Ingredients Review: NEW Drunk Elephant C-Luma Hydrabright Serum

About Drunk Elephant C-Luma Hydrabright Serum

WHERE TO BUY: 

$68.00; Drunk Elephant (up to 4% cashback from Extrabux)

$68.00; Sephora (up to 4% cashback from Extrabux)

Drunk Elephant already had an award-winning vitamin C serum. So why create another? Tiffany Masterson, the founder and chief creative officer of Drunk Elephant, explained that it comes down to targeting different core skin concerns and using separate types of vitamin C.

"C-Firma was one of the original six formulas I launched in 2013, and it uses the strongest form of C—ascorbic acid—at a 15-percent concentration," Masterson says. "This makes it capable of addressing stubborn concerns with dramatic results. However, not everyone could use it as often as they wanted to—it's potent for sure—and we had requests for a lower-strength alternative. It was out of that feedback from our community that C-Luma was born."

With the launch of their new C-Luma Hydrabright Serum, Drunk Elephant is flipping the script on vitamin C, including an innovative blend of the active into one very easy-to-use product. Ideal for those just wading into the active's world and those with more sensitive skin types alike, its introduction couldn't be more timely — with fall right around the corner, it's an ideal period to start working on any dark marks, spots, or unevenness left behind by the sun.

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Key Ingredients & Benefits

Key Ingredients:

-  Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (9.0%): Helps protect against UV-generated free radical damage, improves elasticity, and reduces redness. Research has demonstrated that concentrations over 3% have powerful clarifying benefits for skin.

- Ascorbyl Glucoside (1.0%): Penetrates and converts to ascorbic acid, which protects against UV and free radical damage and helps improve the appearance of hyperpigmentation, according to some research.

- Triple-Antioxidant Brightening Complex (Phloretin, Glutathione, and Diglucosyl Gallic Acid): Reduce hyperpigmentation (those pink or red marks left over after a breakout).

While vitamin C has a laundry list of benefits for our skin, it is historically a tricky ingredient to keep stable. Depending on how a product is formulated, there can be a timeline for an antioxidant's freshness as soon as you open a bottle for the first time. How is this new product stabilized? 

C-Luma uses two forms of vitamin C—9.0% sodium ascorbyl phosphate and 1.0% ascorbyl glucoside—which have very different stability requirements than ascorbic acid. They are stable at a higher, less acidic pH (on par with a moisturizer), which is much easier to formulate. Plus, they have a much slower breakdown process than ascorbic acid.

The gentle vitamin C serum is suspended in a hydrating gel formula spiked with skin-soothing and barrier-fortifying ingredients like sugarcane-derived squalane and marula oil, which helps further counteract irritation, overdrying, and redness—three common side effects associated with vitamin C skincare.

Benefits:

• Fades the look of hyperpigmentation and post-breakout marks to brighten skin.

• Improves skin’s clarity and reduces blemishes for a more luminous, healthier-looking complexion.

• Delivers hydration instantly and over time while helping to prevent moisture loss.

• Formulated at a skin-friendly pH of 6.5.

• 100% free of essential oils, silicones, fragrance/dyes, and solvent alcohols.

Review

This is a great alternative to the more potent C-Firma, especially if C-Firma is too oily for you. This serum has a light gel-like texture, it absorbs into the skin quickly, and still gives you all the brightening. It has a bit of an odd smell, but nothing too strong or unpleasant. Overall, it's a bit pricey, but the results are worth it if you're looking for a good vitamin C serum to add to your routine.

But this product can case some peeling with other products if you don't let it soak into the skin, so just don't rush your routine when using this.

Comparing C-Luma To C-Firma

Drunk Elephant stans may know that before the new C-Luma Serum, the C-Firma Fresh Day Serum ($79) was the brand's one and only vitamin C-fueled essential. But how do they compare?

Firstly, C-Firma has a higher vitamin C concentration at 15%, along with acids that some with sensitive skin types have said caused minimal irritation. The formula also requires it to be mixed upon receiving it, with a powder and liquid that blends together to create the potent serum.

C-Luma is designed for beginners and skincare enthusiasts who are "C-shy." It is formulated with just a 10 percent concentration and two forms of vitamin C (sodium ascorbyl phosphate at 9 percent and ascorbyl glucoside at 1 percent) that are more tolerant and sensitive-skin-friendly without compromising effectiveness.

As for its promised results, C-Luma focuses of a brighter, hydrated, and more luminous complexion, while C-Firma creates firmer skin with diminishes signs of aging.

Advanced vitamin C users looking to fit even more of this active ingredient into their routine can alternate by using C-Firma during the day and C-Luma at night. You'll see rapid results on even more complex concerns.

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