SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Review: Is It Worth the Splurge?
Some products in the skincare world that have a mythical reputation, and SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic serum is definitely one of them.
This fabled vitamin C serum promises smooth, even skin and an eternally youthful glow, with a patented formula said to be the most stable on the market. Unfortunately, it’s so expensive that only a select few can afford it (at least on a regular basis).In this SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic review, you’ll discover the truth behind the hype, and whether SkinCeuticals’ vitamin C is worth it.
Our C E Ferulic review at a glance:
SkinCeutical C E Ferulic was one of the first serums to provide vitamin C in its fully potent, pure form as ascorbic acid.
While it promises bright, youthful skin, the high cost ($182), stinky smell, and exposed packaging should make you think twice before buying SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic.
These days, you can enjoy the same powerful antioxidant for a fraction of the cost and without the downsides, in products like our Vitamin C Superserum.
SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic review: why is it famous?
SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic is one of the beauty world’s most famous vitamin C serums. It was released nearly 20 years ago, which is also when it was first patented. It’s considered a luxury skincare product, and it’s primarily sold through med spas and aesthetic clinics.
SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic is covered by a famous patent, based on research conducted by SkinCeuticals founder Dr. Sheldon R. Pinnell. The patent covers a few potential vitamin C serum formulas, specifying the ingredients, pH range, and more. The main ingredients in the C E Ferulic patent are vitamin C (in its ascorbic acid form), vitamin E, and ferulic acid.
Vitamin C, the key ingredient in the formula, is a powerful but unstable antioxidant that brightens the skin, reduces discoloration, and helps amp up protection against all external aggressors.
Many vitamin C products don’t contain enough of it, or they’re made with lesser derivatives that don’t do anything for the skin. Even when they contain enough vitamin C, any exposure to sun, heat, or air can cause the formula to break down. As vitamin C serums oxidize, they lose their efficacy quite dramatically, which causes them to turn darker and develop a smell.
So for one thing, the C E Ferulic serum is one of the only products to contain REAL, natural vitamin C in its proper, bioavailable form. It gets an A+ for this.
When SkinCeutical first released C E Ferulic, it was truly revolutionary—according to the brand, ferulic acid can prolong the shelf-life of vitamin C. In this SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic review we ask the question, does this serum still measure up 20 years after its creation? Is this formula truly more stable than other options today?
Let’s get into it.
SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Ingredients
Before diving into our review, here’s a quick summary of the ingredients behind C E Ferulic:
- Ascorbic acid is the most potent and well-researched form of vitamin C in skincare. When formulated correctly, it has a skin-brightening effect and the ability to improve the skin’s collagen production. It’s a powerful antioxidant, as well, that can protect the skin from premature aging.
- Alpha-tocopherol, a form of vitamin E that helps stabilize and preserve other antioxidants. As an oil-based antioxidant, it’s a great complement to vitamin C.
- Ferulic acid is a phenolic compound with antioxidant and photoprotective properties. While combining vitamin C and ferulic acid is said to result in a more stable formula, the reality is a little more complicated. Famously, it can smell strangely savory as it starts to break down and may mask whether the vitamin C in your product has started to oxidize or not.
The Science
SkinCeuticals conducted a lot of research that was industry-changing at the time it came out.
Thanks to the brand, we learned that vitamin C can help give sunscreens a boost, and that it’s even better when combined with other antioxidants like ferulic acid. More recent SkinCeuticals studies show that using the antioxidant formula is particularly beneficial after intense facial treatments like microneedling and laser.
However, newer SkinCeuticals research isn’t released to the public, which makes it harder to verify their claims about how the product targets wrinkles or discoloration.
The same applies when SkinCeuticals makes claims that its vitamin C remains active even once it has oxidized. While doctors affiliated with SkinCeuticals mention research, the studies are never named, linked to, or cited, so we can’t review the methodologies.
Elegance
One of the biggest drawbacks to SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic serum is its smell, which is often compared to meat or “hot dog water.” The smell is an unfortunate outcome of ferulic acid—it stinks as it oxidizes, which happens fast (especially when kept in a dropper container that allows air inside).
In fact, the “hot dog water” smell associated with vitamin C serums is largely caused by ferulic acid. It's a problem, since it can mask the scent of other ingredients spoiling or oxidizing, including the vitamin C itself.
Is C E Ferulic really that stable?
Together, the vitamin E and ferulic acid serve to protect the vitamin C in the serum or, at least, that's what SkinCeuticals claim. It’s important to note that while SkinCeuticals’ testing proved an overall stable formula, it didn’t necessarily prove that the vitamin C in it remained active over time.
The reality is that C E Ferulic’s stability depends on a lot of factors, including how it’s treated during shipping and how you take care of it at home.
A key criticism of the C E Ferulic serum is that it’s stored in a dropper bottle rather than an airtight container. With every drop dispensed, air gets in and inevitably causes the formula to break down.
On social media, we’ve seen influencers use discolored C E Ferulic serums, suggesting that there are indeed many people out there using oxidized formulas.
How you store your skincare can impact its shelf-life, and forgetting to seal the bottle for just a few hours could cause you to lose a good chunk of ascorbic acid.
That’s why, no matter what vitamin C serum you use, it’s important to learn to recognize signs of oxidization.
One great way to tell if vitamin C has oxidized is when it develops a slightly metallic scent. Unfortunately, in CE Ferulic, the scent is masked up by the stinky ferulic acid. This means that you can't tell when the vitamin C in your CE Ferulic has oxidized by smell alone.
Another way to tell if your vitamin C has oxidized is through color. A non-oxidized vitamin C serum should always be very clear in color.
However, according to SkinCeuticals, color isn’t necessarily a determinant of oxidized vitamin C—however, we don’t see how this could be true, and even SkinCeuticals is opaque when trying to explain how it could.
The only reason why vitamin C turns darker is that it oxidizes, which causes it to break down and results in some dark-colored compounds. Some of those compounds are known irritants, especially dehydroascorbic acid. In other words, as the color changes, vitamin C formulas get more and more irritating, due to the unintended and somewhat unpredictable byproduct chemicals.
Is SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic worth it?
SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic currently retails for $182.00 for just 30 mL of product.
Considering the formula can change color over time, there's real potential for oxidization and reduced efficacy. We think this makes the cost hard to justify.
SkinCeuticals is an expensive brand not just because of the research it conducted, but also because of its business model. It was originally sold exclusively through doctors' offices and aesthetic clinics. Such clinics are low-traffic settings compared to drugstores and even high-end stores like Sephora. By necessity, the products sold through them need a very high markup to be profitable.
It’s important to add that the concept of clinical or medical skincare isn’t regulated, and the term doesn’t mean much in practice.
So for you as a skincare lover, the real question should be—do this product’s effects merit such a high price point?
While SkinCeuticals promises significant results and a more stable formula, it’s important to note that it hasn’t been tested head-to-head against other vitamin C products.
After conducting similar stability testing, for instance, we can say with certainty that our Vitamin C Superserum stands up to the same kind of scrutiny as C E Ferulic without the need for ferulic acid.
Additionally, we think SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic is more prone to oxidization than the company suggests. This also depends on how the bottle is kept during transportation and storage.
What to look for in a SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic dupe
Considering just how expensive SkinCeuticals is, there’s nothing wrong with looking for a C E Ferulic dupe. Here’s what we recommend you look for in a vitamin C serum that works.
The only stable SkinCeuticals Vitamin C dupe you should try
| SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic | Protocol Vitamin C Superserum | |
| Active | ✅ Ascorbic acid | ✅ Ascorbic acid |
| Percentage | ❌15% - potentially irritating | ✅ 10% - max efficacy without irritation |
| Packaging |
❌ Dropper may let oxygen in ✅ UV-proof |
✅ Medical-grade, air-tight bottle ✅ 100% oxygen and UV-proof |
| Stability | ❌ May degrade from air once opened |
✅ Preservative-free stability with medical-grade bottle |
| Color/smell |
❌ Start clear then oxidizse to yellow/light brown ❌ Metallic or "meaty" smell |
✅ Clear from start to finish ✅ Fragrance-free but naturally sweet & fresh |
| Price |
$182 |
|
Where other brands choose to go right, we go left. When formulating our Vitamin C Superserum, we approached ascorbic acid preservation from a new angle: What if we could skip the stinky ferulic acid, and keep our vitamin C stable through packaging?
The result is a very powerful vitamin C serum with clinically proven results. It’s the best SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Acid dupe you can find because it doesn’t try to be a dupe.
Instead, the Vitamin C Superserum manages to improve on the smell and feel, while maintaining ascorbic acid’s potency for the entire period in which you use it. Thanks to a meticulously engineered oxygen-free bottle, the formula remains clear and stable without the need for stinky ferulic acid!
Our clients see dramatic improvements to their skin, from that immediate glow to long-term brightness and youthfulness. You can try it yourself for less than a third the price of C E Ferulic, and enjoy your own skin transformation.
