Balance Active Formula Vitamin C Serum

Hyperpigmentation and barrier repair are two of my major skincare concerns and they come hand in hand: A weak barrier causes all the random product-related break out (which turn into dark spots) and many spot removal products can be so exfoliating that they ended up giving me thinner skin, weaker barrier and guess what...more spots at the end. It was a vicious cycle that took quite some effort and money to break.

Even though Vitamin C is a known effective ingredient for fading all the spots, it wasn't easy to find a serum that was affordable, continuously effective yet gentle/non-drying. Today I will show you an affordable one that I like.
Balance Active Formula is a simple, science-y(but not too heavy on the science-marketing) brand from the UK. I saw it from Marshall and decided to get it after a quick google search. It was only 6 bucks (Vitamin C isn't expensive anyway) so there wasn't much to lose.

According to the box, the three main main components are vitamin C (sodium ascorbyl phosphate and ascorbyl glucoside), olive extract and Zinc PCA (an antimicrobial Zinc salt).
The serum has a light golden color that might turn darker in a few months (it could be in my head, since SAP is supposed to be stable). It's more viscous that water but isn't syrupy or thick. The texture is dry and easily spreadable on the face. It happens to be quite heavily fragranced for a skincare item but the floral overload helps me to gauge usage instead. 

As serum to even out and brighten skin tone, the effect is rather visible and the formula is a bit drying, but not too stripping on my face. During dryer months, I had to give myself a little break, alternate between this and niacinamide to avoid overexfoliation (which is always a: product away from me). Otherwise, it's certainly something I could continuously use to actually see the effects.

I am on my second bottle right now but won't go out of my way to buy it from oversea sellers. Freshness is an issue and there are many options around when it comes to brightening products. If you see it at Marshall or TJ, it's certainly worth your lunch money for the day.

Comments

  1. Ooh, please keep it coming! I am interested in reading about different Vitamin C products! I might go back to Jeffrey James Light at some point because it is effective and fairly moisturizing by itself, but this time I repurchased HABA White Lady for the 5th time.

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    1. I love haba white lady as well (I am waiting to finish my first tube before reviewing mine). Luckily I use my Amazon reward pts on it so it's not as pricey.Sephora was giving away Dennis Gross serum samples with purchase so I was trying that as well. It's smells and feels a bit yucky though.

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