Somehow, by the grace of skincare gods from all spiritual backgrounds, after a year-plus of radio silence on B&B, I’m still on one beauty company’s PR list: Derma E.
To be honest, there’s no skincare company I’d rather still be in contact with. After all, Derma E and I have a long history of working together and I’ve become a solid fan of their products. Hell, I even got my partner hooked on the Derma E Microdermabrasion Scrub, although we had to have a talk about what “dime sized amount” means because that 2oz jar goes quick when you have man hands digging out face mask-sized portions.
Derma E is a powerhouse of ingredient-themed skincare and their line of vitamin C skincare has some really cool products in it that I’m excited to talk about. I was sent three of them, but there are at least eight products in the vitamin C line, including micellar water, eye cream, and a facial peel.
If you’re unfamiliar with Derma E, they’re started in a SoCal grocery store and are now one of the strongest “clean beauty” brands around. Their success can be chalked up to the fact that they’re affordable and very high quality. Plus, their products are missing all of the things you hate, like parabens, gluten, animal and animal-derived ingredients, soy, etc. You’ve probably seen them in your local Whole Foods store or Ulta, and if you haven’t, I really encourage you to hunt them down and give them a try.
Anyway, back to these three vitamin C loaded products. I hadn’t tried any of them before they arrived at my house, so this review is based on my use over the last month or so.
Derma E Vitamin C Cleansing Paste
with Turmeric and Ancient Rice, $13.95 at Derma E
Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of cleansing mediums – from oils to eggs to cotton pads. What I hadn’t experienced before was a cleansing paste.
The consistency of this stuff is somewhere between unwhipped heavy whipping cream and a clay mask. I was actually pretty surprised at how thin it was given that it’s being called a cleansing paste. When I opened the tube, it pretty much poured right out and didn’t really need to be squoze from the tube. The image on the right is from Derma E and looks a lot thicker than the product I have.
The color of this cleanser is beautiful. It’s a salmon pink shade with little tiny flecks of what feels like sand but is actually ground up rice. Or ancient rice, I guess.
I know that there’s a bit of a debate surrounding physical vs. chemical exfoliants with many people deeming physical exfoliants (using small or ground-up bits of things to scrub dead skin cells off your face) potentially too harsh for sensitive skin, but this paste is different. The ratio of scrubby rice bits to smooth, creamy bits makes for a very gentle cleanser. As a sensitive-skin-haver, I am pleased to say this hasn’t given me any problems, even with daily use.
Derma E Vitamin C Concentrated Serum
with Hyaluronic Acid, $24.50 at Derma E
Ever since I learned about how vitamin C can help boost the effectiveness of sunscreen, my skincare routine has included some form of the stuff, so I was excited to see a daily serum in this line. Also, a concentrated serum for under $25 is always going to be something I’m interested in.
What I know for sure: this stuff is mild-to-moderately sticky. It comes in a pump bottle instead of a typical glass bottle with eyedropper which makes it kind of hard to dispense. I have absolutely no idea how much to apply, so I’ve been going with about 1.5 pumps, and it seems to do the job. After all, the job is “covering my face,” right?
After it’s dispersed and absorbed, I would describe the way my skin feels as… lightly sticky, but overall very nice. The feeling goes away over time, but for a little while you definitely have a little tackiness to you. However, if you cover it up with more hydration-focused products like a creamy moisturizer or oil, the stickiness won’t stand a chance against your heightened moisture. You can quote me on that.
As for the results, it’s like every other serum – who the hell knows? This is why serums are so alluring and elusive. Does it work? What does “work” mean? Psychological work is being done because I feel like a grownup lady putting vitamins into my skin, but as for the physical evidence… I turn to my favorite cosmetic chemist, Lab Muffin. She says that Hyaluronic acid is meant to help your skin retain moisture (one gram of HA can hold six liters of water…!) and Vitamin C is an antioxidant that soaks up free radicals, evens out skin tone, and reduces fine lines, which is also great. Do I notice either of these things happening in real-time? Not exactly, but I believe the science and that’s enough for me.
Derma E Vitamin C Bright Eyes Hydro Gel Patches
with Allantoin, Caffeine & Vitamin B3, $24 at Derma E
Oh, my poor partner-dude. He’s been so interested in learning how to take care of his skin lately and he was a real brave little toaster one day after a shower and attempted to make sense of these under-eye gel masks. I can only imagine his little beef hands digging into this weird slimy stack of masks and wondering what the hell he got himself into. In his words, they were thick, goopy, and he didn’t know if he was wearing one pair or seven pairs. Sounds about right.
As for me, I’d never tried this type of ultra-trendy eye patch, but after seeing these types of products in 100,000 beauty videos, I was very excited to give them a go. Unlike some others with a fabric base, these flimsy little glittery gels are goopy and translucent. They stick to your face pretty darn well with minimal sliding. I guess I’d appreciate some kind of diagram or directions because that shape is not exactly intuitive, you know what I mean? Does the fat end of the comma go under your eyes or on the outside edge where crows feet form? Who knows, but also… who cares?
These wee luxuries are meant to make you feel pampered while adding a big dose of nutrients and moisture into some of the most delicate skin on your whole face, and they do a great job, as far as I’m concerned. $24 might seem a little steep, but there are many, many, many applications in this one container. I’ve seen high end skincare brands charge this much for a single application, so I’m going to go ahead and call this product a budget skincare winner.
Where to Find Derma E Vitamin C Skincare:
Derma E isn’t exactly a difficult brand to find. They’re in most major drugstores and beauty stores, plus you can find them all over the internet due to their mostly vegan, low irritant status and highly accessible price point.
If you love this vitamin C business, I highly suggest grabbing this bundle from Derma E’s website which includes the concentrated serum and some other products from the line. Or if you’re a little bit more of a curious-but-financially-conservative type, this little travel set is only $10.95 and includes the cleansing paste and concentrated serum in miniature form plus that microdermabrasion scrub I was preaching about at the beginning of this post.
Otherwise, you can find Derma E’s Vitamin C skincare line at these fine retailers:
| iHerb Cleansing Paste, $13.95 Concentrated Serum, $24.50 Hydro Gel Patches, $24 | Ulta Cleansing Paste, $13.95 Concentrated Serum, $19.99 Hydro Gel Patches, $24 | Target Cleansing Paste, $15.59 Concentrated Serum, $24.49 Hydro Gel Patches, N/A |