Do you incorporate Vitamin C into your skincare routine? I have it sprinkled throughout! In fact, this past Summer I did a blog post about great skincare items with vitamin C — If you missed that post, you can find it here. But today, I want to talk about one that didn’t make it onto that list because it didn’t exist yet, and that’s Drunk Elephant’s C Firma Fresh Day Serum.
What’s New
Drunk Elephant always had a vitamin C serum in their line up, but in 2021 they made some changes to it to make it more potent while keeping the formula fresh when you buy it. Instead of offering a pre-mixed serum, Drunk Elephant now offers their C Firma Fresh Day serum in two components for you to mix before use.
As you may know, vitamin C, or more specifically, l-ascorbic acid can degrade quickly when exposed to heat, light or oxygen. It can be a delicate ingredient to keep stable in a formula so Drunk Elephant thought the best way to get everyone a fresh serum was to mix after purchase!
Aside from the box having two parts to mix and click together, the packaging is the same you’d remember from years past. The square tube with a orange twist top pump which I really like because it never “accidentally” opens.
Ingredients Highlighted
I was happy reading the highlighted ingredient line up which includes a potent antioxidant complex that contains 15% l-ascorbic acid, 0.5 % ferulic acid, and 1% vitamin E. Together, these form a powerhouse complex to fight free radical damage and minimize the signs of aging.
Pumpkin Ferment and Pomegranate extract work as gentle enzymatic exfoliators to lift up dead skin cells revealing newer, fresh skin underneath as well as helping with absorption of the potent antioxidant complex.
Grape fruit extract was included to be a secondary antioxidant source, since it’s rich in vitamin E and resveratrol. And Chronocylin, a chronopeptide that promotes regeneration, repair and renewal of skin cells. I have never heard of a chronopeptide and I tried googling but didn’t find much information explaining the “chrono” part. Regardless, a fantastic ingredient to couple with antioxidants, exfoliators and hydrators for best results.
My Experience
I didn’t have any trouble mixing the product before use, in fact I did it while watching through a iphone screen because I was filming and had no goofs. The recommend you shake it for a full minute to make sure the powder is full dispersed into the serum.
I’ve been using this in conjunction with with a few other serums like Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Booster (an amped up HA serum), Earth To Skin Manuka All Over Serum (my standard HA serum), and Beautycounter’s Countertime Tripeptide Serum which I am now realizing is redundant since the DE serum also has peptides in it. I like BC’s serum and want to continue with it so I may use one PM and the other AM.
I haven’t had any issues in terms of skin sensitivity while using this. I would definitely couple this with a hyaluronic acid serum or some type of more hydrating serum underneath to maximize absorbency levels. A good affordable one to consider is Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid, unless you want to stay within the DE family and can use B-hydra Intensive Hydration Serum.
The product is more on the liquidy side, so be ready to apply quickly after dispensing in your hands. You can prevent product loss by simply add a pumps of C Firma to your moisturizer or other serums — just make sure it’s layered underneath your sunscreen of choice!
Where To Buy
C Firma is pretty steep price wise, coming in at $78 a bottle. My favorite antioxidant serum from another brand is $90 and it’s hard to replace that easily so I will be careful with how much product I use so it lasts a while. I do enjoy this one, but also have a new bottle of Beautcounter’s vitamin C serum so I’ll need to use that up too before considering a repurchase anywhere.
This product is vegan, cruelty free, and considered Sephora clean.
You can find it at
Drunkelephant.com • Sephora.com • Ulta.com • Amazon.com
It’s great that this more potent formula isn’t causing any skin sensitivities for you. I use the Vitamin C Powder from Vitabrid that gets mixed into creams etc. It is such a stable way to extend the efficacy and potency of the Vitamin C.
Drunk Elephant is a wonderful skincare brand. I have used a number of their products, but I don’t think I have used their C products. I am using a variety of C serums now including BeautyStat with 20% C though it is so strong I can’t use it everyday
Believe it or not I’ve never used anything from Drunk Elephant even though I read raves about the line. I have a powder Vitamin C that I use but I mix it new each time. I love what that does to skincare so I’m sure this is just as efficient.
I love pomegranate as an ingredient in skin care! Adding it to my wish list.