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If you’re even remotely interested in skincare, then the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Serum will ring a bell. After all, incorporating an antioxidant-rich vitamin C serum in your daily routine is essential to fighting off visible signs of aging while also protecting the skin from—and reversing—pollution damage, free radicals and the sun’s harmful rays.
Best SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Serum Dupes at a Glance
- Best Overall: Sunday Riley C.E.O. Vitamin C Brightening Serum Duo, $116
- Best Overall, Cheaper: Timeless Skin Care 20% C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum, $34
- Best Natural Skincare: Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum, $30
- Best With Vitamin E: SkinMedica Vitamin C+E Complex, $109
- Best With Kojic Acid: Urban Skin Rx Even Tone Super Glow Serum, $22
- Best Lightweight Formula: Pevonia Vitaminic Concentrate, $63.50
- Most Stabilized Formula: Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Power Serum, $95
- Best With Ferulic Acid: Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty Vitamin C+B+E Ferulic Serum, $145
- Best With Peptides: Paula’s Choice C15 Super Booster, $55
- Best for Cellular Turnover: Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, $79
Vitamin C is lauded for its unrivaled power to visibly fade dark spots, soften the appearance of fine lines, combat dullness, and improve overall elasticity (read: firmness). Unfortunately, it’s an active ingredient that’s pretty challenging to stabilize, making skincare products made with it among the pricier ones on the market.
While there’s a slew of popular (and effective) vitamin C skincare products available in an array of different price points and formulations, the coveted C E Ferulic Serum by SkinCeuticals is one of the most raved about and best-selling options you’ll find today. It’s also one of the most expensive. While paying the price for good skin is considered a worthy investment for some, we did some research to track down actual dupes for this coveted serum that have similar formulations of active ingredients but cost a fraction of the price.
Is SkinCeuticals Vitamin C Worth It?
“Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that protects the skin from damaging free radicals in the environment,” says Dr. Jeannette Graf, a board-certified dermatologist and assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mt Sinai School of Medicine. “As a result, it can prevent early signs of aging and hyperpigmentation, brighten and even skin tone, and help with acne,” she adds. On top of that, vitamin C can help stabilize collagen, making it an essential nutrient for boosting collagen production and improving elasticity and firmness.
With these key benefits in mind, adding a vitamin C serum to your routine is a no-brainer. But do you actually need a pricey formula like the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic? The answer is maybe. Albeit an investment formula, there’s a reason why so many dermatologists and beauty editors recommend this vitamin C serum — it actually works. This formula is like anti-aging in a bottle, thanks to its ability to reduce wrinkles and discoloration, improve firmness and elasticity, and even skin tone and texture. It’s also clinically proven to reduce up to 48% of damage caused by environmental aggressors (think: free radicals from the sun, pollution, and metals).
But, as much as we love this formula, it is pricey and there are several other superstar serums elevated by very similar ingredients for a fraction of the price.
What Are the Key Ingredients in SkinCeuticals Vitamin C Serum?
The cult-favorite SkinCeuticals serum is enriched with 15 percent vitamin C, 1 percent vitamin E, and 0.5 percent ferulic acid. Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that, as Dr. Graf explains, can transform the complexion by brightening skin tone, increasing cellular turnover, boosting collagen production, and improving elasticity. Vitamin E is another antioxidant-rich ingredient that helps neutralize free radicals (aka, those pesky things in our environment that cause skin damage) and also nourishes the skin. Ferulic acid is a plant-based antioxidant that helps target premature signs of aging. It’s also like a trusty sidekick for vitamins C and E since it can actually enhance their activity.
What Are Some Other Brands That Make Good Vitamin C Products
Aside from SkinCeuticals, there are several other brands that make good vitamin C products. We love Timeless Skin Care for its 20% C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum, which is comparable to the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic. If you’re looking for something with a little more oomph, the Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty Vitamin C+B+E Ferulic Serum features vitamin B and hyaluronic acid, which hydrates the skin and improves moisture retention. For a natural vitamin C serum, try the Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum with Vitamin E. As its name suggests, this serum contains vitamins C and E, plus konjac root, hyaluronic acid, and ferulic acid to brighten skin tone and improve overall texture.
SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic
One of the reasons that the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Serum is so hard to mimic is its unique and patented blend of active ingredients (15 percent L-ascorbic acid, 1 percent vitamin E, and 0.5 percent ferulic acid) in each bottle. This is important because if the formulation isn’t properly balanced, not only might it be less effective, but because vitamin C has a pretty short shelf life, it can go “bad” as early as one to two months after opening the bottle. To prevent this from happening, SkinCeuticals has formulated and packaged the serum to remain stable and effective for up to six months after opening the bottle. (Light exposure can essentially destroy vitamin C’s potency, by the way.)
If you Google this ever-popular serum, you’ll find plenty of reviews from beauty editors, dermatologists and loyal users of the product touting its skin-transforming benefits and promising that it’s worth the steep price tag. However, if you can’t fathom tossing out nearly $200 on a serum, you don’t have to. We gathered seven solid options that reviewers swear deliver comparable results without the price tag.
RELATED: I Found a $17 Vitamin C Serum That Fades My Dark Spots Like No Other
Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. QVC is a STYLECASTER sponsor, however, all products in this article were independently selected by our editors. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.
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Sunday Riley C.E.O. Vitamin C Brightening Serum Duo
Image Credit: QVC Sunday Riley C.E.O. Vitamin C Brightening Serum Duo
If you love the idea of brighter-looking skin with less noticeable wrinkles, the Sunday Riley C.E.O. Vitamin C Brightening Serum is worth the splurge. You can find this potent formula is a two-pack on QVC for $116 (which comes out to $58 a bottle), making it one of the best Sunday Riley deals around. This serum is formulated with a creamy texture and features 15% vitamin C for skin-brightening benefits.“I’ve used this vitamin C serum on and off for years and it’s one of my go-to formulas for addressing dullness caused by my ultra-dry skin. I only use one pump in the mornings and notice a significant difference in my skin’s glow after just a few days of regular use.”—Jessie Quinn, Contributing Writer
If you’re new to QVC, you can get $30 off this duo with promo code WELCOME30!
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Timeless Skin Care 20% C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum
Like the SkinCeuticals serum, this $34 dupe is formulated with 20 percent vitamin C in the form of L-ascorbic acid, one percent vitamin E and 0.5 percent ferulic acid. Pick up this one if you need a stronger formulation, but the previous Timeless product is great for beginners/introducing vitamin C into your skincare routine. It also contains hydration-boosting hyaluronic acid for added anti-aging power. This serum’s blend of active ingredients is a near dupe to the original, as it sits at the top of SKINSKOOL’s list of alternatives. -
Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum
Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum
In addition to vitamin C, Mad Hippie’s serum contains vitamin E, ferulic acid, konjac root and hyaluronic acid. One reviewer who has tried both serums wrote, “The Mad Hippie formula works just as well, feels better going on because it has more slip and has produced the results that I expected of it. My skin’s overall texture has improved, brown spots have faded and my complexion is brighter. As a skincare junky who has tried just about everything, I highly recommend it!” -
SkinMedica Vitamin C+E Complex
Image Credit: SkinMedica SkinMedica Vitamin C+E Complex
For another formula that can revitalize your complexion in the same way that SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic does, look no further than SkinMedica Vitamin C+E Complex. This serum might be a luxe formula but it’s got a much lower price tag compared to SkinCeuticals and can work its magic to brighten and even out the skin tone while also protecting against free radials, thanks to its potent antioxidants. -
Paula’s Choice C15 Super Booster
Image Credit: Paula’s Choice. Paula’s Choice C15 Super Booster
Like the SkinCeuticals serum, this $55 vitamin C product contains nearly the same blend of the holy trinity of actives. It contains 15 percent stabilized vitamin C with a pH of 3.0 and a blend of peptides. Another bonus of this product is that you can either wear it alone or mix it in with your favorite moisturizer or primer without it pilling under your foundation. All of this checks out since the serum is included in SKINSKOOL’s list of SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic alternatives. -
Urban Skin Rx Super Glow Serum
Image Credit: Urban Skin Rx. Urban Skin Rx Even Tone Super Glow Serum
Coming in at a super affordable $22, Urban Skin Rx’s Even Tone Super Glow Serum blends 10 percent ascorbic acid, 2 percent kojic acid, niacinamide, and ferulic acid. Its ingredient list slightly differs from the SkinCeuticals best-seller, but it still yields similar results. The serum’s aim is to brighten dark spots and reduce the look of sun damage and visible signs of aging. According to SKINSKOOL, it’s pretty darn close to its SkinCeuticals counterpart. -
Pevonia Vitaminic Concentrate
Image Credit: Pevonia Pevonia Vitaminic Concentrate
Just like the C E Ferulic formula, the Pevonia Vitaminic Concentrate is packed with vitamins that are ultra-beneficial to your skin. It’s formulated with vitamins A and E, along with safflower seed oil, squalane, azulene, and mandarin orange peel oil to hydrate and brighten the skin. As a result, the complexion appears more supple with a revitalized glow. -
Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Power Serum
Image Credit: Peter Thomas Roth Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Power Serum
The trio of powerhouse ingredients, 20 percent vitamin C, three percent vitamin E, and two percent ferulic acid, combine in this rich and moisturizing serum. The opaque jar with a pump dispenser is designed to keep light, air and bacteria from mixing with the delicate vitamins and actives in the formula so that it stays potent (as the name suggests) and stable for longer—meaning the last drop will be just as strong as the first. -
Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty Vitamin C Serum
Image Credit: Dr. Lara Devgan. Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty Vitamin C+B+E Ferulic Serum
On top of vitamin C, vitamin E, and ferulic acid, this serum from Dr. Lara Devgan contains vitamin B and hyaluronic acid to smooth and hydrate skin. Above all, it helps fade dark spots, increase skin elasticity, and minimize the appearance of wrinkles. That sounds like a product description for SkinCeuticals’ C E Ferulic, am I right? SKINSKOOL sure thinks so. -
Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum
Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum
While the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum is another cult favorite when it comes to skincare—and certainly not the most wallet-friendly option on the list—it’s still almost 50 percent cheaper than the SkinCeuticals serum. This serum also is formulated with its own patented blend of antioxidants, including 15 percent of vitamin C, as well as vitamin E and ferulic acids (these percentage levels aren’t listed), plus pumpkin ferment extract and pomegranate enzyme, which help to accelerate the turnover of dead skin cells.
It has a 3.3 pH level, making it less irritating on sensitive skin, and claims to last up to 72 hours—even when the product’s been rubbed off. Endless reviewers of this serum claim that it reduces the appearance of their pores, restores luminosity to their skin and is less sticky (and therefore under-makeup-friendly) than other vitamin C serums on the market.
