Price: RM89.90 ($22)

(RM71 after coupon discounts purchased NattaCosme on 11street.my)

Verdict: 0/10

Repurchase: No.

Price & Shop

I bought these from NattaCosme on 11street.my using some coupons that brought the price down. I believe I had a 20% off coupon so it was about RM71, which wasn't a bad deal for the price of an OST20 C21.5 considering Wishtrend is selling it for $24.99.

I've mentioned it before and I'll mention it again, but delivery for NattaCosme is absolutely amazing. If you're not from Malaysia, they do ship internationally for good prices. Here's their website. I'm neither sponsored nor affiliated with the shop. I'm just awed by how efficient they work.

Ingredients & Directions

Ingredients (from wishtrend): Hippophae Rhamnoides Water (70%), Ascorbic Acid (21.5%), Sodium Lactate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Cassia Obtusifolia Seed Extract, Allantoin, Xanthan Gum, Ethyl Hexanediol

Because the main ingredient in the product (other than fancy water) is Ascorbic Acid, or L-Ascorbic Acid that, in this product, is highly unstable, this product has to be finished within a short time of opening. It also has to be kept in low temperature in a cool, dark space and moved minimally to reduce oxidizing.

Vitamin C in skincare is a powerful antioxidant that can fade hyperpigmentation, increase photoprotection, and stimulate collagen production. It's basically a magic active that is mildly exfoliating. The other ingredients include Sodium Lactate (pH adjusting agent), Sodium Hyaluronate (moisturizing form of hyaluronic acid), Hippophai Rhamnoides (antioxidant), Panthenol (alcohol), ect. Very minimalistic, which is great. A noted absense in this upgrade from C20 is Vitamin E, which many other have voiced their disappointment over.

Texture and Directions

The liquid in the dropper bottle is clear and only slightly yellowish. It smells a little fruity but the smell is almost indiscernable unless I'm sniffing this directly. The thing feels and spreads like water and absorbs very easily.

Since it is pH sensitive, I'm careful to apply a pH adjusting toner prior to application. You could also wait 20 minutes for your skin's pH to decrease. Likewise, if your cleanser has a low pH already, you wouldn't need an additional pH adjusting toner or wait.

After applying the serum, I wait 20 minutes before moving on with my routine, such as adding more actives or just going straight to my hydrating lotion. The serum dries well without leaving a sticky residue. It absorbs fast.

Performance

Ahhhhhhh. It's been a good four almost five months since I first started using the OST C21.5 vitamin c serum. I've been using this diligently every day for the past three months, so I'm more confident sharing my thoughts on this serum. Prior to that, I was using this every other day or less. The serum did not oxidise or even turn champagne coloured before I finished with it, which I take as a small victory.

Unfortunately, that's the only visible success I can share regarding this serum. I've heard so many awesome things about this in terms of brightening, healing pigmentation, and fading sun spots and pimple scars that I kind of expected it to work magic on my skin. After a month of seeing no visible changes, I upped the dosage from every other day to every day. Two months later, I was still hopeful, thinking it would take time. Now, almost at the end of three months of diligent, everyday usage, my skin is still the same as it was before, plus a few more pimple scars as giant f-you's to my face and hopes of this working.

Not only did it not work, my skin is now worse than it was before I started using it. Granted there were factors involved, such as stress in my daily life which caused my skin to breakout, this really didn't do what it was supposed to. If I were to take a picture, you would see clear skin prior and acne scars after, which was just... massively disappointing for how expensive this is.

Still, with skin, it's always different and it being effective for everybody didn't necessarily meant it would work on me. Maybe it's quietly doing its anti-aging magic on my skin but I can't see it? Regardless, I've since purchased a vitamin c replacement for this! Here:

Replacement

Since it didn't work at all for me, I can't really give you a pros and cons section. It didn't brighten or even my skin tone, it didn't disminish or fade hyperpigmentation, it didn't unclog pore, it didn't improve my skin complexion. It basically didn't do anything it said it would.

I'm tempted to get the OST C20, the pre-upgraded version because I've read reviews about that working better for some. Still, I have my fingers crossed that the replacement, Melano CC, which is also a vitamin c serum but with a more stabler formula, would work on my skin. ^^