Background: Vitamin C is commonly used to treat aged skin. It has shown regenerative effects on skin wrinkles, texture, strength, and evenness of tone through its roles as an antioxidant, tyrosinase inhibitor, and inducer of collagen synthesis. Available vitamin C formulations on the anti-aging skin care market vary by their pH, packaging, and vehicle, which may decrease absorption, and therefore, the efficacy of the product.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the subjective efficacy, wearability, tolerance and overall preference of two professional vitamin C topical serums and sunscreens in Caucasian females using a split face method.
Methods: A virtual split-face study of 39 Caucasian women compared two popular vitamin C and SPF product combinations - C-ESTA® Face Serum and Marini Physical Protectant SPF 45 (Jan Marini Skin, San Jose, CA; Products A) and CE Ferulic® and Physical Fusion UV Defense SPF 50 (Products B; SkinCeuticals Inc, Garland, TX). The products were assigned to each subject's left or right side of the face, and subjects rated and compared products through 5 online surveys at baseline, 24 hours, days 3, 7, and 14.
Results: Over 86% of the 35 subjects who completed the study preferred the smell and 83% preferred the feel and application of vitamin C Serum A over Serum B. Seventy-one percent of subjects preferred the feel and application of Sunscreen A over Sunscreen B. Results also showed a significant skin texture improvement and skin tone with Products A vs Product B. Products A trended higher for multiple additional categories.
Conclusions: Products A exhibited superior anti-aging benefits than Products B. Subjects preferred the smell, feel, and application of Products A and experienced significantly less irritation than Products B. Overall, Products A were preferred over Products B with subjects willing to pay more for Products A over Products B.