What serum actually worked for you?

S

shopoholica

Member
Aug 5, 2014
174
4
#1
Hi Ladies,

I have only recently started taking care of my skin (after I started breaking out), and I have tried a few serums since then. I really want a serum that gets rid of hyper-pigmentation from the recent pimples I've been getting (I never broke out until this year, and I am now 25). I used Ole Henriksen Vit. C Truth Serum Collagen Booster and it worked wonders initially, but I do not see anymore results after continual use. I was wondering: Do serums actually work for you ladies, and if so, which ones have worked?
 
#3
jumping in on this question with you shopoholica if you don't mind - when I bought my dior makeup a few days ago, the ladies were giving me a very hard sell for their DiorSnow line. I have fair skin and a few small dark spots on my cheeks so I'm somewhat considering their anti-spot serum, but at $155, I need more than a story about the magic of icelandic glacial water...I want to stay away from hydroquinine so options seems to be Vitamin C, niacinamide - I've heard kojic acid can be irritating?

Anyway, if anyone has any strong feelings/experience with any of the below options would greatly appreciate hearing it! (in order of $$$)

DiorSnow anti-spot serum
Shiseido white lucent total brightening serum (thanks ValetineNicole!)
Kiehl's clearly corrective dark spot solution
Olay pro-x even skin tone spot fading serum ($30 on drugstore.com)

edit - for the past few months I've been using Estee Lauder idealist even skintone illuminator without visible results
 
#4
To get rid of hyper-pigmentation, choose a brightening serum that corrects dark spots rather than reflect light off them. Serum does not give you instant results but after a month or two it will give your skin improvements. And don't forget to use SPF 30+ sun screen everyday, skin correctors/serums tend to increase the skins photo-sensitivity making the skin more sensitive to the sun.
 
#5
I use YSL Youth Liberating Serum and it lightens pigmentation but also has improved the texture of my skin. I hate that it cost so much and that's what made me wait awhile before purchasing. However after I got samples, I was convinced it was a great serum and that I needed to go ahead and buy it.
 
#8
I am a huge fan of nearly everything that Skinceuticals produces. They have a few brightening / lightening products IIRC though I cannot specifically recommend which ones (I have used lots and lots of their products and even their rather basic Phyto Corrective Gel works for me in getting rid of temporary dark spots caused by acne - but I don't think I'm overly prone to hyperpigmentation). The main drawback is the price; they are NOT cheap, especially when my fave is the C E Ferulic. The vitamin C serums are really effective at helping my skin and I have been using them for almost six years now and am a true believer. Different companies make different versions / concentrations of vit C and they put other antioxidants as well. My understanding is that some companies' products, and / or their packaging, don't provide for stable forms of the vitamins so that the stuff you can get at the drugstore may not be as potent or effective.

The book that helped me so much with my skin is called The Skin Type Solution by Dr. Leslie Baumann.

Side note: I've heard that your skin can only absorb so much vitamin C (or maybe this is true with all antioxidants?) and so you only need to apply it like 5 days out of 7, rather than every single day. Applying daily will somehow "max out" the amount your body can use topically and it ends up wasting product.

And, my personal approach is to switch up my serum in two ways, either by going to a different Skinceuticals formula (like, do one bottle of C E Ferulic, and then switch to C + AHA); or, I will switch to another brand entirely and use their version of the standard C serum. I've used glo therapeutics for their basic-basic one, and also have used Cellex-C in different versions. Those are both slightly cheaper than Skinceuticals. I've also heard of people making their own vitamin C mixture which you can apparently do for super cheap but I haven't gone down that route before.

Sorry for the long response but I really love vitamin C serums personally and think they have helped my skin tremendously!

ETA: The reason I switch things up is exactly what you mentioned, shopoholica - I suspect that my skin gets accustomed to one particular formulation, and by switching then I can kick-start it again, or maybe it's that the ingredients in the new one help in a different way - or maybe it's all in my mind which is also very possible!!
 
#9
cwxx said:
jumping in on this question with you shopoholica if you don't mind - when I bought my dior makeup a few days ago, the ladies were giving me a very hard sell for their DiorSnow line. I have fair skin and a few small dark spots on my cheeks so I'm somewhat considering their anti-spot serum, but at $155, I need more than a story about the magic of icelandic glacial water...I want to stay away from hydroquinine so options seems to be Vitamin C, niacinamide - I've heard kojic acid can be irritating?

Anyway, if anyone has any strong feelings/experience with any of the below options would greatly appreciate hearing it! (in order of $$$)

DiorSnow anti-spot serum
Shiseido white lucent total brightening serum (thanks ValetineNicole!)
Kiehl's clearly corrective dark spot solution
Olay pro-x even skin tone spot fading serum ($30 on drugstore.com)

edit - for the past few months I've been using Estee Lauder idealist even skintone illuminator without visible results
Click to expand...


I am the same as you - willing to shell out a lot for a good serum, but not if it doesn't work.

I bought a vitamin c 20% plus hydro quinine formulation from a natural cosmetics line (forgot brand) and started this week. Will update you soon :smile:
 
#11
I like NuFountain's 20% vitamin C + ferulic. It costs about $20 on amazon and is as or more effective than brand name vitamin serums I've tried. They make it after you order it and it ships from Colorado.
 
#12
Be careful with using products containing hydroquinone I have heard that it can cause further hyperpigmentation. Its effective short-term but can be damaging to your skin with any long term use. Also, if you are of medium skin tone or deep skin tone using hydroquinone is can cause issues later.
 
#13
purseprincess32 said:
Be careful with using products containing hydroquinone I have heard that it can cause further hyperpigmentation. Its effective short-term but can be damaging to your skin with any long term use. Also, if you are of medium skin tone or deep skin tone using hydroquinone is can cause issues later.
Click to expand...


Very interesting! So should I avoid it with vitamin c serums?
 
#14
I have recently started to buy products from Makeup Artists Choice MUAC.com. S far I am very impressed with their products. I have been doing their lactic acid 40% peel for the past few weeks and see a nice difference in my skin. I also use their skin lightening cleanser. I bought a few other cleansers and toners in sample sizes. Their website gives detailed information on their products and skin concerns on which product will work best. I bought the fade peel and will use it this weekend.
This site seems to be very popular on other forums. I found out about it from MakeupAlley.:smile:
 
#15
i*bella said:
I like NuFountain's 20% vitamin C + ferulic. It costs about $20 on amazon and is as or more effective than brand name vitamin serums I've tried. They make it after you order it and it ships from Colorado.
Click to expand...

Thanks for mentioning them i*bella - I always like supporting small independent businesses and they seem to have some good stuff, I'll have to check them out next time.
 
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