As part of my 40-day product road-test, I have been using this once-a-day Vitamin C product.
But first, a reminder of Vitamin C’s importance…
Vitamin C is all the rage in skincare – and rightly so, as L-Ascorbic Acid (the form of Vitamin C that has the most research on it in the public domain), in its stabilised form has been shown to increase the collagen content of skin. Collagen is one of the first victims of intrinsic and extrinsic ageing, and therefore, anything that helps collagen formation in the skin is an all around good guy.
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The problem with Vitamin C…
The problem with L-Ascorbic Acid is that it is viciously unstable: Clinique’s L-Ascorbic Acid changes colour from a white to a light yellow fluid within days of opening the packaging (two days for me at the moment). This colour change indicates the Vitamin C has oxidized and frankly at this point, its utility to your skin (vs. the price you are paying is zero).
What is the NIOD product?
In English, what NIOD are saying is: stabilised L-Ascorbic Acid and it won’t oxidize over time. The lack of oxidation is demonstrated by the fact that it remains a transparent liquid and won’t turn to a light yellow liquid as other L-Ascorbic Acid formulations do.
In this instance, NIOD’s explanation on how stability is achieved is the best explanation:
NIOD’s ELAN wins against all of the above battles. It uses a pure form of L-Ascorbic Acid in ethylated form—which costs nearly 100 times more than pure Vitamin C—that is extremely stable in all conditions including in presence of water—but NIOD doesn’t simply rely on the stability achieved by mere ethylation: 1) ELAN has solubilized this compound in a specialized water-free ether through NIOD’s own pending patent so that all of the Vitamin C can be utilized; 2) This novel solubilization avoids the use of any water which, regardless of the ethylation, prevents any oxidation of Vitamin C in the formula; and 3) The Vitamin C is supported by the addition of Superoxide Dismutase, Selenium and Zinc, to form the novel concept of an antioxidant network (referred to as “Network Antioxidants” in studies) which allows for renewal and reuse of antioxidants in a cyclic life to allow them to remain active through multiple stages of binding to free molecules of oxygen. While these networked antioxidants are provided to achieve sustained activity of Vitamin C, their additional value extend beyond this sustainment as each provides known benefits to the skin.
Source: NIOD’s website
How about the % of L-Ascorbic Acid?
Honestly, I have not seen any published research paper that says that 30% L-Ascorbic Acid is superior in performance delivery to 10%. However, such research may exist – just not in the public domain. It really doesn’t matter if this is a 30%, 20% or 10% L-Ascorbic Acid product, provided it delivers.
What is my experience of using this product?
There is a slight heat, tinging sensation when I apply this product. And while NIOD write, “the initial tone-enhancing benefits of ELAN will be noticeable from the third day of once-daily use, benefits at-large are continuing and cumulative.”
I immediately noticed lighter skin the morning after I used this product.
These are my BEFORE and AFTER photos
Before photo
After photo
Photo of the ELAN from the bottle
Would I buy this product again?
The skin-lightening effect of this product would be dramatically different were it not for the fact that (i) the average daily temperature where I live is 40 C+ and (ii) on average, I spend at least 60 minutes outside per day at about 4pm. Given that context, it is an absolute miracle (or science!) that this product has produced visible and noticeable skin lightening.
I definitely will be buying this product again and at US$ 49 it is a bargain.
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