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Is Skinceuticals worth the money vs DIY or SkinActives?
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ellaelise
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Tue Aug 20, 2013 11:31 am      Reply with quote
I've used both SkinActives Vit. C Kit & have made my own Vit. C + E + Ferulic, and I really do love the results I've gotten. However, I keep hearing such amazing things about Skinceuticals' serums, and that little naggy, money-spending voice in the back of my head keeps telling me to try their versions, esp their C E Ferulic (which of course is their most expensive serum Rolling Eyes). So I wanted to ask those of you who have tried Skinceuticals and DIY/SkinActives if you saw a difference using one instead of the other.
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Tue Aug 20, 2013 11:40 am      Reply with quote
I have not used skinceuticals and I have tried DIY ascorbic acid but didnt continue with it either.. but I doubt that SC would be any better, you are just paying for their marketing, employee's pay checks n vendors...
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Tue Aug 20, 2013 11:54 am      Reply with quote
I used some of a friend's skinceutical c e ferulic. I only used it 2 or 3 times, not regularly.

I like diy much better, but I am biased. A diy c serum is what made me start taking diy seriously.
LondonJamie
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Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:40 am      Reply with quote
To me it most certainly is not worth the price. Over £100 for a vitamin c serum? No way.

I use Cosmetic Skin Solutions which sellsthe identical product and better yet, it is always fresh. Check out reviews on MUA.
RussianSunshine
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Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:14 am      Reply with quote
I find that DIY/SkinActives LAA serums are less effective than the ones sold by big companies. Hard to explain why, just my own experience.
Lowbrowscientist
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Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:47 pm      Reply with quote
ellaelise wrote:
I've used both SkinActives Vit. C Kit & have made my own Vit. C + E + Ferulic, and I really do love the results I've gotten. However, I keep hearing such amazing things about Skinceuticals' serums, and that little naggy, money-spending voice in the back of my head keeps telling me to try their versions, esp their C E Ferulic (which of course is their most expensive serum Rolling Eyes). So I wanted to ask those of you who have tried Skinceuticals and DIY/SkinActives if you saw a difference using one instead of the other.


I've used them both, and I get the same results from the SkinActives version.

I like the SA version a lot better because I can make a higher concentration, and make very small batches so I know it's always fresh. My Skinceuticals showed up right on the verge of oxidizing. I had maybe 3 weeks of use before I could no longer kid myself; that stuff was definitely turning orange. According to reviews, a lot of people experience this; it's just a risk you take when you're buying any commercial LAA product. For that price, I'm not willing to buy bottle after bottle when there's a 50/50 chance it will already be oxidized (or oxidizing) by the time it reaches me.

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Kassy_A
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Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:10 pm      Reply with quote
OMG! It's DIY all the way for this old girl...(for everything!) Very Happy

How's about an easy peasy C serum, off the top of my head?

20% Vitamin C Serum with Glutathione (9-24-13)

20% l-ascorbic acid
5% propylene glycol (don't gag, it emulsifies and enhances penetration)
5% of a 1% HA serum (it's in the DIY recipe forum)
1% vitamin E oil
2% glutathione (cause more than that does better in a higher pH, but it's a great antioxidant)
1% citric acid (helps to preserve + reduces pH (shoot for 2.5 for best penetration)
1% preservative of choice
60% distilled water
5% carrier oils (my choice does double or triple duty, and are typically a combo of: meadowfoam, rice bran, walnut, evening primrose, sesame + almond.. jojoba gets in there too..)

So I meant it was off the top of my head, so proceed with caution... I'll whip it up though, 1st chance I get..

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Lowbrowscientist
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Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:57 pm      Reply with quote
Kassy_A wrote:
OMG! It's DIY all the way for this old girl...(for everything!) Very Happy


Kassy! wave

I was just getting ready to ask you on another thread if you liked the SkinActives C+E+ferulic kit! What did you think of it? Is it comparable to your formulas? Would you recommend it as an option for those of us too clumsy and inept to make our own from scratch? Smile

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RussianSunshine
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Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:37 pm      Reply with quote
IMHO DIY-ing is not worth it. I second Cosmetic Skin Solutions Vit C Serum.
rileygirl
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Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:29 pm      Reply with quote
RussianSunshine wrote:
I find that DIY/SkinActives LAA serums are less effective than the ones sold by big companies. Hard to explain why, just my own experience.


Yes, unfortunately for my wallet, I also feel the DIY serums are less effective on my skin. In my opinion, the Skinceuticals C, E, Ferulic is definitely worth the money as it works for me and I have not had a problem with the serum getting discolored.
Lowbrowscientist
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Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:54 pm      Reply with quote
rileygirl wrote:
RussianSunshine wrote:
I find that DIY/SkinActives LAA serums are less effective than the ones sold by big companies. Hard to explain why, just my own experience.


Yes, unfortunately for my wallet, I also feel the DIY serums are less effective on my skin. In my opinion, the Skinceuticals C, E, Ferulic is definitely worth the money as it works for me and I have not had a problem with the serum getting discolored.


Have either of you tried the other (commercial, not DIY) versions of Skinceuticals? There are a few other companies that appear to be using the same formula, and are selling it at a lower cost. I'm reluctant to shell out money for Skinceuticals again, but I'm tempted to try one of the less expensive versions and see how it compares to the SA kit.

I hope my skin can't tell the difference, because the SA price point can't be beat Neutral

(wave Hi Rileygirl! Nice to see you Smile )

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rileygirl
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Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:55 pm      Reply with quote
Hi Lowbrowscientist! Nice to see you too. I tried one of the companies that makes the Skinceuticals CEF but I did not care for it and didn't feel like it produced the same results. That said, I know there are those that use the other commercial versions and they are very happy with it. I think it just depends on your skin, as with all things!
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Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:06 pm      Reply with quote
RussianSunshine wrote:
IMHO DIY-ing is not worth it. I second Cosmetic Skin Solutions Vit C Serum.


i feel like this is a good choice. really helped my skin out majorly.
jazzi
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 4:16 am      Reply with quote
I third the Cosmetic Skin Solutions CE Ferulic! It works same as the Skinceuticals original and has zinc sulfate in it. The plain Skincauticals AOX serums also have it, but not their CE Ferulic.
Strangly enough, the other knock-offs were not as nice as CSS (meaning they didn't work at all) and only once I managed to DIY successfully, and it was a 1:1 copy. Any deviation and my skin suddenly didn't love it all. Since the solvents and emulsifiers are a pain to source where I live it's way cheaper for me to just get the CSS product.

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summer2004
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 6:57 am      Reply with quote
jazzi wrote:
......only once I managed to DIY successfully, and it was a 1:1 copy. Any deviation and my skin suddenly didn't love it all......


Jazzi, is it the C&E kit of Lotioncrafter?
summer2004
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 7:07 am      Reply with quote
I have been making DIY C&E serum for years and do not expect that it will improve my skin in any way as some people say that we can't see much direct improvement of anti-oxidant serum.

The reason why I still use it is because it defenses against free radical.
jazzi
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:25 am      Reply with quote
summer2004 wrote:
jazzi wrote:
......only once I managed to DIY successfully, and it was a 1:1 copy. Any deviation and my skin suddenly didn't love it all......


Jazzi, is it the C&E kit of Lotioncrafter?


I had mine reverse engeneered from the Skinceauticals patent a while before their kit came out, but yes, it's the same, I believe.

I also think you should see benefit from vitamin C stuff, if it works, it brightens skin almost instantly and over time skin becomes sort of clear and bright. If vit C doesn't agree with skin then it's the opposite, skin gets dull and ruddy or worse. My hypothesis is that it could happen when skin is damaged and vit C is too acidic, I had the issue with CE Ferulic lately, couldn't tolerate it all of a sudden, and I was reading Epionce thread and I tried out that ceramide/cholesterol/fatty acid/anti-inflammatory stuff and magic! - skin can take vit C again and no adverse effects. (The magic potion is Skincauticals Retinol, as strage as it might seem.)

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jazzi
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:42 am      Reply with quote
summer2004 wrote:
I have been making DIY C&E serum for years and do not expect that it will improve my skin in any way as some people say that we can't see much direct improvement of anti-oxidant serum.

The reason why I still use it is because it defenses against free radical.

The before/after pics in this blog show what can be expected from vit C product. I think they used Obagi, but you can google same for Skincauticals, they have pictures that are even more impressive.
And yes, I believe those pictures, because I have similar results and that is what every vit C should do. If it doesn't, don't waste time and try something esle.
http://alexeshaghianmedical.blogspot.de/2011/04/benefits-of-vitamin-c.html

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summer2004
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:52 am      Reply with quote
Jazzi,

Thx for the link!

TO me, the skin tone of my facial skin has become more even after using C&E; but I don't see much it can boost collagen Sad
rileygirl
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:01 am      Reply with quote
Hope this link works. It is a before and after for Skinceuticals. http://www.medizen.co.uk/Treatments/Display.asp?ID=7
bellabambiiina
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 11:27 am      Reply with quote
I do find that the CSS solution increases sun sensitivity. So it is best to use it at night, I feel. It does seem to act quite "acidic" on my skin, so I cant use it every day or my face will look raw. Which is quite unappealing.
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 11:53 am      Reply with quote
jazzi wrote:

... I was reading Epionce thread and I tried out that ceramide/cholesterol/fatty acid/anti-inflammatory stuff and magic! - skin can take vit C again and no adverse effects. (The magic potion is Skincauticals Retinol, as strage as it might seem.)


So the Skinceuticals Retinol helped you tolerate LAA again? Am I understanding that correctly? I'm going to be in the market for a vitamin A product soon, and this sounds promising.

In any event, it looks like most of you are having good experiences with the Cosmetic Skin Solutions CE Ferulic. When I'm finished with my SkinActives CEF kit, I think I'll give the CSS version a try and see how they compare.

And hopefully I'll still like the SkinActives version better, because it's half the price Neutral

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bethany
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 12:43 pm      Reply with quote
Lowbrowscientist wrote:
jazzi wrote:

... I was reading Epionce thread and I tried out that ceramide/cholesterol/fatty acid/anti-inflammatory stuff and magic! - skin can take vit C again and no adverse effects. (The magic potion is Skincauticals Retinol, as strage as it might seem.)


So the Skinceuticals Retinol helped you tolerate LAA again? Am I understanding that correctly? I'm going to be in the market for a vitamin A product soon, and this sounds promising.


Here are the ingredients for the Retinol 1.0. It is nice to see that they do have some skin barrier ingredients in there:

Quote:
water, cyclomethicone, cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone crosspolymer, dimethicone, dimethiconol, laureth-4, laureth-23, hydrogenated lecithin, butyorspermum parkii (shea butter), caprylic/capric triglyceride, ceramide 2, ceramide 3, phytosphingosine, cholesterol, hypericum perforatum extract, propylene glycol, allyl methacrylate crosspolymer, polysorbate 20, retinol, BHT, sodium polyacrylate, dimethicone PEG-7 isostearate, glycerin, polyacrylamide, C13-14 isoparaffin, leureth-7, bisabolol. rosa canina leaf extract, silybum marianum fruit extract, passiflora incarnata flower extract, chamomilla recutita (matreicaria) leaf extract, citric acid, methylsothiazolinone, tetrasodium EDTA.

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jazzi
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Sat Sep 07, 2013 3:13 pm      Reply with quote
summer2004 wrote:
Jazzi,

Thx for the link!

TO me, the skin tone of my facial skin has become more even after using C&E; but I don't see much it can boost collagen Sad

Not much I can say about collagen production either.

Lowbrowscientist wrote:
jazzi wrote:

... I was reading Epionce thread and I tried out that ceramide/cholesterol/fatty acid/anti-inflammatory stuff and magic! - skin can take vit C again and no adverse effects. (The magic potion is Skincauticals Retinol, as strage as it might seem.)


So the Skinceuticals Retinol helped you tolerate LAA again? Am I understanding that correctly? I'm going to be in the market for a vitamin A product soon, and this sounds promising.

In any event, it looks like most of you are having good experiences with the Cosmetic Skin Solutions CE Ferulic. When I'm finished with my SkinActives CEF kit, I think I'll give the CSS version a try and see how they compare.

And hopefully I'll still like the SkinActives version better, because it's half the price Neutral

Yes, I really like Skinceauticals Retinol, but my skin is quite used to it (and doesn't mind silicones at all). I wouldn't recommend to try it solely for the soothing benefit, unless your skin can tolerate retinoids well. It can and will make skin raw and red otherwise! If you are just starting out with retinol and/or vitamin C, I wouldn't mix them either, wait until skin adjusts to one and only then add something else.
Point is, my skin was damaged and couldn't tolerate L-ascorbic acid because of that. With soothing and repairing ingredients things got better, pretty much overnight.
I would think CeraVe or similar stuff with the right ingredients in it would be a much safer starting point than high potency retinol product. Check out this thread for inspiration: http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=49296&start=0

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Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:12 pm      Reply with quote
Something about retinol...someone say that SkinMedica Tri-retinol Complex is as good as Retin-A.

It has regular and ex-strength version.
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