Review and information about Hylamide’s 25% Vitamin C C25 Booster.

I’ve posted recently about The Ordinary. The Ordinary Skincare has really changed my life. I’m not even exaggerating. If you have bad skin you’ll know what an impact it makes to your day to day. On a bad day I don’t want to go out, I feel self conscious and shy. On a good day (which are few and far between) your constantly aware that any wrong move can land you back in shitsville. Since discovered the Ordinary and getting my skin used to Retinoids (they make your skin flakey to begin with) I haven’t had many bad days. I’ve been fruitlessly slapping stuff on my face since 1995 and finally I’ve struck gold.

Deciem is the parent company of The Ordinary and they have several other beauty brands under their umbrella. The Ordinary is the most affordable skincare brand, Hylamide is mid range and NIOD is the most expensive. If the cheapy cheap The Ordinary can produce such life altering skin improvements, I’m bang up for trying the more expensive products. For more up to date info on The Ordinary and Vitamin C products head to my Vitamin C guide.

Hylamide C25 25% Vitamin C Booster Review

The ingredients list of Hylamide C25 Booster goes like this-

ethoxydiglycol, ethyl ascorbic acid, hydroxyphenoxy propionic acid, phenylethyl resorcinol.

£30 for 30mls from Deciem

It’s Silicone free, oil free, water free, alcohol free, non comedogenic, vegan.

Bold claims – visibly targets fine lines, textural abnormalities, dullness and uneven tone.

What’s good about Hylamide C25 Booster? The main problem we have with Vitamin C is that its unstable. This means it oxidises easily. You know when you open a banana and it goes brown in a few minutes, this is what happens to Vitamin C. It goes off so easily that you need to have it in a really stable form for it to last while it’s sitting on your bathroom shelf. The Ethyl Ascorbic Acid in Hylamide C25 is a very stable form of vitamin C. It doesn’t need to be mixed up or stored in the fridge.

As well as a whopping 25% stabilised Vitamin C, C25 Booster also contains Phenylethyl Resorcinol and Hydroxyphenoxy Propionic acid. Phenylethyl Resorcinol is also known as SymWhite 377 and is a skin brightening agent. Hydroxyphenoxy proprionic acid also reduces pigmentation.

What is C25 Booster like?

Hylamide C25 Booster comes in a standard Deciem dropper bottle with orange labelling. It’s more eye catching than The Ordinary’s plain white. Hylamide’s labelling gives more information about the effects of the serum than The Ordinary.
The consistency of the serum is like a thin oil. You have to be careful not to spill any on the way to your hand. The base of C25 booster isn’t oil though it’s a glycol so it doesn’t sit on the skin or clog pores like oil can. You only need about 4 drops to cover the whole face and it sinks in giving the skin a slight sheen. C25 is fine to wear under makeup. The smell is very particular, it reminds me of pear drops. It’s quite a chemical sort of smell, which isn’t exactly pleasant, but would by no means put me off if the product is effective.

How does Hylamide C25 Booster compare with The Ordinary 23% Vitamin C Spheres? C25 has a much easier to tolerate consistency, much thinner and it sinks in easier. The Ordinary Vitamin C has a grainy texture that I don’t find very pleasant. Hylamide C25 is £25 more expensive though. The Ordinary Vit C is more stingy, C25 causes a bit of tingling compared with The Ordinary’s burning sensation.

Hylamide C25 25% Vitamin C Booster Review- My Current Regime

Hylamide does a range of boosters to go with its core skincare items. C25 Booster is meant to be used with other products. Any dermatologist will tell you, to get good results from skincare you will need to use several ingredients in good concentration.

Where I’m at with skincare at the moment is washing with Balance Me Pure Skin Face Wash and  Soap & Glory Mini Mitt. At night, after cleansing, The Ordinary 2% Retinoid with Hylamide C25 Booster on top. The Ordinary Lactic Acid in the morning with Neostrata SPF50 Sheer Physical Protection.

I started all these gradually. I got my skin used to the Retinoid first (Here’s my post about Retinoids). The Ordinary 2% Retinoid Serum hasn’t caused much in the way of irritation, but you may well find that you get some dryness and flaking when you start. Once the skin is cool, calm and collected you can introduce acids and vitamin C to take your skincare to the next level.

Using Retinoids with Vitamin C is like fitting a turbo charger to your Ferrari. It works with the Retinoid to improve its effects as well as having some positive effects of its own.

Hylamide recommend using C25 twice daily but I’m just using it at night at the moment, I don’t know how my skin would cope with Lactic Acid and Vitamin C at the same time. (PS I tried putting Lactic Acid and Vit C at the same time this am and my face didn’t burst into flames).

Hylamide C25 25% Vitamin C Booster- Does it Work?

I have some pigmentation on the side of my face which has been there since I was pregnant (ruddy hormones). I was really hoping for some dramatic lightening of the spots so I could show some cool Before and After photos. But there wasn’t really any change. I feel like there’s over all brightening of my complexion. It could well be that dramatic changes to pigmentation takes more than the few weeks I’ve been using it.

C25 suits my oily skin and has caused no dryness or irritation. I’ve read a few reports that C25 can be drying. Even though it has an oily consistency, it’s not an oil and doesn’t have moisturising properties. While the ingredients list is short, it’s also rather chemical with its glycols and ethyls. It’s not one for those into natural skincare by any means.
Hylamide C25 Booster has an impressive percentage of a highly stable Vitamin C. The price point is reasonable and it has a much nicer consistency than it’s cheaper cousin. I found it gave an overall brightening effect and doesn’t dry my oily skin. I’d happily repurchase C25 Booster based on its high concentration of active ingredients.

Hylamide C25 is currently not available in the U.K. and EU due to regulatory issues with Ethyl Ascorbic Acid. Hylamide C25 Booster 30ml is available from Deciem for £25 (updated November 2020).

FYI the Hylamide C25 Booster was a sample sent by Deciem which doesn’t influence my opinion in any way. All the links are affiliate links.