This is an archived article and the information in the story may be outdated. Please check the time stamp on the story to see when it was updated last.
Not all serums are created equal. We all know that some are better than others, but sometimes if the price is right, we’ll venture to try a cheaper alternative.
But if you’ve been buying this serum at the drugstore and thinking you’re helping your skin, think again!
We asked Medical Aesthetician, Cassandra Bankson, which drugstore serum she would highly dissuade people from buying and she revealed that the Your Good Skin Radiance Booster is a no-go for her. While it’s meant to help brighten and hydrate the skin, she noted that unfortunately most people have found that it dries them out.
Why? “This serum is a booster- meant to be mixed with another product. It is iridescent with gold shimmer in it, and in my opinion it is more of a makeup liquid than a serum at all. If this product really claims to brighten the skin with vitamin C and provides luminosity, why does the manufacturer feel the need to put glitter in the product to fake it?”
Bankson went on to say that this serum is filled with some not-so-great ingredients that could actually be doing more harm to your skin than good. “When we look at the ingredients list, they are even more telling. Water is the universal solvent in cosmetic chemistry, and is the main ingredient in most products. Same with this formula, and there is no harm there, as long as the water is combined with other ingredients that help the formula. This, unfortunately, does nit seem to be the case for this serum.”
Bankson added, “Butylene glycol is the second ingredient, which acts as a humectant. It’s a wonderful ingredient that normally adds thickness and viscosity to many products on the market. However, as a humectant, it functions to grab onto, and hold onto water or moisture.”
So if you’re wondering why your skin feels so dry despite using something that is supposed to be hydrating and “radiance”-boosting, this might be your answer.
Bankson concluded, “If there is enough water in the ambient environment or in the formula, that’s all well and good. But especially if you live in a dry climate, and your skin is dry, specific humectants can actually dry out the skin more. We have seen similar things happen with ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, which might help point to why this serum feels so dehydrating.”