Review: Skinceuticals C E Ferulic

I have already spoken several times about the famous vitamin C L-Ascorbic.

It’s indeed a true glow giver, and it also has certain anti-aging effects: it’s an antioxidant ingredient, so it protects the skin from free radicals that make it age prematurely, and it also boosts the collagen production. If you read my focus on L-Ascorbic Vitamin C, you’ll know that a formula that contains this ingredient needs to be stabilized if you want it to be effective on the skin. Stability is, therefore, one of the key criteria for an L-Ascorbic Vitamin C serum! Skinceuticals C E Ferulic’s formula is one of the most stable on the market.

Ingredients Focus on: Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) products are everywhere at the moment. It’s not really surprising because this ingredient is really magic to give radiance to the complexion, the famous glow that everybody wants these days. But it’s also a very unstable ingredient that needs a certain environment to be able to deliver all its benefits. Read more

C E Ferulic also contains 2 other powerful antioxidant ingredients: vitamin E and ferulic acid. This antioxidant combo is patented by Skinceuticals and is the result of decades of research on this ingredient category. This patent partly explains the price of C E Ferulic.

Let us look at that in greater detail:

The brand Skinceuticals:

If Skinceuticals appears to be a very “medical” type of skincare brand, well, it’s probably because it is!

Its name says it all: the word “cosmeceuticals” designates cosmetics that use some medical/ drug ingredients.

This cosmeceuticals trend is very popular in the US where aesthetic care and medical procedures blend quite easily.

Skinceuticals, the history behind the brand:

SkinCeuticals is a company founded in 1997 by Alden Pinnell and Russell Moon, two businessmen close to the medical and scientific circles in Dallas, TX in the United States.

SkinCeuticals’ products were developed and patented by Dr. Sheldon R. Pinnell (Alden Pinnell’s father, one of the brand’s co-founders), Emeritus Professor of Dermatology at Duke University Medical University Center, in North Carolina. Dr. Sheldon R. Pinnell was specialized in the research on antioxidants and their actions on the skin.

The L’Oreal group purchased SkinCeuticals in 2005 and opened up its distribution network in a massive way.

Initially, SkinCeuticals was a brand recommended almost exclusively by dermatologist doctors but now the brand sells its products through a wider distribution network including dermatologists, cosmetic surgeons, spas but also pharmacies and even drugstores.

SkinCeuticals’ headquarters are still in Dallas, Texas.

Skinceuticals’ concept:

The Skinceuticals concept is “Prevent, Protect, Correct“. Skinceutical products are indeed based on a combination of antioxidant ingredients, which are able to protect the skin and prevent the effects of free radicals (free radicals accelerate skin aging).

In fact, the discovery of the use of L-Ascorbic Vitamin C as an effective antioxidant ingredient on the skin is the result of Dr. Sheldon R. Pinnell’s research.

Vitamin C serums are therefore completely part of Skinceuticals’ DNA. The brand released a serum with 10% vitamin C L-Ascorbic in 1997.

In 2005, Skinceuticals went one step further with their antioxidant combination and launched CE Ferulic, which combined not only a higher concentration of pure L-Ascorbic Vitamin C (15%) but also Vitamin E and Ferulic acid from wheat extract (0.5% of Ferulic acid).

Product presentation: Skinceuticals C E Ferulic

C E Ferulic is an antioxidant serum, ideal to use during the day for its protective shield effect against environmental aggressions.

It includes 3 different antioxidant ingredients: – 15% vitamin C L-ascorbic, – 1% vitamin E (1% alpha tocopherol), – Ferulic acid extracted from wheat (concentrated at 0, 5%).

These 3 ingredients act in synergy to help protect the skin from environmental damage which causes free radicals and premature skin aging.

A little bit of science:

Free radicals are caused by various factors: stress, pollution, UV rays, tobacco, fatigue, lack of sleep… In short, active life!

Concretely, free radicals are unstable molecules of oxygen that “want” to bind to other molecules in order to self-stabilize themselves and in doing so, results in chain reactions within the human body.

The consequence of these reactions is, among other things, the premature aging of the skin. Hence why it is interesting to protect the skin with products containing antioxidant ingredients to prevent the formation of free radicals!

C E Ferulic is also considered as an anti-aging treatment because it can improve the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, boost collagen production and reduce the loss of firmness of the skin. Last but not least, it has a brightening effect on the complexion.

C E Ferulic’s formula has the reputation of being the most stable on the market.

The texture of CE Ferulic is very liquid, which makes it ideal for a daytime application as it leaves no greasy feeling on the skin.

However, it’s not really moisturizing (at the same time, it’s not really supposed to be). It’s actually recommended to apply at least one moisturizer on top of it.

This very liquid texture can partly be explained by one of the ingredients used in its formula in a good amount (it’s the second ingredient): the ethoxydiglycol, a solvent ingredient. It’s not really an interesting ingredient for the skin (it’s not bad either) but it helps to improve the texture of the product, to intensify its absorbing power and also to preserve the formula.

Because C E Ferulic’s formula has the reputation of being one of the most stable on the market.

And it’s often an issue with other vitamin C serums on the market. Despite some formulas that look attractive on paper, they tend to oxidize quite quickly (in a few weeks) and become in that case not only useless, but even bad for the skin. Indeed, applying an oxidized vitamin C serum is like using a dose of free radicals every morning, exactly the opposite of what you want!

C E Ferulic, therefore, enhances its patented formulation technology that guarantees an optimal use up to 6 months after opening.

To make it last longer, no need to put it in the fridge. Just keep it in a place not too hot or too humid and it should be fine.

C E Ferulic serum’s size is 30 ml. It lasts about 3 to 4 months when you use it once a day.

In this regard, no need to use it morning and evening, because vitamin C L-Ascorbic has a reservoir effect of 72 hours, which means that once it has penetrated into the skin, it remains active for 72 hours. Even if you clean your face in the meantime.

However, I still prefer to use C E Ferulic every morning because I want to use the product within 6 months! (At this price, it would be a shame to waste it!)

My experience:

This is not my first vitamin C serum, I have tried several in the last 2 years. I was very curious to try C E Ferulic because of its great reputation.

Skincare Review: Drunk Elephant C Firma Day Serum The Drunk Elephant Vitamin C serum, the C-Firma Day Serum is supposed to be one of the best vitamin C serums on the market. Does it deserve its excellent reputation? Read more

Clearly, the price was holding me back, it’s one of the most expensive vitamin C serums on the market by far. Skinceuticals justifies this price tag with their patented technology and the fact that this L-Ascorbic Vitamin C serum is very stable (a very important factor with this ingredient).

It’s true that it’s rather reassuring to know that your product will be effective during the whole treatment (which, I repeat, is not guaranteed with many other vitamin C L- Ascorbic serums).

I also like its texture a lot. It’s ideal when like me, you like doing skincare layering and Vitamin C is the first product you’re supposed to use before the rest of your routine (I swear by super lightweight textures for my serums!).

I don’t find it irritating on my skin, despite its very low pH.

But I cannot help comparing it to other vitamin C serums I’ve tried before. Even if these other vitamin C serums did not have a patent like CE Ferulic, all were well-stabilized formulas (with a pH of 3.5 or less, a sufficient concentration of vitamin C, other anti-oxidant ingredients in their formula, bottles that protect them from the air and light…).

And honestly, regarding the result on my skin, I haven’t seen a difference that justifies paying double (or up to five times in some cases) the price.

Result :

The brightening effect on my skin is undeniable. L-Ascorbic Vitamin C is always very effective on my skin, so no big surprise here.

I can’t really talk about a visible effect on wrinkles because I don’t have too many of these (I have other skin issues instead ah ah) and the result won’t be visible for a long time, same for its antioxidant protective effect.

But, as I said above, if I compare it with other vitamin C serums I used recently, I couldn’t really notice a difference. The effectiveness looks the same, at least regarding the immediate brightening effect.

Value for money:

I don’t intend to mince my words: in my opinion, C E Ferulic is a good product but it’s far too expensive for what it is.

Compared to other vitamin C serums, including my favorite Drunk Elephant C-Firma, the price is difficult to explain. Of course, it’s important to know that your serum will be effective and stable during all the time you’re using it but, especially knowing that other formulas are now as stable as CE Ferulic for a lower price, do you still need to invest in Skinceuticals? The question remains.

Also, the formula is very simple, which is not a bad thing for this type of product, because the ingredients are quite powerful here but again you don’t have anything fancy in the formula that could justify the price tag.

With Drunk Elephant, for example, C Firma’s formula is also stabilized, and there are other great ingredients beneficial for the skin as a bonus that could explain its $80 price. C E Ferulic costs more than twice that of Drunk Elephant C Firma and its formula is less interesting in my opinion…

In summary:

In short, it’s a very good product, formulated to be effective and stable, which is a great thing. But the price is really high and I think it’s an expensive price to pay just for a patent. Especially since Skinceuticals no longer has a monopoly on this kind of formula and you can find effective alternatives at more interesting prices (see my focus on vitamin C L-Ascorbic).

Skinceuticals C E Ferulic serum retails between $165 and $200 depending on the retailer, for 30ml (it lasts me for 3-4 months if I use it every morning).