This is the 2nd part of my blog post about a
couple of Zelens products I have been trying over the last few months. The
first one went up a few weeks ago about my love for Hydro Shiso, this one has
been much harder to write and I needed to put a little more thought behind it
so it wasn’t ready as quickly as I hoped. Life got in the way and everything. As
it does :/
So, to begin. I started getting interested in Vitamin C as
an ingredient towards the end of last year and had been on the lookout for a
serum to introduce into my routine. I had heard many things about these drops,
lots of hit and miss reviews, but with a price of £125 there was no way I could
justify buying them. Then on my search I came across them selling for £40
brand new, sealed and unopened on eBay. Obviously, I had to get them.
These drops come in an oil soluble formula containing 20% Vitamin
C concentration in the form of Ascorbyl
Tetraisopalmitate. This ester, unlike L-Ascorbic acid, does not exfoliate or
irritate the skin, therefore being much more suitable for sensitive skins. It
can penetrate the skin fastest and unlike L-ascorbic acid it doesn’t go ‘off’
as easily due to becoming unstable when exposed to light and air. The shelf
life of these drops are 6 months and for me personally I would not have used
them up within that time frame. But apparently the colour of the product may turn to brown, so that’s a clear indication that the Vitamin C is no more. I
would always recommend keeping products away from sunlight and heat as much as
possible anyway just to help extend its life.
Zelens claims that using these drops daily will promote skin
firmness and elasticity as well as reducing the appearance of lines and
wrinkles. But for me personally the reason for me wanting to introduce Vitamin
C was more surrounding the claims that it brightens and evens skin tone as well
as providing antioxidant protection. My skin tends to look dull and sullen so I
was hoping these would give it a good boot.
Now onto my experience, it is worth noting that during the
initial introduction of these I was in the process of moving house and stress
levels were high! I used 3 drops as my serum every morning before applying my
moisturiser, I noticed within a few days an increase in whiteheads and skin
sensitivity but I continued to persevere as I really wanted them to work for
me. After a few more days of my skin being in a poor condition I decided to
stop using the drops. Instead of completely ruling them out I wanted to shelve
them for a little while and see how my skin played without them. Of course, my
skin cleared up pretty much straight away and it went back to being happy :/ So
frustrating but at the time I put it down to a few things. 1, that the Vitamin
C content was too strong and I can be quite sensitive to actives so maybe it
was too much for me. 2, these drops include Geranium Oil and that has been
known to irritate me before even though it is supposed to have antiseptic
properties and balance sebum/oil production and 3, my skin was already stressed
with the move and introducing this strong product was too much at the time. As
it happens I’ll never really know the answer to that!
Following my above experience, I was still determined to have
a play and see if I could get the drops to work for me. So I did some research
and found that using a ‘buffer’ that provides a protective, hydrating
layer may help my skin accept the Vitamin C. So I started to mix with 3
drops of Hyaluronic Acid to create an emulsion. This was the game changer. I
did not get any reaction and my skin continued to be happy! Hallelujah!
I trialled these drops for around 3 months in total and I
used 3 drops every morning in conjunction with my beloved hyaluronic acid
serum. This combination worked well and I found that the oiliness of the drops
were lightweight enough for daytime use and mixed brilliantly with other
products. Upon application my skin looked brighter and more glowy, so I was
excited to continue use.
Unfortunately, despite my commitment to using these drops
nothing really improved for me. Guaranteed upon use my skin would look healthy,
bright and soft, but these effects did not last. I think I was expecting a lot
more for the price. I was hoping my skin texture and dull appearance would
improve and that any faded scars I had would gradually disappear. The hefty
dose of Vitamin C led me to believe that it would be a powerhouse in
brightening pigmentation and skin. To me the results I got were not that
different to any other serum and because of that I am disappointed.
Having read up on this product I understand that it is
recommended that you are consistent with use for a period of at least 6 weeks which
I definitely was, so I don’t think that was the issue. But obviously that’s
something to bear in mind should you wish to purchase. It’s not going to give
the wow factor straight away. Of course, this product may provide fantastic
protective properties against pollutants and the environmental effects on ageing in the long term,
but I guess that is not something I would necessarily ‘see’ right now. Either
way at £125 a pop I won’t be waiting around to find out!
Although this review isn’t the most positive I will say it
certainly isn’t a bad product and of course every skin is different so I would never dissuade someone from purchasing, but for me this won’t be a repurchase. Maybe I should have persevered longer or increased the dosage to see if that made a difference but I just don't see the point of putting something on my face I'm not enjoying. So now I add a few drops to my body cream to give it a boost! Not sure if that's sensible but at least its not going to waste! I am just glad that I got
to try these for £40 instead of the full price!
Ingredients:
Coco Caprylate/Caprate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, Caprylyl Caprylate/Caprate, Isoamyl Laurate, Linoleic Acid, Isoamyl Cocoate, Phospholipids, Glycolipids, Actinidia Chinensis (Kiwi) Fruit Extract, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Extract, Malpighia Emarginata (Cherry) Fruit Extract, Psidium Guajava (Guava) Fruit Extract, Ribes Nigrum (Blackcurrant) Fruit Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Lipids, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Sterols, Linolenic Acid, Tocopherol, Pelargonium Graveolens (Geranium) Leaf Oil, Citronellol, Geraniol, Linalool
I would be interested to hear your Vitamin C recommendations
as I am on the hunt for a new serum! Also, if you have tried this please share
your experiences, I would love to hear your thoughts!
You can buy these drops from Look Fantastic here for £125.00 for 30ml.
Thanks for reading xx
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