Review: COSRX Triple C Lightning Liquid

Hi Everyone!

I have actually been saving to review this vitamin C serum. I don't really know why since I had finished using it way back last year in May 2018. I think it's because I wanted to also finish using the Klairs vitamin C serum, but I haven't even started using it, so I decided it would just be better to first review this one and when I finally get to the time to start using the Klairs one, I will review it then,

I had been eyeing this serum for a really long time. When Sokoglam first launched it, I was really tempted to buy it. But I'm not the type of person that would pay $27 for a small bottle of serum (it only contains 30 mL). So I waited, waited till there was some sort of sale or if I had some sort of coupon code to make it cheaper. Eventually, I bought it early last year (2018) and was super excited to try it out!

I had read a Sokoglam blog where someone used this serum for 2 weeks and saw major differences from their skin, so I wanted to test that out as well. If you continue reading my review, you will see I have taken pictures literally every night for 13 nights straight of me using this serum and the results. I also continue taking some pictures of random days after the first 2 weeks, such as 30 days later or 50 days later. Continue to read to see!!!

Vitamin C as many benefits for the skin. It can help brighten skin, lift sun spots, acne scars, and any kind of hyper-pigmentation and discoloration. Even if you don't have hyper-pigmentation as a skin issue, vitamin C can help slough away dead skin cells to help skin glow on it's own.

Vitamin C can boost your skin's collagen production to give you firmer, more plump skin and smooth out fine lines and wrinkles.

According to Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC, "[Vitamin C] may even help protect the skin from pre-cancerous changes from UV light exposure by neutralizing free radicals." AKA it's anti-aging!!!!

Here's some info about the serum from the Sokoglam website:

"An exclusive collaboration between popular Korean acne brand COSRX and Charlotte Cho, the Triple C Lightning Liquid is a powerful vitamin C serum.

~~Side note: I LOVE COSRX products. Almost everything I've tried from them as been a major hit!

~~Charlotte Cho is the owner of Sokoglam, not some random person.

🗲What does vitamin C do for your skin? It attacks pigmentation and immediately lightens brown spots and acne scars, bringing radiance and balance back to skin.

🗲 Key Ingredients: Contains 20.5% pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and 72% black chokeberry, a special ingredient that stabilizes the high concentration of vitamin C to make sure skin remains hydrated and smooth.

🗲 Who is it for? 

-All skin types

-Dull Skin

-Hyper-pigmentation (sun spots, acne scars, melasma) 

🗲 It's SUPER SUPER SUPER FRESH. In order for a pure vitamin C serum to be effective, it must be fresh. That's why we're making all Triple C Lightning Liquids in small batches and air shipping them directly from Korea to ensure that the serums are fresh and high quality. To maximize the effectiveness of your serum, it's best to store it in the fridge or a cool, dark place. Keep the bttle air tight!"

This serum is YELLOW in color. I don't really know why some people are saying it's clear and colorless? Maybe they mean clear as in, you can see through it, but it is definitely YELLOW. I know some people were saying that if you don't store it correctly, the serum will oxidize. However, I find that as long as you close the serum tightly, you don't need to place it in the fridge. I usually leave on my bathroom counter, and it's usually dark there to begin with all day long. When the serum oxidizes, you'll KNOW. It turns like brown-ish and it gets some precipitates at the bottom of the bottle, AKA the serum won't be as effective anymore because the vitamin C has loss it's effective powers as well.

Here's a swatch of the serum on a cotton pad. It's YELLOW.

Size: 1 oz / 30 mL

pH Level: 3

Color: The serum itself is light clear yellow. When the serum oxidizes, the serum becomes brown-ish and starts to accumulate precipitates at the bottom of the bottle.

Fragrance: They say it's "fragrance-free," but really, there's a light citrus smell. I think they mean that didn't add any fragrances to it, it just natural has a citrus scent due to the ingredients used, like from the ascorbic acid.

Texture: The serum is really runny, almost like water. While this is great for allowing the serum to absorb more quickly into the skin, I find it annoying slightly because the serum is just dripping down my face when I'm applying it. It's not a big deal, I'm just being nit-picky. When you apply it, there's a slight tacky feel to the skin, but it goes away as you give your skin time to fully absorb it in.

Packaging: It comes in a DARK, not clear whatsoever (which helps to protect the serum and prevent it from oxidizing), and it's a glass bottle. There's a rubber stopper pump as the delivery system. I actually find that the rubber stopper pump is TOO strong. You do NOT need to squeeze the rubber top all the way for the glass tube to fill with the serum. If you squeeze too tightly, you'll pull too much of the serum up and it will go INTO the rubber top.

Accessories: The serum doesn't come with any additional accessories.

Key Ingredients: Pure Vitamin C, Black Chokeberry. and Licorice Root Extract

Full Ingredients List: Aronia Melanocarpa fruit extract (Black Chokeberry), Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), Butylene glycol, Sodium lactate, Licorice root extract, 1,2- Hexanediol, Pullulan, Sodium hyaluronate, Cassia obtusifolia seed extract, Allantoin

How To Use:

Here is the suggested use from Sokoglam: "If you're new to acids or have sensitive skin, start by mixing 2-3 drops in your moisturizer and applying onto your face every night. If you see no signs of irritation after two weeks, apply 1-2 drops directly onto your skin every other night, always following with a hydrating moisturizer. Gradually work your way up to applying the serum every night. This Vitamin C serum is recommended as a night treatment. If used before sun exposure, make sure to apply sunscreen.

Triple C Lightning Liquid is a highly concentrated serum with pure Vitamin C, so your skin may feel sensitive or tingly upon application."

How I Use It:

I actually just started using this serum right away, straight onto my face, not any of this "slowly working my skin up to more" idea. 

I didn't use a specific number of drops, I literally just dabbed a little onto my skin and would drop my face with the serum and then rub it in.

The whole "tingly" feeling after application is TOTALLY TRUE.

I used it both morning and night, not only as a night treatment. I just made sure in the morning that I applied a lot of sunscreen if I was going out to protect my skin.

I never did the "combine the serum with a moisturizer," I just find that it's too troublesome.

I also never stored my serum bottle in a fridge. I don't have a mini fridge in my bathroom, and my kitchen fridge is just somewhere completely far away from my bathroom where my skincare is. If I really did put the serum in my fridge, I would probably end up forgetting all about it and never apply it. Just make sure you tightly close your serum bottle whenever you use it and you should be fine!

Below, is just a quick BEFORE/AFTER shot of how I look after using this serum.

BEFORE

AFTER

It kind of gives a brightness to the skin once your skin has absorbed it in. It's not drying at all.

Below are my comparison pictures of my time from using this serum.

WOW!

What a difference!
As I'm going through the pictures now, I see what a big change my skin has gone through from using this serum.
You need to give your skin time. It takes time to see the results. When I was using this serum, I was looking at my face everyday and didn't feel like I was seeing a difference, but once you actually look at the pictures, you can see there was a change!

This serum has definitely helped with any hyper-pigmentation and acne that I had on my face! You can actually see my cheeks slowly changing as getting better with continued use! My skin has gotten better and more cleared. I kind of wonder how my skin would've looked if I had bought another bottle to continue using....
I wouldn't say anything has changed for redness. This serum isn't made to cure redness. The redness I have on my skin is mainly due to acne anyways.
You can see the acne scar I have of an old pimple slowly healing, and you can see that the serum really helped along the process!
As stated previously, when I first started using this serum, there was a slight tingly feeling, but it goes away. It's not a stinging painful feeling, so don't be worried about that!
I used it both morning and night, so what amazing results it did!

Rate (out of 5 stars): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I LOVE THIS SERUM!
I would highly HIGHLY recommend everyone try it out!
You will definitely see a difference from continued use!


Product Mentioned:
COSRX Triple C Lightning Liquid
     Sokoglam: https://bit.ly/2wZjw8k
     Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Gjj2hy
~~It's cheaper to buy it from Sokoglam, so that's where I would buy it if you want to save money!~~


FTC: This is not a sponsored post. I bought this serum with my own money and this is my own honest review.