Review: Dr.Ci:Labo VC100 Essence Lotion
Many thanks to Dr.Ci:Labo for sending me a VC100 Essence Lotion which is their star product that was released back in May 2015.
This VC100 Essence is made specially for the adult skin experiencing issues that come with aging such as sagging skin, large pores, dullness, irritation and dryness. That is probably the reason why VC100 Essence lotion is their top lotion since it could combat so many issues at one time! I was actually very eager to try it too the moment I received it. The packaging makes it look promising too! ^_^
About Dr.Ci:Labo VC100 Essence Lotion
To target adult skin concerns that have become increasingly complex with age, Dr.Ci:Labo came up with a solution by using a high permeability vitamin C derivative (APPS), 100 times that of vitamin C, in their lotion. The effects of this relatively new innovation have been recognised by cosmetic dermatologists and it's also well known that lotions containing it are prescribed to treat skin after Fraxel and ThermaCool facial treatments. Functionality of APPS is such that it helps in increasing collagen generation and is effective against enlarged pores, uneven spots, dullness, acne scars and sagging.
Dr.Ci:Labo had included APPS in their previous version of lotion, the VC100 Pore White Lotion. This lotion was later improved to even greater effectiveness by incorporating 200% concentration of the high permeability vitamin C derivative to enable ingredients to permeate more deeply and more quickly. This new and improved VC100 Essence Lotion is as rich and luxurious as a beauty serum that give translucency to the skin, with elasticity and resilience.
The VC100 Essence Lotion contains the following ingredients that hydrates skin:
- 3 types of collagen
- 3 types of hyaluronic acid
- Lipidure®
and contains the following antioxidant ingredients that tightens the pores with resilience and elasticity:
- Camellia leaf extract
- CoQ10
- CyPA®
The lotion is exceptionally gentle on the skin as it is free of five major irritants:
- Fragrance (made with natural essential oils)
- Colorant
- Mineral oil
- Paraben
- Alcohol
Packaging
The VC100 Essence Lotion comes in 150ml bottle.
Ingredients are listed on the box packaging. Unfortunately I do not have it in English version. Perhaps the ones at the stores would have it. ^_^ However the main ingredients have already been listed earlier in this post.
Back view of the lotion.. Ok.. all in Jap.. lolx.. This big bottle of lotion could probably last me a few months since I do not have to use alot of it to cover my face and neck. I'll let you know why in a while. ^_^
The bottle cap in clear acrylic.. I just love packaging in all clear acrylics or glass.. Sho pretty. ^_^ The cap has a little weight to it so that it won't fly off from my hands easily. When I turn it in or out, it don't jam up and the cap rotates smoothly.
Since the lotion consistency is like water, the outlet is made small to avoid spillage and also avoid me from using too much lotion at a time.
How to use?
Recommended method: After cleansing the face, take an appropriate amount (approx. the size of one 500 yen coin, or Singapore 50 cents coin) into the palm of the hand, and gently blend into the entire face. Follow with Aqua Collagen Gel.
My method: Since my skin often break out, I try to prevent my hands from touching my face to lower the chances of bacteria growth on it. I decided that I'll apply the lotion using my favourite cotton puff, namely Marusan Selena 5 Ply Cotton Puffs (shown in below pic). I often stock this up from Sasa stores as it ain't ordinary cotton puff/pad. For this product, 5 ply of cotton sheets makes 1 cotton puff, the sheets are very useful too for masking face. I just have to take a couple of sheets, soak them up with lotion and strategically place them on my face, they'll stay all the way then drop off when they start to dry up.
So for those who do not know how to gauge the size of 500 yen coin, use this puff instead. There's a floral pattern with a circle in the center that is exactly the size of a 500 yen coin. I use one ply of cotton sheet (it's very thin in compare to those conventional ones), pour the lotion in the middle til it fills up the circle and proceed to apply it onto my face and neck. The whole cotton sheet will get wet during application so you don't have to worry that the edges still remains dry. Just top up with lotion if you feel it's dry.
Reason for using a thin cotton sheet is because it prevents product wastage. Most cotton puffs are thick and you will use up alot of product into order to get it wet before you apply it on your face. Your face only gets this much of product while your cotton puff gets many times more.. shouldn't you use more product on your skin? That is also why some beauty gurus recommend applying skincare including toner/lotion using your hands despite that they may drip or flow out of your hands. But at least your hands get the product, not the puff, right? ^▽^/~
Swatch
After a long explanation on puffs, here comes the swatch of the lotion. Yes, apparently it looked like I just poured water onto my hand. hahhax~ ^◊^"
The lotion is actually liquidy, flows like water but a little slower and it feels a little thick. The texture is slimy sooth which makes it very easy to spread onto the skin and can cover wide area quickly. It doesn't appear glossy or oily at all after it is absorbed by the skin, as seen in the pic below.
(Lotion applied only on the left part of the back of my hand)
Review
After using VC100 Essence Lotion for a couple of weeks, I find that it...
- has a zesty refreshing smell, like mix of orange and grapefruit
- is easy to apply onto my skin, both by bare hands and cotton sheet (the puff that I mentioned earlier)
- is really smooth & slimy so there's not much friction and won't tug the skin during application
- glides easily on skin surface and can cover my face, neck and even hands with just a little amount
- becomes a little sticky after it gets absorbed into the skin, the stickiness feel will go away after sometime
- does not make my face appear glossy or greasy
- makes my skin look supple and slightly dewy upon application
- makes my skin a little bit smoother as I did not experience feeling any rough sand-like texture on my skin
- helps my next skincare (serum/moisturiser) to get absorbed easier and faster too
- can be used as a lotion + serum/essence too so I skip applying serum/essence on face sometimes
- really helps in hydrating my face as my skin surface do not look as dry as last time
- gives me really radiant skin as my face suddenly seem to appear alot brighter than usual in my selfie pics
- makes my pores look a bit smaller and somewhat less obvious
- makes my skin appear slightly firmer judging from the sagging skin around my laugh lines and cheeks (I'm surprised it's not so dull anymore! /◎0◎\ I think I need to take more pics to really confirm this again! I'll mention it separately on my Instagram when I have more "evidence"! ^,^)
- however did not prevent my skin from having acne spots, as a couple of them still grew on my cheeks and chin
- did not prevent my skin from looking oily after a few hours (that's how fast my skin secretes sebum) but it did make my face look slightly less oily than last time. Look more like dewy-oily than greasy-oily if you know what I mean.. ^,^"
- slightly minimised the appearance of my deep laugh lines. I often gauge this by looking at how much foundation is trapped along my laugh lines after I laugh. There's still some foundation trapped but not deep
- also slightly minimised the 'crack' lines found under my eyes
- enabled foundation to adhere to my skin much better
- definitely did not make my skin dry as the area where it's always dry which prevents makeup from staying on and looks cakey, now stays on better and no more cakey makeup
- helps calm my sensitive skin which is a small dry patchy area on my chin
- could last for many months as a little lotion goes a long way
I was kind of sad that my skin still grew acne spots despite using the Essence Lotion but then again, there are various reasons to why they grew, like the other products I'm using (serum, moisturiser, sunblock, makeup). If not, it maybe my dirty cat (lolx~ ^▽^") or my dirty bed sheet etc. I hope that the spots will subside after another few more weeks of using the lotion. I can still live with those spots because they ain't big, just small white heads with a little inflamed skin around it.
Next thing that I have to say is that I really really think that my skin looks so much radiant than before. It's like the translucency of the skin could be seen under those foundation I put on. The last round I checked, I put on makeup for 5 hours and did no touch up or anything to it. On normal days, my face would oil up and makeup will kinda melt around my T-zone and the rest will look dry. However that day my face appeared fine after that many hours with a little trapped foundation at laugh lines and slightly smeared powder on my nose but everything else looked ok! ^o^ Also, instead of looking like oil that gush out from under the dry desert land, my face looked overall dewy-oily. Think, Korean face. You know what I mean right? hehhex. ^,^
All in all, I'm liking this Essence Lotion, it is really awesome to use (the ease of spreading it and absorption is superb) and it counters almost every problem that I want it to counter (whitens, hydrates, firms, oil control) cept the acne spots. Perhaps it would take awhile more to take care of my spots as switching of skincare products sometimes would trigger the skin to react. It would take sometime for the skin to settle down and get used to the new product.
Nonetheless for these couple weeks, I'm happy that Dr.Ci:Labo VC100 Essence Lotion made my skin looking much better than before.
Where to buy?
Available at 2 Orchard Turn, ION Orchard #B3-41 Singapore 238801, Watsons Ngee Ann City, Parkway Parade & Raffles City.
Price
Dr.Ci:Labo VC100 Essence Lotion 150ml SGD$83
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