR
Which is the best Vitamin C serum, a water-based serum or an oil-based serum? While I love an oil-based Vitamin C serum in the winter, I tend to prefer water-based Vitamin C serums for their ability to layer more easily into a skincare routine.
Paired with a well-formulated Niacinamide serum, Vitamin C and Vitamin B3, or Niacinamide, form a one-two punch to fight dull skin and an uneven, lackluster complexion. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I believe the Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster to be the best anti-aging face serum on Earth. (You can catch my review of it on the blog here.)
In fact, there’s no bigger fan than me of Paula’s Choice skincare and, in particular, the brand’s range of powerfully effective face serums. Among these, of course, is the brand’s own iconic Vitamin C serum, the Paula’s Choice C15 Super Booster. Similar to the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum, it’s infused with a 15% concentration of Vitamin C in a water-based formula, making it potent and easy to use.
PRODUCT REVIEW: PAULA’S CHOICE C15 SUPER BOOSTER - BEST VITAMIN C SERUM, BEST BRIGHTENING SERUM
So I was fortunate (and honored!) to be among the first to try the new Paula’s Choice C5 Super Boost Moisturizer. Looking back on the brand’s new products over the past six months, I can honestly say it’s the best facial skincare product from Paula’s Choice this year!
I’ve been using the deliciously lightweight brightening face cream for the last 12 weeks and have to say it’s literally and figuratively the crème de la crème.
The new C5 Super Boost Moisturizer is powered by 5% Ascorbyl Glucoside. But don’t be fooled by that seemingly low 5% concentration! If you’re using a dedicated Vitamin C serum, you don’t need a high concentration of Vitamin C in your moisturizer. By keeping the concentration lower and using the more tolerable Ascorbyl Glucoside, the brand assured their new brightening moisturizer can be used by far more people — especially those with a sensitivity to Vitamin C.
What is Ascorbyl Glucoside and why is the best Vitamin C for sensitive skin?
Well, it’s a form of Vitamin C which is much more gentle on the skin than pure Ascorbic Acid, yet just as effective. Ascorbyl Glucoside actually converts to Ascorbic Acid once absorbed by the skin. So you get the best benefits of Vitamin C without irritation, including brightening, firming, and antioxidant protection. Along with Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, another water-soluble form Vitamin C, Ascorbyl Glucoside is considered better for those with a sensitivity to Vitamin C.
What Is Ascorbyl Glucoside and What Is Ascorbyl Glucoside Good for?
Because of Ascorbyl Glucoside’s unique tolerability on the skin, and efficacy on par with pure Vitamin C, or Ascorbic Acid, face creams and serums made with Ascorbyl Glucoside are generally the best for sensitive skin. Many people cannot tolerate Vitamin C, particularly at higher concentrations, and thus are deprived of the broad benefits the vitamin offers.
There are terrific insights on Ascorbyl Glucoside on the Paula’s Choice website from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team that you can catch here. This is what I found most insightful:
Ascorbyl Glucoside at a Glance
Stable form of vitamin C combined with starch-derived glucose
Maintains many of the same benefits as pure vitamin C
Easily penetrates skin
Brightening and tone-improving benefits enhanced by niacinamide
Excellent antioxidant to improve skin’s environmental defenses
Ascorbyl Glucoside Description
Ascorbyl glucoside is a stable form of vitamin C combined with the sugar glucose. The glucose is derived from a natural starch source, such as rice, while the vitamin C portion is synthetic. When properly formulated and absorbed into skin, it breaks down to ascorbic acid, also known as pure vitamin C. Once absorbed, its breakdown to vitamin C is gradual, creating what’s known as a reservoir effect within skin. This leads to longer-lasting benefits.
Sometimes referred to as AA2G, ascorbyl glucoside functions as an antioxidant and works well with other replenishing and antioxidant ingredients to preserve key substances skin needs to look smoother, brighter, and younger.
Research on ascorbyl glucoside’s ability to improve uneven skin tone and hyperpigmentation is encouraging but not as extensive when compared with the decades of research amassed for ascorbic acid; however, ascorbyl glucoside plus the B vitamin niacinamide is a viable combination to consider, and several skin care products pair these ingredients.
As one of the best brightening face creams, the Paula’s Choice C5 Super Boost Moisturizer is much more than a mere moisturizer with Vitamin C. The formula also contains a unique peptide called Hexapeptide-5 — at ingredient number eight.
Appearing in the INCI as the rather bizarre sounding “Acetyl sh Hexapeptide 5 Amide Acetate,” the brands says the “peptide is derived from the versatile protein versican, which plays a role in skin’s extracellular matrix. Topical use promotes a firmer look and feel.”
But what I love most about the C5 Super Boost Moisturizer is the texture. At what I can best describe as a gel-lotion, it’s got such an unusual feel to it seems like liquid silk on the skin. Psst…You can catch me demonstrating it on my TikTok channel here.
There are numerous replenishing plant oils and antioxidant extracts in the formula, including Squalane, Cocoa Seed Butter and Rice Bran Extract — an effective skin-soother and among the formula’s cocktail of pro-skin health ingredients that can help calm and prevent irritation.
Of course, there’s nothing more important than the results. Using it nearly every night for 12 weeks, I can honestly say the C5 Super Boost Moisturizer delivers quite well on its claims to brighten, moisturize and help defend skin against environmental aging.
As for its firming effect, I haven’t noticed a difference. But lack of firmness isn’t a concern of mine, so it’s highly unlikely that I would notice firmer skin than I already have.
Seriously, if you’re looking for a brightening face cream, or have a sensitivity to Vitamin C, the Paula’s Choice C5 Super Boost Moisturizer is worth your time and money.
What I like about it: The Paula’s Choice C5 Super Boost Moisturizer is certainly the best new Paula’s Choice product of the year. And as such, it’s among the best brightening face creams I’ve tried. I’m infatuated with its gel-lotion texture. (Catch me demonstrating it on my TikTok channel here.)
What I don’t like about it: Honestly, I love the stuff as much as my newest Supreme T-shirt. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Who it’s for: All skin types, especially sensitive skin and skins with low tolerance for Vitamin C.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Paula’s Choice C5 Super Boost Moisturizer for $45 here.
The Ingredient List of the Paula’s Choice C5 Super Boost Moisturizer:
Water, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Polyglyceryl-6 Distearate, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Squalane, Acetyl sh Hexapeptide 5 Amide Acetate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Hydrogenated Phosphatidylcholine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Extract, Propanediol, Jojoba Esters, Tocopherol, Acetyl Zingerone, Cetyl Palmitate, Caprylyl Glycol, Cetyl Alcohol, Polyglyceryl-3 Beeswax, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbitan Olivate, Sorbitan Palmitate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Phytate, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Isostearate, Lecithin, Lysolecithin, Bacillus Ferment, Citric Acid, Polyglutamic Acid, Beta-Sitosterol, Phytic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate.
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