Product Recommendation - NuFountain Fresh Cosmetics C20 + Lightening Serum

Photo Credit: Amazon

 
In my never ending quest to seek out quality vitamin c serums to blog about, I discovered an interesting little gem while browsing Amazon. Some of you may have known about this serum (it’s certainly new to me) – it’s the NuFountain Fresh Cosmetics C20 + Lightening Serum.

I’ve never heard of this company until now, but ever since I’ve learned about their appealing way of maintaining the efficacy of their products - I am a fan! NuFountain Fresh Cosmetics prepare their serums fresh when you order so you are getting the most bang for your buck when you get a vitamin c serum from this company. They offer a whole line of absolutely incredible vitamin c serums at very affordable prices. I think the fact they formulate the serums fresh per order is just amazing customer service and really shows how much they value the products they make.

The NuFountain Fresh Cosmetics C20 + Lightening is a 20% vitamin C serum that contains 6% Alpha Arbutin (high enough strength to create visible skin lightening) 6% niacinamide and a final pH of 3.25 (so in essence a standard vitamin c serum).

You’re probably thinking what I was thinking when I first read these active ingredients. Niacinamide + Vitamin C = irritation. That is very true, but there are exceptions. Let me explain it in detail.

Niacinamide should be at a very neutral pH to be well tolerated on the skin – around a pH of 7. L-ascorbic acid should be at AROUND a pH of 3.5 to be well tolerated. Now when a high acid (low pH) ingredient is combined with a neutral pH ingredient, it can cause issues like excess irritation or flushing.

With niacinamide in particular, it can hydrolyze into niacin which can lead to flushing. Now from my knowledge, this does not occur in all scenarios.

I feel like when I initially created blog posts regarding pH levels I really emphasized the importance of having the correct pH of all active ingredients. While this is still something I stand by, it’s really been interpreted to the extreme. Waiting periods (5-10 minutes usually) are usually enough to offset this, but even without waiting – a strong skin barrier function CAN withstand these two conflicting pH ingredients. I know this because I’ve done it several times, lol.

I’ve used L-ascorbic acid and niacinamide products together and never experienced any extreme irritation outside of what is normal with a 20% L-ascorbic acid serum or any flushing.

The key point I want to get across is that the WORST thing that can occur when combining vitamin c and niacinamide is flushing or excess irritation. The main benefits of these ingredients are still present though.

Having said all that, I will say point blank here that sensitive skin types should not even pay attention to this serum since it would be a disaster to use!

This particular vitamin c serum seems to be getting great reviews online and the addition of 6% Alpha Arbutin is excellent for lightening skin. It’s on sale right now at Amazon.com for $22.99, which is amazing of a product with these ingredients.

If you have very resilient skin and you are looking for a serum to use, then this can be it! My only advice is to exercise extra cautious and really monitor your skin. Pace yourself since this is a 20% vitamin c serum. I personally can only use 20% L-ascorbic acid a couple of times a week (non-consecutively) or I’ll just get too much irritation. 20% L-ascorbic acid also can produce (not in all people) a slow, gradual peeling effect which may temporarily darken the skin (common occurrence with TCA peels or high level alpha hydroxyl acid peels) but return to normal or even lighter in color once fully sloughed off.

Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/NuFountain-Fresh-Cosmetics-C20-Lightening/dp/B0031B51Y0

Official Site:
http://nufountain.com/index.html

Ingredients:
Purified Water, 20% L-Ascorbic Acid, 6% Alpha Arbutin, 6% Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Citric Acid, Magnesium Sulfate, Glycerin. End pH of 3.25