Obagi Medical - Professional-C Serum 15%

The medium-concentration vitamin C serum, and for most skin types, the balance between potency and tolerability.

Why it works

Vitamin C is primarily an antioxidant. Every day, sun, pollution, and stress create free radicals that damage collagen and cell structures. Vitamin C neutralizes these before they can cause harm. The fact that your complexion gradually looks more even and brighter is the result of that protective work, not a bleaching effect.

This serum contains fifteen percent L-ascorbic acid, the pure form your skin can use immediately. It also contains ascorbyl glucoside, a more stable variant that is released more slowly, so the effect is more consistent.

The texture is light and watery, absorbs quickly, and does not interfere with makeup.

For whom

For normal to oily, normal to dry, or combination skin. This is the concentration I recommend to most people: strong enough to make a difference, gentle enough to use every day.

If your skin is easily irritated or you are just starting out, the Professional-C Serum 10% is a gentler start. If you have been tolerating vitamin C without any issues for years, you can move up to 20%.

Also, if you are mainly concerned with fine lines rather than dark spots: your skin needs vitamin C to produce collagen, the supporting tissue that keeps it firm. A good first step against wrinkles, especially if your skin does not (yet) tolerate retinol.

How to use it

In the morning, on cleansed and dry skin, before your cream. Five to seven drops for the face and neck, gently press in, let absorb for a minute. Always finish with sun protection: vitamin C and sunscreen reinforce each other, and without the latter, you get much less out of the former.

Use it in the morning and not in the evening, and not in the same application as a retinol or an acid.

What I would like to share

A vitamin C serum has a shelf life that only starts once you open it. Count on three to six months, and store it in a dark, cool place with the cap tightly closed. If the liquid turns dark orange or brown, its potency is gone. That is not a product defect, that is chemistry.

And don't expect a transformation in a week. During the first few weeks, what happens is primarily something you cannot see: protection. What you will gradually notice, after about eight weeks, is that your skin looks fresher in the morning and pigment spots are less sharply defined. A high concentration can also make the skin feel a bit drier, so a light moisturizer on top is a sensible step.

Are you unsure which concentration suits your skin? Feel free to send me a message, and we can look into it together.