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asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum

23. October 2013

EDIT: A new version of the  O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum has been released, which is called C21.1 Advanced Serum. If you have sensitive skin I can recommend you to check out the review on the new formula >>here<<.

A couple of month ago I took part in one of Wishtrend’s giveaways and I was very lucky to be chosen as one of the winners. Around two weeks later I got a package from Wishtrend containing the popular O.S.T. Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum. I’ve read a couple of reviews for this serum before and it did seem to work greatly on most of the reviewers, so I was especially curious for the effects.

O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum

The brand O.S.T or C20 is best known for exactly this serum reviewed here. O.S.T or C20 belongs to the same manufacturer as COSRX and Ciracle and is a Korean brand. The signature packaging of the O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum is the orange cardboard box containing a brown glass bottle with an orange label. Many people will ask themselves why to use a vitamin C serum in their skincare routine? Usually, Vitamin C serums help to keep your skin nourished. Vitamin C can help brighten your skin, it can act as chemical peeling when used in a high concentration and it has anti-aging properties. Sounds promising!

The O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum  has a volume of 30 ml and a shelf-life of 12 months after opening, although, since it is a vitamin C serum which oxidizes by time, you should use it up as quickly as possible. The cardboard box shows the detailed Korean description of the packaging. You can find English description on Wishtrend.
O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum Ingredients of the O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum are:
Water, Ascorbic Acid, Ethanol, Sodium Lactate, Butylene Glycol, Glucose, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Rosa Davurica Bud Extract, Carthamus Tinctorius Flower Extract, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil. Sodium Hyaluronate, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Diethoxyethyl Succinate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Xanthan, PEG-180, Gluconolactone, Beta-Glucan, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Zinc PCA, Panthenol, Niacinamide, Glycerin, Tocopherylacetate, Lecithin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Ubiquinone, Diisopropyladipate, phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben

O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum

According to COSDNA the ingredients of this vitamin C serum are safe to use. There are some minor irritants though. Apart from vitamin C, the key ingredient, the O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum contains a mostly different moisturizers, some plant extracts as antioxidants, but also alcohol (Ethanol). Methylparaben is also listed in the ingredients. Sodium lactate, hyaluronic acid and niacinamide are some of the positive ingredients here, acting as moisturizer and brightener. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and thus can prevent our skin from aging early. The content of Vitamin C in this serum is very high compared to other vitamin C serum. It contains 20 % vitamin C. You have to know that a high concentration of Vitamin C doesn’t mean automatically that it is more effective concerning anti-aging. Normally, a high concentration of Vitamin C aims at a visible effect, because it tends to operate as a peeling by loosening dead and old cells. This is not a bad effect and stimulates the skin to regenerate itself, but keep in mind that it won’t affect the inner cell layers of your skin which have to be aimed if you really want an anti-aging effect.

The orange color of the packaging may be simple, but it reminds people of orange fruits, especially oranges, which makes them think about vitamin C automatically. The bottle inside comes with a sealed cap and a separately packed pipette. The pipette is very useful for the application of the serum and makes it possible to apply the serum carefully. Since vitamin C can oxidize the brown bottle is a good choice to prevent this, but you are even more safe if you store it additionally in the fridge, because warm/high temperatures can degrade the vitamin C as well.
Also make sure to close the cap of the bottle always tightly! As you can see in the image above, the color of the serum is a very light yellow. The color becomes more pigmented the longer you keep the serum, so it is best to use it as soon as possible, once the bottle is opened. A strong yellow color only means your vitamin C serum has oxidized!
As to the structure of the serum: it is a bit less fluid than water, similar to oil and has a similar thick consistency. When applied on the skin it leaves the skin with stickiness. I had no problems with the stickiness as long as I applied it only before sleeping. During daytime I didn’t want to have the sticky feeling. Finally, I started mixing 2-3 drops of the serum with my toner or moisturizer in the morning, which worked great and was much less sticky than putting it on your skin alone. The scent reminds me a bit of oranges. So, what effects did this serum have on my skin? I tested it for around 2 months now and it does some nice work on the skin: my skin feels more even and smooth and appears cleaner. I didn’t see a whitening effect or any effects on my black-/whiteheads (but I really don’t have many of them to begin with…). It seems the peeling effect by the vitamin C works really nice and the skin regenerates itself a bit, resulting in the nice feeling of my skin which I had. Since I liked the effect of it I can recommend you to try O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum by yourself. Perhaps it improves your skin, too and/or even helps with the other skin problems. One negative part I recognized was, that the serum stings the first few minutes after application. After a while this effect is not noticeable anymore though. If you tend to have dry skin like me, this serum can be a bit drying, but you can either mix the serum with a moisturizer or apply moisturizer afterwards.
I really like the O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum! It is affordable compared to other concentrated vitamin C serums and it is effective in terms of smoothing your face and making it look healthier. EDIT, since I can know compare this Vitamin C serum to the reformulated O.S.T C20 Pure Vitamin C21.5 Advanced Serum: The O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum is much more intense than the O.S.T C20 Pure Vitamin C21.5 Advanced Serum. On the other hand the C21.5 doesn’t contain any parabens or other artificial ingredients. It doesn’t contain alcohol either. Also, it is not as sticky and doesn’t sting as much as the C20. Nevertheless, I had the feeling that the C20 was more effective on my skin. I had more visible results on my skin. Which of the two is the better serum for your skin I cannot tell, but I can recommend you to try rather the C21.1 if your skin is very sensitive. Go for the cheaper C20 if you have quite normal skin. Both serum, the old and the new version can be purchased at Wishtrend. The old O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 comes with free shipping and retails for 14.99 US$ at the moment, which is really affordable for a vitamin C serum. The new O.S.T C20 Pure Vitamin C21.5 Advanced Serum retails for 24.99 US$. Both bottles contain 30 ml. Check out my blog for the monthly coupon codes for your shopping experience at Wishtrend. Also, keep in mind their friend-referral program: You can receive a 5 Us$ referral coupon if you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration and you’ll receive this voucher immediately. There will be a specific field in your registration form called “friends invitation program” where you can put the code mentioned above. This way new customers can safe 5 US$ which is a great possibility to safe some money.
Rating:

  http://www.wishtrend.com/?a_aid=berriesinthesnow

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Skinfood Black Sugar Perfect First Serum

4. October 2013
When discovered that my latest order from Keautystore contained a sample of Skinfood’s Black Sugar Perfect First Serum I was really excited. I’ve been using the Black Sugar Scrub foam for some time now and it is really a product I like a lot. Let’s see what my first impression based on Skinfood’s Black Sugar Perfect First Serum Sample is:

My review is based on a sample, that’s why I cannot say anything about the bottle the serum is provided in full size. But it comes with special cotton pads with two sides. These two sides are necessary for the suggested application of the product. One side of these pads is rougher, and the other side is smooth. With the rough side you have to wipe your skin, in order to remove dirt and dead cells, with the second and smoother side you pat the skin in order that it absorbs the remaining serum.  The pads provided by Skinfood here, are supposed to be robust. You can use any other robust cotton pad with two different sides, that’s at least what I did.

Here is the description taken from Keautystore:
A first serum that provides exfoliating, brightening, wrinkle-smoothing and hydrating benefits in a single formula. Use daily for soft, smooth skin.
Hoe to use:
Immediately after cleansing put a generous amount onto a cotton pad and wipe over the face.
Shake well before use.
As much as I know, black sugar is a dark brown sugar with high molasses favour. It is rich in potassium, iron, calcium and other minerals. Brown and black sugar are often used as skin exfoliator, as in the Black sugar Foam Scrub. Also here they help to remove the dead cells in the wiping step. Also, molasses contains vitamin B, which is an antioxidant that prevents and reverses signs of photo-aging of the skin. Another positive fact of this product is that it doesn’t contain benzophenone, mineral oil, silicon, acrylamide, talc, or sulfate.

This picture belongs to Skinfood
The serum itself is a clear liquid. I applied it on a cotton pad and wiped it over my skin, after using a cleanser before. Looking at the cotton pad there was still a visible amount of dirt and dead cells which were removed. Afterwards I did the pat-movement with the other side of the cotton pad until the serum was absorbed. I felt a slight remain of stickiness. Since you should continue with the rest of your skincare routine after using the serum I added a moisturizer on my face. After this step the stickiness was no problem anymore.

 

The skin feels clean and clear afterwards, but I didn’t see an immediate brightening effect. The sample sachet contains enough serum for 3-4 times use, but I don’t know if this is enough to observe any long term effects like brightening. Thinking about it’s anti-aging properties, I’d say that the benefits of antioxidants on preventing photo-damaging are known. Since this products contains vitamin B through the black sugar I hope that this will do its job ;)All in all, this serum is quite promising and worth a try. I’d be curious to try the full size product, especially the cotton pads provided extra for the product.

You can buy the full size product containing 120 ml at Keautystore. If you decide to buy something at Keautystore I can offer you a 5 % coupon code that they provided me. So if you plan to order at their store you can put my email address in the “referred email” box (which would make me very happy ^_^) and use coupon code listed below:


5 % coupon code: blog115 

 

 
Here is the banner and Link to their store:
(Also, if you order there, you can write reviews for the products and the samples you got and earn reward points. This is really a nice idea for review junkies. You can get 1 $ per review and additional credit for images.)
Here are a couple of shops were you can buy the serum:
Keautystore:  US$ 42.00 (shipping is not included)
W2Beauty: US$ 30.09 (free shipping option)
KollectionK: US$ 33.99 (shipping depends on country)
Mootta: US$ 21.00 (free shipping for orders from US$ 50 onwards)
Testerkorea: around US$ 21 (shipping depends on weight)
Rating: