You’re in the right place if you want to read about Vichy’s vitamin c serum that’s confusingly called Liftactiv Vitamin C Freshshot, Liftactiv Brightening Skin Corrector, Liftactiv Vitamin C Serum and, drumroll, Vichy Liftactiv Antioxidative Frische-Kur in German. However you call it in your country, this is my Vichy Liftactiv Vitamin C review.
Before you read this post, especially if you want to know more about antioxidants, do read our guide to antioxidants here.
Why I Bought It
Let’s first clarify that I am always skeptical about two things:
- The claim that in x days you will see a result (I more of a believer that skincare is always a long haul game).
- So far, Vitamin C serums didn’t really work for me.
I still I decided to try this one out, because first, I ran out of my antioxidant serum. (Running out of a type of serum is kind of unusual for me because usually I still have something I am trying out, or some samples, but this time, nope.) Also, Vichy, being the global brand that it is, is easily available from a store nearby my home AND I don’t have time to wait for shipping from an online store. And third, it is quite affordable in Germany: prices fluctuate between 17€ and 20€ for 10ml (I really don’t understand why it’s $28 in the US and £28 in the UK – for a better deal look at places like easyparapharmacie).
My Skincare Routine
Morning
- Cleansing: L’Occitane Precious Cleansing Foam
- Toning: Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum
- Treatment: Vichy Vitamin C Serum
- Moisturising: Paula’s Choice Omega+ Complex Moisturizer
- Sunscreen: Missha Essence Sun Milk
Evening
- Cleansing: pai light work rosehip cleansing oil
- Toning: Missha Geum Sul First Essence Booster
- Treatment: Paula’s Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment
- Masks: Laneige Water Sleeping Mask (Lavender) or Susanne Kaufmann Moisturizing Mask
Vichy Liftactiv: 15% Pure Vitamin C
Claims
A Dermatologist-grade Vitamin C serum that combines 15% pure Vitamin C and Natural Origin Hyaluronic Acid for brighter and firmer skin in just 10 days. LiftActiv Vitamin C Serum is pure yet potent, with a minimalist formula of only 11 ingredients that is paraben-free and fragrance-free. The perfect addition to your daily anti aging routine.
Vichy
So although it’s not very expensive per se, it’s also tiny. It’s a 10ml bottle, while usually (Vitamin C) serums come in at least 30-50ml bottles. It also has a very short shelf life, one month. Which is very understandable due to the stability of vitamin C. (It oxidises quickly, and especially so in a water-based formula like this one.) So in this case, a smaller bottle might be better.
Vitamin C is an awesome ingredient in skincare: collagen boosting (-> less wrinkles), brightening, and as an antioxidant, protecting you from free radicals that damage your skin (think pollution, UV-damage).
Twindly: Do you need vitamin c in your skincare regime
Ingredients:
Water, Ascorbic Acid, Alcohol Denat, Dipropylene Glycol, Glycerin, Laureth-23, Neohesperidin Dihydrochalcone, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopherol, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Pinus Pinaster Bark/Bud Extract
Hover the mouse / tap over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.
Consistency
It’s thin and rather watery. In this picture it’s opened for roughly two weeks, and you can see it’s already yellowing (=oxidising). On the packaging Vichy claims that it’s good for one month, so I suppose it’s still okay.
As you can see on this picture, it also spreads and absorbs easily into the skin, I suppose because of the alcohol (= penetration enhancer).
After using it my skin just feels soft and moist. Although sometimes I would still add moisturizer, depending on the weather. Most importantly though, wear sunscreen when using this product at daytime!
After 10 Days of Use
I was actually quite pleasantly surprised to see that the texture of my skin looks incredibly better. It’s smoother, and even though I can still see some soft lines on my forehead, the skin felt more supple.
My skin was so problematic when I first used this product. It’s getting dry with red patches (not sure why, maybe allergy, maybe stress) but the past week or so, after two weeks (as I said, this serum needs 10 days to work), I can totally see the difference. Oh my glow!
I know this serum would be the one making a lot of difference in my skin texture at the moment because I didn’t change much of the other routine. Overall though, I am very happy to keep this skincare routine for a while.
Verdict
Recommend? Yes. I could see myself coming back to this product every once and a while to get that vitamin c boost. I would be curious to know if the effect would actually go away when I wear this often.
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