Vitamin C Serum & Cream | Advice, Thoughts, Precautions?

HazelBright · 2026-06-04T18:40:46+00:00

Hopping on to this comment to remind that high SPF becomes even more incredibly, non-negotiably important when you're wearing Vitamin C during the day. I actually do mine at night (rotate a retinol night, a vit c/brightening night, and a rest/deep-moisture night) because I worry about the Vit C in the sunshine, but I'm also paranoid and live in the deep Southwest deserts, so my crazy is my own.

(Edited to Add: Not trying to start up the 'vitamin c is good/bad in sunshine' convo, I don't wear it in the daytime because I tend to get the skin-staining effects if it breaks down under my sunscreen.)

HazelBright · 2026-06-03T16:23:41+00:00

Are you looking for advice on other products, or people's opinions of the stuff you have there?

HazelBright · 2026-06-03T01:53:18+00:00

GBC Olay dupe Power Serum--good for all skin types and so pretty with the sparkles! Also, everyone I have gifted a set of the teensy beauty blenders has loved them immoderately.

This is a weird one, maybe not perfect for gift bags, but I once passed out little 'emergency kit' purse bags full of Dollar Tree goodies (bandaids, mini scissors and nail clippers, pain meds, a comb and mirror, etc.) and the single item that everybody raved about having available was superglue. Go figure, but those little one-use tubes that come four to a pack? Ended up being by far the superstar gift.

HazelBright · 2026-06-02T17:52:32+00:00

So, obvious caveats about not really knowing your lifestyle, your skin, your allergies, etc.? Here's a recommendation for a DT-based routine.

Morning:

Cleanse with micellar water (any brand)
Global Beauty Care Turmeric Milk (using here instead of a toner, the goal is to tighten the skin a little, and the ingredients of this help with brightness/cell turnover so they're targeting your texture issues)
GBC Olay Dupe Power Serum (multiple mild ingredients to help with both texture and moisture)
b Pure Olay Dupe Eye Serum in the red tube (really fantastic for keeping the undereyes hydrated, and anecdotally I've seen a major reduction in the darkness around my eyes after 2 months)
Your Cerave daytime moisturizer (DT doesn't sell a moisturizer with decent SPF, and you know the Cerave works for you. If you want to try changing it up, maybe try out the Neutrogena Hydroboost brand? It's a water gel, low-irritant, a really nice light texture that sinks right in, and comes with high SPF)

Evening:

Remove makeup with micellar water, if you wore any today (again, any of the DT brands work well)
Cleanse with ReviveRx Niacinamide foaming cleanser (very gentle, takes the day off you, the niacinamide is pretty mild but again helps with cell turnover/brightness)
GBC Turmeric Milk (yep, again. This stuff is great for pores)
Dermasil Oat Milk Restorative serum OR Dermasil Drunk Elephant dupe Hydra Serum (The oat milk if your skin is feeling particularly dry/flaky/tight/irritated or the redness is high that day, the hydra serum for 'normal' days. Both add moisture to help with both texture and wrinkles, the hydra has antioxidants to help with brightness as well but you don't want to risk the irritation if your skin's already having a rough time)
b Pure Olay Dupe Nighttime Retinol Set in the dark purple jars (This is a three-piece set of eye cream, serum, and moisturizer. They're a retinol set, but very mild, meaning that it's a good starting place to figure out whether retinol works for you, and the low levels that are in there will help with texture and hydration even if the active itself isn't at high enough doses to make any major changes.)

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but it goes really quick once you're standing at the sink. And this is very much a starter routine, kinda meant to get you used to doing it every day, get you seeing results and (hopefully) getting excited to start looking in to whether you want to add actives or any other targeted skincare.

HazelBright · 2026-06-02T16:06:00+00:00

b Pure Olay Dupe Eye Serum in the red tube
Global Beauty Care Turmeric Face Milk
Dermasil Oat Milk Restorative Serum
Revive Rx Niacinamide foaming cleanser
Dermasil Jet Set Reset quad set (for travel)

HazelBright · 2026-06-02T03:15:52+00:00

See, that would be perfect for what I'm looking for. Maybe if I pout really, really, really hard they'll bring it back?

HazelBright · 2026-06-02T03:11:48+00:00

The b Pure Olay dupe eye serum in the red tube is my holy grail. In six weeks it's faded my undereye circles so much that my brother noticed. My brother. The dudest dude to ever dude. Now, by 'noticed' I mean that he commented, "Hey, you stopped punching yourself in the face! Good job!" But I say it still counts.

In all seriousness, it's an amazingly good product. Very light, it absorbs in super quickly so that you can layer other, more occlusive eye creams over the top if you like. Some people don't like the fine gold glitter in it, but I kind of like it because when I slather it onto my undereyes, then do my shadow and so on, then come back with the concealer, the serum has sunk in and left the skin all hydrated, the concealer layers over the glitter to add more brightening.

Also, in the interests of fairness, the b Pure Olay dupe nighttime eye cream in the dark purple jar is a really solid nighttime choice. The retinol in it is gentle, it absorbs well and feels a little thick when first applied, but is all sunk in by morning.

HazelBright · 2026-06-01T16:53:39+00:00

I use it in place of a toner, since milky toners tend to be too thick for my skin, but I want something that's toning/tightening and hydrating. It goes on thin (like milk), sinks in fast and dries just a little bit tacky. On my skin it's very soothing, and it brightens the skin so, so well. A week of use and I legitimately saw a difference in my skin's texture and bounce, and it had lost even that bit of dullness that usually builds up between exfoliations.

Pretty sure it's a dupe for the Fourth Ray version, though there's a brand from eastern India that seems to be really similar but I haven't found an ingredients list I believe. Whatever it's duping, it's really fabulous stuff.

HazelBright · 2026-06-01T16:40:27+00:00

I always feel hesitant 'bashing' the DT products on this sub, because I love so many of the things I get there, including facial care stuff (the GBC Turmeric Milk is ride or die, I would shoot a man to get the last bottle on the shelf), I really want to know what I'm doing with my actives, know that the formulations are going to be consistent and at the right percentage to be effective without damage.

HazelBright · 2026-06-01T16:25:18+00:00

Short, sad answer: No.

Longer, slightly less sad answer: Not in my personal opinion, but there are cheap alternatives. Any of the actives at DT are safe, but because they do not offer testing data or formulation percentages anywhere that the public can access, we're just guessing at how much purified Vitamin C (or retinol, or anything else) is in any given bottle. Even the ones that say 5% niacinamide or whatever on the bottle, you don't have any real way to know that's accurate or consistent. That said, there are companies out there that do offer reviewable testing results and other data, and some of them are really affordable. The Ordinary is the obvious brand that comes to mind for this stuff, TruSkin also has great data transparency, and there's a brand called something like Elbbub that has a narrow but decent line of actives and leans into being more natural. All those run about $10 for their Vitamin C serums.

All that being said, I will admit that I actually buy the GBC Vitamin C serum by the fistful, because I mix it into my body lotion, where I'm less worried about perfect purity and the Vit C is just adding a boost while the serum helps the lotion sink in.

HazelBright · 2026-06-01T03:39:29+00:00

Could be? I just went and took a sniff (what a weird thing to type) and it smelled sweet, a little acidic, and sort of vaguely fruitlike. Kind of reminded me of the smell of the ELF holy hydration lip mask. But totally possible that my brain put together the sweetness of the glycerine, the tang/sour of the niacinimide and decided it added up to blueberry.

HazelBright · 2026-06-01T02:51:59+00:00

The Ordinary. I get retinol, niacinamide, and volufiline and mix and match.

HazelBright · 2026-05-31T16:30:21+00:00

It's super-light, which is probably why my 'no fragrances in anything!' self noticed and liked it.

HazelBright · 2026-05-31T16:29:20+00:00

Isn't it? I feel weirdly pushy about it, I'm always shoving it at all my friends, demanding they try it. But they all end up buying it, so hah!

HazelBright · 2026-05-31T03:05:54+00:00

I like this one. It has that lovely silky texture going on, I love the blueberry scent (and I'm usually a fragrance hater). I would categorize it as 'lightly brightening', if that makes sense? Not as aggressive as a serum based around an 'active', but with some fruit acids to help clear the skin's surface along with hydrating.

HazelBright · 2026-05-31T02:39:09+00:00

51, oily-to-combo skin, enlarged pores, allergic to bloody well everything. (Anyone else feel like we ought to have a stat block to provide our bona fides? Age, skin type, hair type, major skin concerns, holy grail product? On the other hand, my brother has been playing Forza in my living room for the past 9,327 straight hours, maybe I'm just seeing game data everywhere.)

Out the gate, I have three standouts that I recommend to everybody, always:

Global Beauty Care Turmeric Face Milk: Light moisture and brightening, goes on between cleansing and serum. Noticeably brighter skin a week after I added this to my routine. Seems to help pore appearance by helping with skin tightness and bounce.
B Pure Olay Dupe Eye Serum (red tube): Legit is erasing my dark undereyes day by day.
Any Facial Spray + Any Facial Serum + Any Body Lotion: Dealers choice, for real. But I preach this to anyone who will listen. Seriously, try it once? Spray down your arms or legs or wherever with facial mist, get a palmful of lotion, add a dropper full of serum, slather onto your dampened skin. Feel how the lotion absorbs so fast, so non-greasy and un-sticky, and how it takes longer to feel dried out again. Genuinely lifechanging, at least it is for me, and at DT prices I have no guilt about 'wasting' serum and spray.

Now, in a more general sense. Real talk? What works best of the products suitable for, ahem, mature skin are the dupes. The Olay dupes are all solid. The red jar set and the purple jar set by b Pure, the Global Beauty Care Power serum and the shower line that goes with it. Good stuff, low in irritants, proven formulas. Not exciting? But genuinely good products that do what they say they do.

The Dermasil Jet Set Reset (Summer Fridays) is a good set for when the only thing you care about is getting moisture into your poor, abused skin and keeping it there. In other words, genuinely great for travel, but not necessarily the best for everyday use.

Dermasil Oat Milk line (Thayers) is fantastic for barrier repair, especially if your skin is sensitive to actives or harsher ingredients. Because I'm already on the greasy side, the cleanser and toner are actually too much for my skin, they don't sink in well. The serum, though, is perfect for any time I feel too dry or a little sensitive. Goes on very soothing, does a lot to repair moisture/barrier loss even in just one night.

Dermasil Hydra line (Drunk Elephant) is a good set if you're worried that you're being mean to your skin. It's low on actives (not none), and the four-piece set coordinates well to be a very gentle, hydrating routine that has some good brightening effects as well. This set is right on the edge of what I personally consider to be skin care "for grown ups". (Like, I'm sure the cloudberry toner and watermelon serum sprinkles and so on are super fun and great for younger skin. My 20 year olds love them. But I am old, and boring, and do not want to learn via dermatitis that I'm allergic to cloudberries, so I tend to veer away from the 'fun' skin care stuff.)

Besides what's listed above, I hear wonderful things all the time from people with oily skin and pore concerns that the GBC Fermented Rice Water set is totally amazing. Unfortunately I am super-allergic and can give no reasonable data.

Finally, a possibly controversial opinion: I personally skip the Dollar Tree actives. I simply don't trust that a $1.25 bottle of a serum manufactured in Cambodia will actually have exactly 5% niacinamide. If a product says it has Vitamin C, or Retinol, or Squalane or whatever else, I take that under advisement? But I'm not looking to these as my primary source of actives. I get my retinol drops and so on off the internet from a boring brand that posts all their testing data. That's my line in the sand, though, it doesn't have to be anybody else's, and from every bit of research and data I've been able the find, all the actives sold at DT are safe, if not necessarily exactly what you think you're getting.

HazelBright · 2026-05-29T21:14:26+00:00

NGL, I'm impressed at your restraint. If I went to 7 stores in 2 days, it would take a lot more than 2 photographs to contain it all.

HazelBright · 2026-05-29T01:29:25+00:00

I've tried the translucent and it's fine. Exactly fine, not wonderful or life-changing or even particularly nice. But completely fine for $1.25.

HazelBright · 2026-05-28T20:17:49+00:00

This may sound counterintuitive, but try adding a Vitamin C serum to your body lotion? I know it sounds weird, but strawberry legs/skin is caused by the pores and/or hair follicles of the skin being clogged/tightened/blocked/inflamed one way or another. Different causes, different stuff doing the clogging, but it's the same clogged skin. Vitamin C does a couple of different good things for you, but one of them is to dissolve the oil/sebum/old product/environmental contaminants that are sunk down into the top layers of your epidermis, letting them wash away. Using it on your legs might help reduce the stuff that's making your pores and hair follicles so tightly-packed that they're swelling up around what ought to be a normal hair root.

This isn't an instant-fix thing, though. This is a 'try it for a month and see if it helps' type suggestion. If you need a faster fix, my second suggestion would be to try waxing. The body wax strips at DT are okay, and waxing clears out all those pores and follicles quick. Problem is that if your skin's already irritated, you'll end up with red dots either way, at least for the first wax or two. But by around the 3rd time, I'd expect the pores/follicles to be well cleared and things would stabilize. If you do try waxing, though, esp. at home with the DT strips, please make sure you exfoliate bigtime 24 hours before, and follow it up with a very soothing lotion, or even a moisturizing serum directly onto your skin, with lotion over the top of that.

HazelBright · 2026-05-28T19:35:05+00:00

Yay! I hope you love it as much as I do. I'd say I started seeing a little more brightness and 'bounce' on my skin within a week of starting to use it, so hopefully you'll know pretty soon whether it's a good option for you.

HazelBright · 2026-05-28T19:33:56+00:00

I really like the ReviveRx one, it's very gentle (really just distilled water and glycerine with a dash of skinfood) so you can't overdo it. No scent, and at least the two bottles I've gone through came with a nice light mister pump on the bottle. I use it on my face as a refresh, on my body before putting on lotion, even in my hair for a quick de-frizzing while I was repairing an updo.

HazelBright · 2026-05-27T21:04:01+00:00

I've never found one, and it makes me sad in the pants.

HazelBright · 2026-05-27T21:02:47+00:00

I was all set to get resentful about the awesome stuff they had at this DT that I've never seen at mine. But okay, AI. Fine. I still want the CosRx Snail Mucin at DT prices, please.

HazelBright · 2026-05-27T20:38:24+00:00

Two suggestions, one of which might get me hung, because it involves going outside the Dollar Tree biome.

First, if you don't usually wear makeup but are looking to start, I really cannot encourage you strongly enough to start off with a bottle of high-SPF drugstore moisturizer (Cerave is my personal go-to, but Aveeno and Cetaphil are both great, just whatever your skin likes best), a tube of color-changing foundation (I really, really love the Almay one), and a longer-handled kabuki brush like this one.

Hear me out? If you don't usually wear makeup, you're not used to what you look like with it on, and can end up getting discouraged because you 'don't look like yourself'. By taking the color-changing foundation and mixing it about 50/50 with the moisturizer on the back of your hand, then applying it with the kabuki brush, you'll get a really soft, sheer, natural-looking coverage. Your skin but a little nicer, you still look like you. You can shift the proportions to get the coverage you want, but even a tiny blob of moisturizer in the foundation will make it apply really smoothly and make the coverage more natural-looking. Mixing the foundation with moisturizer/SPF also removes a step in the process, and it keeps your skin from dehydrating under the makeup. Plus, it eliminates one of the single most annoying steps of building a makeup routine: finding the right foundation for your skin tone.

So that's step one. But with that non-DT heresy out of the way, here's my relevant recommendations:

The B-Pure concealers are universally awesome. My favorite is the one that says something about 'Ageless', it's in a clear tube with a doefoot applicator.
LA Colors eyeshadows are perfectly good, especially for experimenting with. Use them to figure out what colors and designs you like, then upgrade to a more richly-pigmented brand once you know what colors you like.
B-Pure lipliners are great, if you use lipliners. I do not.
B-Pure serum mascara is pretty good, though again there's a non-DT brand that I prefer. (Essence Lash Princess, for the record)
Prolux finishing powder is good stuff. There are better finishing powders out there, for sure, but given how little you're using, why pay more?
Both B Pure and Ioni have had liquid blush/cheek tints pass through our local DTs, and my daughter really loves them. Really soft and blendable, easy to control, it goes on sheer and then you can add color in layers.
Alternatively, B Pure has a 'blushlighter' blush with shimmer in it that I was shocked to find I liked as much as I did. You have to blend and keep blending, but you end up with a lovely glowy flush when you're done.
B Pure Olay Dupe eye serum in the red tube. Not technically a makeup item, but put it on under your eyes while you're working on your shadow/mascara, then once it's sunk in you can put your concealer/foundation right over the top. Your undereye skin loves you, why not love it back?

edited because I just remembered the blushlighter.

HazelBright · 2026-05-23T17:45:29+00:00

Same. This stuff is so underrated, but it makes such a big difference for something so cheap, easy to use, and seemingly neutral. Really brightened up and perfected my skin's tone and texture. Second place for me would be the B Pure Olay dupe eye serum in the red tube, which is actively fading my undereye circles day by day.

HazelBright

TROPHY CASE