Wander Beauty's New Vitamin C Serum Is Unlike Any I've Ever Used
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If someone were to put a dollop of the new Wander Beauty Sight C-er Vitamin C Concentrate on your hand without telling you what it is, you'd have no idea vitamin C is involved.
The tell-tale signs of the beloved brightening ingredient aren't there. The concentrated serum doesn't smell, have an unpleasant shade of orange, or feel annoyingly sticky. Instead, the Sight C-er Vitamin C Concentrate looks and smooths on with the same pleasant creaminess as lotion. It's like a magical moisturizing, illuminating, healing, plumping elixir. Basically, if your skin is in need of something, but you're not sure what, Sight C-er will most likely fulfill your indescribable desires.
Until Wander Beauty's came along, I never knew I need a creamy vitamin C serum in my skin-care routine. The brand's founder Divya Gugnani told me this product is "genuinely different than everything that's out there," and I honestly had reservations. Founders always say that about their new products. However, once I had Sight C-er in my possession, I can officially back Gugnani's statement.
Gugnani went through countless iterations of the formula for two and a half years before landing on Sight C-er's final form, which launches on April 20. Throughout the process, her team went through every single permutation of vitamin C derivatives on the market, Gugnani says, to ensure the serum is everything typical vitamin C products are not. Most of all, she focused on its rich, luxe texture. "I needed the cushion," Gugnani tells Allure. "I didn't want you to put the concentrate on your face and feel tight and dry [after]."
And she was able to make that happen. Sight C-er feels more like a light lotion than a serum. Also, as Gugnani points out, it doesn't pill up under makeup. I love how it has a subtle golden tint, so it instantly adds radiance to your skin while you wait for its ingredients to do their thing in the long run. After just a couple of weeks, I noticed my stubborn post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation from cystic acne breakouts start to fade away.
The serum doesn't sting at all, either — surprising, considering the formula packs 20 percent vitamin C. (According to board-certified dermatologist Jenny Liu, the typical optimal concentration is in the 10 to 15 percent range, so Sight C-er goes above and beyond.) They appear on the product's ingredient list in the form of ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate and kakadu plum — instead of ascorbic acid, which is the purest form of vitamin C. These keep the product from falling into the classic vitamin C trap of the nasty smell and color while ensuring the formula has a longer shelf life.
Kakadu plum, which is a natural, plant source of vitamin C, is the second ingredient listed after water, so you know the concentration of it is high. "This ingredient can help with antioxidant protection, elasticity, and skin suppleness," says cosmetic chemist Laura Lam-Phaure.
Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, on the other hand, is "supposedly more stable and has better skin penetrations [than ascorbic acid]," Liu tells Allure. Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate is not as potent as ascorbic acid, though, but Lam-Phaure says that's not necessarily a bad thing.
"Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate can be ideal with those who have sensitive skin or specific skin conditions since it may not be as irritating," she explains. "People can use this ingredient to help build a tolerance to the use of ascorbic acid." Overall, this oil-soluble vitamin C derivative brightens skin, stimulates collagen, and reduces the formation of wrinkles and hyperpigmentation, Lam-Phaure adds.
Wander Beauty's products are produced in Korea, where extensive studies have been done about the efficacy of ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate (not as many have been done in America just yet) and boosting factors that make it more powerful, Gugnani notes.
Skin barrier-repairing niacinamide and squalane, as well as glycerin and seven different molecular weights of hyaluronic acid, spike the glow-inducing serum to do just that. The medley of the latter "can be a penetration enhancer," Liu says. "Together, with glycerin, [they] are great humectants that can add hydration to skin." They also reduce skin irritation, Lam-Phaure adds.
Best of all, all of this goodness is poured into an opaque, pump-topped, recyclable plastic bottle. Personally, I'm a fan of this kind of packaging because it's the most hygienic option and keeps the vitamin C fresher for longer since it won't be exposed to light until you dispense it. "Pure skin-care formulations that have potent and efficacious ingredients should not be exposed to sunlight. Period, the end," Gugnani adds.
Starting today, you can shop the Wander Beauty Sight C-er Vitamin C Concentrate for $42 on wanderbeauty.com. If you can wait a bit, we have some good news: Allure Beauty Box subscribers will receive a full-sized bottle of the product in their May boxes.
Wander Beauty Sight C-er Vitamin C Concentrate
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