Photo: Courtesy of Drunk Elephant
While vitamin C is known for its complexion brightening benefits and high levels of antioxidants, it’s also notoriously difficult when it comes to shelf life, rapidly losing its efficiency after six months. Tiffany Masterson, founder of cult favorite beauty brand Drunk Elephant, says that this short lifespan is what inspired her to reformulate the brand’s C-Firma Serum, in order to keep the vitamin C active more effective for longer. “We’re so excited that we found a way to make C-Firma better by maximizing its potency and keeping the formula fresh,” she shares. “After about three years of experimentation and testing, we have found a solution.”
Tiffany Masterson. Photo: Courtesy of Drunk Elephant
The new C-Firma Fresh come in two components – a liquid serum base, and the powdered actives, to be combined by the consumer just before using the product for the first time. “By separating the formula into two phases, the liquid serum and vitamin C powder, the user is able to determine the time of activation for their C-Firma Fresh, which is the moment they mix the two together,” explains Masterson. “That means the concern over shelf life and potency is no longer an issue. That means you get vitamin C at its freshest and most potent every time, and there’s a much longer shelf life—three years unopened and unmixed, and then six months after mixing.”
Photo: Courtesy of Drunk Elephant
While the rule of thumb is to use a treatment with at least 10 percent vitamin C in order to benefit from the active ingredient. Drunk Elephant’s launch, available exclusively at Sephora Middle East, contains 15 percent of l-ascorbic acid, a high performance and safe form of vitamin C. “L-ascorbic acid is the gold standard form of Vitamin C due to its ability to diminish the signs of sun damage, fight free radicals, and brighten the skin,” says Masterson. “While all varieties of vitamin C provide some antioxidant benefit, l-ascorbic acid is the only form that has been shown to penetrate and replenish the levels of vitamin C in human skin. That makes l-ascorbic our most powerful defense against environmental free radical damage like UV and pollution.”
The brand founder says that vitamin C is one active that plays nicely with other products, and can be mixed with your moisturizer in what she says a ‘smoothie’. “One of my favorite skincare smoothies is one pump of C-Firma Fresh, a couple of drops of Marula Oil and one pump of Protini Serum for brighter, firmer, healthy-looking skin.”
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