CIRACLE VITAMIN C-20 & HYDRA B5 SOURCEACNE SCARRING BEFORE & AFTER

I first mentioned these two products in this Korean Skincare & Makeup Haul after Jolse kindly let me choose a few items from their website to review. After a really thorough testing, I'm finally back with a full review and Before & After on Ciracle's vitamin C and hydrating serums. Let's see how they've performed..

Hydra B5 Source ($20 for 30ml)

A hydrating serum, which although seems fairly basic, should be one of the cornerstones to your skincare regimen. For those of us in our early 20's, hydration is king, and one of the best things we can do for our skin with regards to preventative aging. Ciracle's B5 Source is a vitamin B5 enriched, hydrating serum, that keeps skin plump, hydrated, youthful and prevents dehydration lines or crepeyness.

Coming in a glass bottle with pipette, the serum is viscous like a fluid gel. It smoothes out beautifully on the skin and the visible hydration is instant - you can see it plumping out your skin, like giving a thirsty plant a good watering. It's extremely lightweight and therefore great for hot weather or as a layering product underneath other moisturisers. A little goes a long way and I like to take this down my neck and onto my chest. Vitamin B5 is able to penetrate the skin and help reconstruct it's moisture barrier, as well as helping to maintain fibroblast reproduction - the cells that create collagen. It doesn't clog pores and so is suitable for dry to oily skins. This serum is actually a pretty good dupe for the far pricer B5 Gel from Skinceuticals.

Having spent a day barefoot on the beach, it's fair to say my feet were horribly dry and chapped from the sand, but I thought this was ideal to show you how well this serum hydrates. The photo below is 20 minutes after application - warning those of you with a very sensitive disposition!

Ingredients

Water, Pentylene Glycol, PEG/PPG 18/4 Copolymer, 1,2-Hexanediol, Glycerin, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Soybean Extract, Mandarin Orange Peel Extract, Carrot Root Extract, Benzyl Alcohol, Dehydroacetic Acid, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Allantoin, Adenosine, Beta-Glucan, Niacinamide, Polyglutamic Acid, Glucosamine HCL.

Vitamin Source C-20 ($30 for 30ml)

As I mentioned in my bumper acne tips post, Vitamin C serums are one of my favourite things to use for acne scarring. This one from Ciracle contains 20% L-Ascorbic Acid, a pure and unadulterated form of vitamin C. Aside from fading pigmentation, Vitamin C helps to tone and firm skin, prevents and helps with sun damage and evens out skin tone and texture.

Due to the high concentrations of pure vitamin C, it's important you a) keep the bottle stored in the fridge and b) use this as quickly as possible, pure vitamin C isn't very stable and is very sensitive to light and air degradation. (I only apply mine once a day, in the evenings, straight after my Cosrx AHA BHA Toner as vitamin C serums are pH sensitive.) The packaging is perfect for a product of this nature, a dark glass bottle with pipette that arrives separately to keep the contents fresh and unexposed to the environment prior use. A runny liquid, far less viscous than the B5 serum above, the vitamin C serum is a pale yellow/orange in colour - once it starts turning dark and brown, that's a sign of spoiling. The serum is light and fluid in texture, and I find that patting this one in really benefits the absorption - it sinks in far better, although it still leaves a slightly tacky film on the skin - fine if you're applying moisturiser on top and going to bed. This isn't an alcohol-free formula so I was initially skeptical of how it would affect my skin - I've been using this for around 6 weeks (and my bottle is almost done, I think I've got around 2 weeks left) and I've seen no adverse effects. My skin feels and looks just as hydrated as always, and I'm pretty bowled over at the results on my hyperpigmentation for such an inexpensive product.


You'll know from my acne tips post that any and every blemish I get, will scar, and those scars will stick around for months. Below, I've got a Before & After of my chin (sigh at hormonal spots..) after just over 3 weeks of daily use. You can see that it's lightened the scarring next to that lovely zit sunstantially!

Ingredients

Water, Ascorbic Acid (19%), Alcohol, Sodium Lactate, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid (1%), PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, 1,2-Hexanediol, Safflower Flower Extract, Rosa Davurica Bud Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Lethicin, Ubiquinone, Beta-Glucan, Tocopheryl Acetate, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Diethoxyethyl Succinate, Caprylyl Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Orange Oil, Glucose, Adenosine, Panthenol, Zinc PCA, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Sodium Metabisulfate, Ethyl Hexanediol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Diisopropyl Adipate, Phenoxyethanol.

Overall, I definitely have to recommend both of these serums as a good, affordable option to those wanting to try often very expensive skincare concepts. It's recommended that you use them together, but both provide results that you may be happy with alone, depending on your skincare needs. The formulations aren't as 'clean' as I may like, so definitely keep that in mind, especially if you have reactive skin, but on my slightly sensitive skin, I've had no problems. You can buy the products separately or together, from Jolse, and a big thank you to them for reaching out to me!

Have you tried any Ciracle products?

P.S Have you seen my Korean Skincare Tips for acne and acne scarring?

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