[KLAIRS] - Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop

Hi everyone~ How are you doing with the quarantine? Hope everything is well with everyone. I been kind of just enjoying the time off and going through my products. One of the products is the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop that I won in a giveaway on Instagram.

This is actually my first pure Vitamin C product and I was quite curious about it. I am not really into Vitamin C products because I don't like how unstable they can be and I don't focus on brightening products often. I actually had my eyes on the Freshly Juiced Vitamin E Mask but couldn't get my hands on a sample of it. So I was happy to get my hands on the Vitamin Drop from the same line as it's gotten some really good reviews. I thought perhaps if this works out well, I may just buy the Vitamin E mask. So let's see what I think of it!

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Klairs Cosmetics is a Korean brand that I associate with Wishtrend. I can't recall the exact nature of their relationship but I always associate them together.

This is a brand that focuses on creating simple but effective skincare that is also cruelty free and is suitable for sensitive skin. Their products includes no colourants, alcohol, parabens, and artificial fragrances. You can find more about the brand on their website.

FUNCTION

This is a vitamin C serum that is made with stabilized L-Ascorbic Acid, which is a form of Vitamin C, to help with improving the appearance of the skin tone and texture. (Something I just learned recently is that L-Ascorbic Acid and Ascorbic Acid are the same thing. It is the active Ascorbic Acid with extensive research on it. The only thing is that some brands drop the L- but it is the same thing.) It also includes Centella Asiatic extract to help with inflammation as well.

The serum itself is hypoallergenic, which goes along with the brand's philosophy of developing products suitable for sensitive skin.

PACKAGING 

The serum comes in a plastic bottle with a dropper top and it contains 35ml of colourless product. The clear bottle has a relatively plain white label wrapped around it. It definitely reflects with the simplistic views that the brand takes on.

I don't hate the packaging but I don't love it. I found the dropper bottle allows for a better control over the dispersion. That's about it.

I actually expected the bottle to be glass and not plastic. I feel like the plastic cheapens the product simply because the label gives off this apothecary kind of feel to it and I was expecting glass. Though I know plastic is a better option as it doesn't break as easily as glass. This is just a personal preference and there is nothing wrong with the packaging in this aspect.

The other issue I had with the packaging is that the bottle is clear instead of a darker colour, which is commonly used for vitamin C serums. The reasoning behind having darker packaging is due to the instability of vitamin C and the darker packaging will reduce the amount of light exposed to the product, thus prolonging its shelf life. My guess for why Klairs decided to put the serum in a clear bottle is probably 1) cheaper to use a clear bottle and 2) the stabilized L-Ascorbic Acid shouldn't be as reactive and oxidize as quickly.

This is from when I first started using it. The colour is even darker now.

As I mentioned earlier, the serum should be a colourless liquid. Mine arrived a tad tinted, and after keeping it for maybe a year in a drawer, away from the windows and well within the best before date, the serum has turned to a noticeable yellow. I did not open the bottle, besides simply taking it out of the box to look at it. In the time since I started using it, the colour has gotten darker. (I kind of wish I thought of taking photo of it when I first got it so we can have a comparison of how much darker it has gotten. But hindsight is always 20/20) The change of colour tells me that the serum may not be as stabilized as it is purported to be.

As a FYI, the darker the vitamin C serum is, the more oxidized it is. I believe when it becomes oxidized, it loses its functionality and you need to toss the product.

INGREDIENTS 

The ingredients list are obtained from the Wishtrend website, as I have tossed the box my serum came in. There is a chance that the ingredients have changed, but I was not aware of any changes to the product from the time I received the product to the time of this blog post.



Water, Propylen Glycol, Ascorbic Acid, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Centella Asiatica Extract, Citrus Junos Fruit Extract, Illicium Verum(Anise) Fruit Extract, Citrus Paradisi(Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Nelumbium Speciosum Flower Extract, Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Polysorbate 60, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Extract, Chaenomeles Sinensis Fruit Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Camellia Sinensis Callus Culture Extract, Larix Europaea Wood Extract, Chrysanthellum Indicum Extract, Rheum Palmatum Root Extract, Asarum Sieboldi Root Extract, Quercus Mongolia Leaf Extract, Persicaria Hydropiper Extract, Corydalis Turtschaninovii Root Extract, Coptis Chinensis Root Extract, Magnolia Obovata Bark Extract, Lysine HCL, Proline, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Acetyl Methionine, Theanine, Lecithin, Acetyl Glutamine, SH-Olgopeptide-1, SH-Olgopeptide-2, SH-Polypeptide-1, SH-Polypeptide-9, SH-Polypeptide-11, Bacillus/Soybean/Folic Acid Ferment Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Caprylyl Glycol, Butylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol

CosDNA

I'll be completely honest. I don't know much about vitamin C products so the whole ingredients list (IL) doesn't mean much to me. Based on the CosDNA analysis, it has three ingredients that has a safety level above 2.

Ascorbic Acid is the 3rd ingredient on the IL, and we know the label says it contains 5% of vitamin C. So if Klairs follow the North American ingredients listing based on percentages, anything listed after Ascorbic Acid is below 5%.

Honestly, it just looks like it has a lot of botanical extracts and essential oils that doesn't need to be there. Most of the essential oils seems to be there for fragrance purposes, as the brand doesn't use artificial fragrances. As there are some arguments for and against the usage of essential oils in products and its long term effect on the skin, I can't say I am 100% supportive of the usage of essential oils in a vitamin C serum simply for the purpose of adding fragrance.

In addition, the label says it's "pure Vitamin C & Centella Asiatica extracts". Ummmm.. That's a little misleading as the IL tells us there are a lot of ingredients to this serum, such as botanical extracts and oils. Unless they mean there is only 1 type of Vitamin C, so it's considered to be pure Vitamin C? It's just.. kind of ambiguous and misleading labeling to me.

SCENT

The brand philosophy includes making products without artificial fragrances, but that doesn't mean they don't add "natural" ingredients replace it. (I have natural in quotation marks as that's just a way for companies to advertise green. That their ingredients are obtained from plants instead of chemically formulated in a lab.) Like I mentioned above, they use a lot of essential oils in place of artificial fragrances. So that includes the use of lavender oil, orange oil and camellia sinensis callus culture extract. There are a lot of discussions about the usage of essential oils in skincare, especially the effect of long term usage. However, it's up to you to make your decisions on products containing essential oils.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the scent of lavender, so its presence turns me off. But I have to say, I don't particularly smell it. Instead, I smell more of this plasticky and citrus kind of scent. It's not bothersome as it dissipates quickly. But I just wish they just don't add any fragrances.

PERFORMANCE

The serum has an interesting texture to me. It appears to have the consistency of water, so I was expecting it to be very light and almost like water. But it's not. It feels oily and kind of heavy. It leaves the skin looking a bit oily until it is fully sunk in, then the skin looks normal.

The serum feels very warm on my skin, but apparently that is normal. Which may be why Klairs recommend those with sensitive skin to add a few drops of the serum into other products instead of straight on to the skin.

As for the performance.. I am about to launch to this huge long story. So settle in! (If you don't want to read it, there will be a TLDR at the end)

I started testing the serum by adding a couple of drops with my essence. After a week or so, and I graduated to using a full dropper by itself as my skin is normal and not reactive at all. It seemed to work fine, I didn't notice much brightening effect as I am the queen of not being able to tell a difference with brightening products. So I didn't think much of it and was about to write it off as a "it's a nice but not for me" product.  I intended to finish using up the product as I didn't want it to go to waste.

However, I started to get a lot more breakouts and my skin started to smell really sweet, like it's coated in sugar. I thought that it was due to my diet and tried to change it but nothing improved. I thought it was perhaps my bedding are dirty and causing an issue, so I washed and replaced everything. It still didn't get better and I was starting to worry I have developed diabetes due to the sweet scent produced by my body.

Then things got worse. I started to develop these rashes that looked like heat rashes on my chest and arms. I even had a couple on my thighs, which is so random. I couldn't figure out what's wrong. I had a suspicion that the serum could be causing the rashes but thought it is weird that I would be having issues from the neck down but not on the face. So I scratched that idea.

Before

However, the rashes persisted after discontinued use of the serum. I was getting concerned but the COVID-19 quarantine so I couldn't go to the doctor as it wasn't super severe. After speaking with my friend who works in healthcare, we came to the conclusion that the 500mg Vitamin C chews I started taking could potentially be the culprit. So I decided to just stop both the serum and the chews.

Luckily, a few days after I stopped taking the Vitamin C chews, the rashes went away and my skin cleared up. I attributed the whole cause to the chews and was just surprised I am potentially allergic to vitamin C.

After things got better, I decided to give the Vitamin Drop serum another go to make sure I give it a full chance without bias. I started applying about half a dropper full to the skin right after the toner and I always bring my products down to my chest, as we shouldn't forget to take care of the skin from the neck down. Within a day, I noticed the return of that sugary scent and was very perplexed. I stopped using the other serum that I thought was potentially causing the issue, but it didn't go away. I realized the only thing that was different was the Vitamin Drop. That must be the cause, right???

After

I kept on using the serum just to make sure I was right in my deduction. But the scent was really getting to me so I had to stop after 2 days. Once I stopped using it, the scent went away immediately.. Phew... Does anyone know what it means when my body chemistry is mixed with vitamin C ends up smelling super sweet? I am still a bit paranoid that I may have diabetes.. >_<

In addition to smelling super sweet when using the serum, I started breaking out a lot too. I already started breaking out a lot during the first round of usage. When  I stopped it, I waited for my skin to restore and get back to normal. But as soon as I added the vitamin C back, I started to get a lot of breakouts again. Specifically around my mouth, cheeks and on the right side of the forehead. The breakouts around the mouth was BAD. I never had it that bad before. It was these little red angry ones that would just pop up one by one each day all along the edge of the lips and looked like I had tons of cold sores. It was really bad looking and I was so happy I was able to stay home the entire time to recover from it.

After absorption

Once I stopped the serum, the breakouts around the mouth and forehead cleared up. I thought it may be due to diet, but nothing else changed in my life besides taking out the serum. So I have to conclude that the serum is potentially causing me to have allergic reactions. However, I think there's a possibility that the mouth breakouts could potentially due to this lip balm I was using. But that only resolves the potential cause for the lip breakouts. The forehead and cheek breakouts are still potentially caused by the usage for the Vitamin Drop serum..

I am so shocked about potentially being allergic to Vitamin C. But, I guess at least I found out now during quarantine where I have time to recover before going outside. It is a surprise as my skin is so non-reactive, but there's always a first for everything. I have a feeling that my body simply cannot handle Vitamin C at a high dosage. As I can eat oranges with no problem, and I am sure I have used products with a low dosage of Vitamin C without any issues. So I think it's simply the high dosage that's causing issues with my body.

TLDR summary: I basically broke out in rashes from Vitamin C chews and smelled super sweet and had bad breakouts from the usage of the serum. Conclusion is that I am potentially allergic to a high quantity of Vitamin C.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Well, I wanted to like it but I don't. Even if it didn't cause me irritations, as it is a me problem and not the products fault. But I just don't like the fact that essential oils are used to add fragrance when it's unnecessary. As well as the product being kept in a clear bottle which allows for acceleration of the oxidation of the product. Lastly, I didn't notice much difference when I used the serum continuously. So it was a good thing I didn't pay for it.

As a result of my reaction to the Vitamin C serum, I don't think I'll spend money on the Vitamin E mask as I am concerned I'll have a reaction from it.

RELATED PRODUCTS

Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop - Wishtrend / YesStyle /
Freshly Juiced Vitamin E Mask - Wishtrend / YesStyle / Mikaela Beauty 

All links are clean links as I do not have any affiliate links to any of these sites.