THE SKINCARMA PRODUCT OF THE YEAR : THE ORDINARY 100% L-ASCORBIC ACID POWDER
Writing this blog right now is wild. One year ago, Skincarma didn’t even exist. Though it was 25 years in the making, I had yet to put a name to it, to define it, give it context. It had been a lot like Margery Williams’ Velveteen Rabbit — longing to become real. But real it became! I taught myself how to create a blog (yes, this very blog!), how to step up my photography game, and even how to build a legit following. After all, I wasn’t in it to review and recommend skin care products for my own pleasure. I’d kinda been doing that already. If I was gonna put it all in writing, it had to have a purpose — and it had to be smart!
Twenty-eighteen has been an amazing year, full of challenges, achievements —and, yes, a whole lot of skin care. It seemed at times like things were moving in fast-forward mode, only to suddenly move in reverse. The Skincarma Blog became my passion, my distraction. It helped my to crystallize things that I had long believed (eg. denatured alcohol is bad for the skin barrier) and things that I never believed (eg. petrolatum is bad for your skin). I discovered new products, new brands, and new techniques that I’d never imagined — like the 7-Skin Method.
Most importantly, Skincarma became a place where I could exchange knowledge about skin care and ingredients with people who are as passionate about it all as I am. Thank you for being on this journey with me. And for supporting and inspiring me along the way. 🙋🏼♂️
With that, on this first Skincarma anniversary, I thought it would be cool to recognize the single skincare product that I think stands out most — of the more than 300 serums, moisturizers, cleansers, toners and devices that I reviewed over the past year.
The Skincarma Product of the Year:
The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder is the Skincarma Product of the Year.
Every time I do a Q&A on my Skincarma Instagram page, I get a question or two that goes something like this:
“What’s the one product you can’t live without?”
Me not stranded in a desert island, but you can bet I was wearing my sunscreen.
It’s kind of a hard question to answer because I really just want to say sunscreen. But that’s not a product per se; it’s a class of products, and no single sunscreen product stands out to me. Certainly, if I were stranded on a desert island, as the saying goes, I’d want sunscreen with me. But since I haven’t been stranded on a desert island of late, the one product that I feel I wouldn't want to be without — that I wouldn’t want missing from my daily regimen is a powerful Vitamin C treatment — The Ordinary’s 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder, lovingly referred to as LAA.
So what stands out about Deciem’s cute little pot of powder? First and foremost is the potency of the Vitamin C itself. I’ve told this quick story before but it bears repeating now. A few months ago, a good friend asked me for advice on revamping his skincare routine. Like me, he’s been in skincare and beauty for years and still finds it all confusing and unreliable. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m all about pro-skin health ingredients — like Vitamin C, Niacinamide, Retinol, Hyaluronic Acid, and a multitude of replenishing plant oils. My recommendations for him included a few well-formulated serums and oils and the 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder!
NOTE: Since the publishing of this article, I have reviewed several new, innovative Vitamin C serums for the face. Check out my latest titled, New Vitamin C Facial Serums I Love but You’ve Probably Never Heard Of! available here.
Because of Vitamin C’s legendary instability in the presence of light, water and other ingredients, a pure powder is the best means of delivering the game-changing benefits of Vitamin C to your skin, including antioxidant protection, fading dark spots, evening out skin tone, boosting collagen production to firm skin and smooth wrinkles — and, most visibly, to brighten the complexion. He tried it that very first night, experiencing only slight tingling (I warned it was potent!). The next day, a co-worker complimented his visibly brighter complexion — the first time in his life anyone had ever done so!
The second important point I want to make is the product’s accessibility. At just FIVE DOLLARS ($5 USD / £4.95 / $5.80 CAD), there’s really no reason for anyone to be without Vitamin C in their daily skincare routine. Honestly, it’s a complexion game-changer. I use LAA every night, mixed in with a light, watery serum — the Amino Acids + B5, also from The Ordinary. Again, because of Vitamin C’s instability, you have to take care not to mix it with anything that will destabilize or deactivate it. Knowing what works and doesn’t is nearly rocket science. It’s so potent that I only use it at night, preferring to use another option from The Ordinary — the Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate Solution 20% in Vitamin F or SkinCeutical’s iconic C E Ferulic with 15% L-Ascorbic Acid.
Check out my product pick of the year — The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder — as well as other well-formulated Vitamin C serums and creams from the brand.
Wishing all my Skincarma followers a great new year filled with great new skin care!
🖤 SKINCARMA
NOTE: Since the publishing of this article, I have reviewed several new, innovative Vitamin C serums for the face. Check out my latest titled, New Vitamin C Facial Serums I Love but You’ve Probably Never Heard Of! available here.
**WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW OF THE 2019 SKINCARMA PRODUCT OF THE YEAR ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE.**
The Ingredient List of The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder:
Ascorbic Acid.
The Ingredient List of The Ordinary Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate Solution 20% in Vitamin F:
Coconut Alkanes, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Ethyl Linoleate, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Fruit Extract, Squalane.
The Ingredient List of the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic with 15% L-Ascorbic Acid:
aqua / water / eau, ethoxydiglycol, ascorbic acid, glycerin, propylene glycol, laureth-23, phenoxyethanol, tocopherol, triethanolamine, ferulic acid, panthenol, sodium hyaluronate.
What an amazing year!
