A good vitamin c serum is something that I’ve been trying to add to my skincare routine for a while now, but I’ve never found exactly the right one. They’re either way too oily for my skin, or they’re sticky, or they leave my fingers orange, or they just don’t work. But I have been using a new one for over a month now, and I think that I may have found a winner!

Once thing I’ve noticed now that I’m in my 30s (wow, do I sound old!) is that my skin just takes a little bit longer to heal. When a breakout crops it, it can take a while for it to fully recede, and the resulting red mark/discoloration can take even longer to go away. And since I’ve been inside basically all the time lately, my skin has just been a bit dull. It needs a little glow in it, a little life, you know? Vitamin c is so key for these issues, but it’s equally important to find the right product to use.

This serum from Hyper Skin has been that right product for me. It’s a super lightweight serum that absorbs really nicely into my skin. I’m really picky about ingredients in skincare, and I love that this serum is effective without having any of the ingredients I try to avoid (no parabens, no sulfates, no alcohol). It also has a high enough percentage of active ingredients to actually be effective, which is so important – it has 15% vitamin c and vitamin e. And it doesn’t leave my face feeling sticky afterwards or leave my fingers stained orange! Plus, I love that the container is opaque and a pump! Vitamin c is really light and air sensitive – meaning if it’s in a clear container or one that hits the air every time it gets opened (like a dropper), it’s going to lose it’s effectiveness much more quickly.

The directions say that you can use it either morning or night, but because my skin gets so oily so easily, I use at nighttime. In terms of where it fits into my routine – I apply by prescription face cream, then the Drunk Elephant TLC Framboos, and then the vitamin c serum, which I follow with the Drunk Elephant Protini moisturizer. I haven’t had any issues with the products not mixing well together, either.

I’ve been using this serum for over a month now, and while the results aren’t anything super dramatic, they’re noticeable to me. I have some red marks left from acne scars, and those are slowly but surely fading. And there’s just a nice added glow to my skin – it looks a lot less blah and dull. The bottle is small, but it hasn’t run out yet, and it’s way more affordable than a lot of other vitamin c products out there! This is definitely going to be a permanent addition to my routine.