SkinCeuticals Vitamin C Serums and National Vitamin C Day, REN Clean Screen Mineral SPF 30 (and SHOTS!)

If lipstick can have a national day all to its won, then why can’t Vitamin C? Shoot, we’re living in crazy times; we need to celebrate everything!

Sooooo, in case you haven’t marked it on your calendar yet, April 4 is National Vitamin C Day. 😺 I plan to celebrate by eating a bunch of mandarin oranges (but only the kind with the leaves attached!) and contemplating one of my favorite skincare ingredients.

(Vitamin C)

My favorite Vitamin C serum for the longest time has been SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic. If you want a serum that does everything — helps with fine lines, firmness and dark patches — this is the stuff! When I use it consistently along with sunscreen, my face (especially my cheeks, which is where I have most of my hyperpigmentation), looks noticeably smoother and more even-toned.

Unfortunately…it’s hella crazy expensive at $166 for a 0.50-oz. bottle.

(Yes, OMG!)

But it really works well for me.

SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic isn’t the only Vitamin C serum in the SkinCeuticals line though. There’s also Phloretin CF, which is for helping to fade post-acne marks, and their new Silymarin CF, which is an oil-free version for blemish-prone skin.

Here’s a handy-dandy chart to help figure out which one should be best for you…

If you’re looking for a Vitamin C serum at a lower price point, Vichy’s is also good IMO, and it’s $28.50 for 0.34-oz. I went through two bottles and saw a subtle improvement on the uneven areas on my cheeks. It doesn’t pack the same punch as Skinceuticals CE Ferulic, but it still works (albeit more slowly), and — added bonus — you can find it at drugstores. I got mine on sale at Walgreens.

While we’re on the subject of skin schtuff, here’s a heads-up for my oily-skinned friends about a sunscreen I tried from REN. REN Clean Screen Mineral SPF 30 is a face sunscreen made with 22% zinc oxide SPF and a very flat, uber-matte finish.

Right now my skin is dry, so it’s not the best fit for me, but if I had super oily skin like I did in my teens and early 20s, I’d be totally into it. It cuts down ALL OF THE SHINE and then some.

FYI, zinc sunscreens typically leave a white cast, and this one does too, but it’s very subtle. I’d say that if you’re lighter than I am (I’m a MAC NC42), you’ll be fine, but if you’re darker, it could leave a purplish-gray tint behind.

Other than sunscreen, the only makeup I’m wearing in this pic is JOY (seriously, where are my eyebrows, haha). I took this pic right after I got my first COVID vaccine shot yesterday!

I got weirdly emotional right after it happened… It was a mix of relief and happiness. I kept thinking of this exact time last year, when I thought that “all of this” would only last two weeks.

Yeah, I was a bit off with my estimate there. 😬 It’s been a LONG year, am I right?

Anyway, I practically danced on the way out, and I kept thinking of that song where all the people yell, “Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, SHOTS!”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen