Hi, I can't decide which vitamin C serum to buy: Ole Henriksen "Truth serum" or Drunk Elephant "C-Firma". I just moved to Colorado and my skin got really dry, plus I have pigmentation.
i found the results too similar to justify spending the extra money on drunk Elephant (dont get me wrong im super brand loyal to them i use their other products daily) but i found the vitamin c serum stickier, not nice under makeup, smelly and kinda tinted my fair skin orange if i used too much or didn't rub it in enough. id say save the money and get Ole Henriksen. But i highly recommend checking out some of drunk Elephants other products!
DE is better in my opinion and I have combo/oily skin. I use one pump of C-Firma, 9one pump of B-Hydra and one pump of D-Bronzi- and it such a wonderful bronzy glow look especially during the summer. Even before I started using the other two DE products, I had people come up to me to ask what I used on my face to make it look glowy. Also, you should totally try that new DE Holiday set. Get a lot for your money!!
I have tried both and I find the effects to be very similar. The drunk elephant products are fragrance free which is great, but the smell of this product just turns my stomach. It was too hard for me to get used to personally.
Drunk Elephant's C-Firma Day Serum is an interesting—and very good—fragrance-free vitamin C treatments that goes beyond the average with its formula and benefits for skin. The familiar 15% ascorbic acid is joined by antioxidant ferulic acid but Drunk Elephant kept going, adding several other antioxidants, reparative ingredients, and lightweight plant oils. The result is a comprehensive vitamin C treatment that is suitable for most skin types—those with oily to very oily skin may prefer a lighter formula.
We should note that Drunk Elephant recently reformulated C-Firma Day Serum (per the brand, it was to create a thicker texture) and upgraded the packaging to a bottle with a twist-up pump dispenser. This review is of thenew, reformulated and repackaged formula.
Let's discuss that 15% concentration of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). There is an incredible amount of research around vitamin Cs benefit for skin, particularly for its ability to improve the appearance of sun damaged, uneven skin tone and ability to strengthen the skin's barrier. Vitamin C can also help boost the free-radical protection ability of your sunscreen when worn underneath it (Skin Research & Technology, 2008andThe Journal of Pathology, 2007). At a pH of just under 3.5, this impressive formula is right for stability and effectiveness, too.
Those centerpiece ingredients aside, you'll also find pumpkin, hyaluronic acid (as sodium hyaluronate—the ideal form for topical application), green tea, pomegranate and licorice root extracts, just to name a few. There is nothing lacking here, and the addition of the brands' favored marula oil adds moisture to skin. It's just enough that those with combination to dry skin will likely find it lightweight—as opposed to heavy or oily—but as mentioned above, those with oily or very oily skin may prefer a more fluid serum.
We should note that the serum has a golden hue. This is typically worrisome for vitamin C serums, as it can denote that this air-sensitive ingredient has oxidized, but the ingredients themselves—particularly the anti-irritant tetrahydro curcuminoids—naturally have a warm, yellowish color. With the air-restrictive packaging coupled with the presence of such ingredients, we weren't concerned with its stability.
Drunk Elephant recommends that C-Firma Day Serum be used during the daytime under your sunscreen, which will certainly aid its ability to protect your skin from UV damage, as stated above. However, this may also be used in the evening—especially if you enjoy the extra bit of moisture it provides. Skin can benefit from the ingredients this product contains at any time, not just during daylight hours.
There are many vitamin C treatments on the market, some of them hyper-expensive, but Drunk Elephant managed to bring something unique to this seemingly crowded category. C-Firma Day Serum earns our highest recommendation for its potent level of ascorbic acid coupled with a comprehensive series of additional anti-aging ingredients and lightweight non-fragrant plant oils. At its price, it is also more than reasonable for its exceptional formula (especially when compared to pricier but still good alternatives like SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic).
PROS:
Comprehensive mix of antioxidants, anti-irritants and a lightweight plant oil.
Contains 15% vitamin C, an amount that can improve signs of aging, discolorations and reduce inflammation in skin.
Packaging helps keep its beneficial ingredients stable.
This water-based serum treats skin to two forms of vitamin C along with the antioxidant vitamin E, which is known to increase the efficacy of vitamin C. That’s great, but what knocks this serum down a rating is the clear glass bottle packaging and the fact that it contains several potentially irritating synthetic fragrance compounds and an irritating plant extract (this also has a strong sweet orange scent). You don’t need to tolerate either deficiency from any of the vitamin C serums in Henriksen’s line. Henriksen needs to improve both formula and packaging before this vitamin C serum can join the ranks of the best in this category.
@erikiukas I have tried both brands and really didn't see a difference between the 2. I know from reading the reviews that people like The Drunk Elephant one more but it does cost more. I would get a sample of both if you could.
thank you. I've tried both, and it's very hard to decide. Maybe I liked C-firma more, but it has enzymes and during that time when I was using it my pigmentation got more intense. Maybe it's just a coincidence.
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