Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum Versus Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser

See how these products line up with your preferences

Here's our complete breakdown comparing the ingredients, attributes, and more of Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum versus Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser .

Published on February 18, 2023

Overview

What they are

These products are both reef safe . They have a total of 10 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain BHA, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and Vitamin C

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for fighting acne, dry skin, brightening skin, oily skin, reducing pores, scar healing and dark spots

Free From

They both do not contain any parabens or sulfates

What's Inside

They both contain fragrances

We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that need an update? Let us know.

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Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser

Serum French Brand France

General Moisturizer Malaysian Brand

Serum

Serums are highly concentrated with ingredients to provide skin with benefits. They should be used after cleansing and before moisturizing.

General Moisturizer

All-purpose moisturizers hydrate the top layer of skin cells.

Price

Shop

Buy Light Complete Vitamin C Serum

Shop

Buy Vita-C Bright Moisturiser

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and view relevant ingredients.

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum 35 ingredients

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser 31 ingredients

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum 35 ingredients

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser 31 ingredients

Notable Ingredients

BHA

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Niacinamide

Hyaluronic Acid

Benefits

Hydrating

Good For Oily Skin (2)

Redness Reducing (2)

Skin Texture

Reduces Large Pores (2)

Anti-Aging (2)

Dark Spots (2)

Scar Healing (3)

Acne Fighting (2)

Brightening (4)

Concerns

Drying (2)

May Worsen Oily Skin

Irritating (4)

Rosacea (4)

Eczema (4)

Notable Ingredients

AHA

BHA

Vitamin C

Niacinamide

Hyaluronic Acid

Benefits

Hydrating (2)

Good For Oily Skin (3)

Redness Reducing (2)

Reduces Irritation (2)

Reduces Large Pores (3)

Dark Spots

Scar Healing

Acne Fighting (2)

Brightening (5)

Concerns

Drying

Irritating (2)

Rosacea (3)

Eczema (2)

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Ingredients Compared

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum 35 ingredients

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser 31 ingredients

Water • Glycerin • Alcohol • Dipropylene Glycol • Butylene Glycol • Peg-7 • Niacinamide • Hydroxyethylpiperazine Ethane Sulfonic Acid • Bis-Peg-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane • 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid • Isononyl Isononanoate • BHA • Linalool • Geraniol • Parfum • Salicylic Acid • Sodium Citrate • Sodium Hyaluronate • Phenoxyethanol • Phenylethyl Resorcinol • Adenosine • Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate • Tocopheryl Acetate • Disodium EDTA • Limonene • Hydrogenated Lecithin • Citric Acid • Citrus Limon Fruit Extract • Citrus Junos Fruit Extract • Xanthan Gum • Maltodextrin • Acetyl Trifluoromethylphenyl Valylglycine • Oxothiazolidinecarboxylic Acid • Benzyl Salicylate • Benzyl Alcohol

Water • Niacinamide • Glycerin • Betaine • Butylene Glycol • Biosaccharide Gum-1 • Dimethicone • Cyclopentasiloxane • Carbomer • Cyclohexasiloxane • Bisabolol • Aminomethyl Propanol • Sodium Polyacrylate • Xanthan Gum • Disodium EDTA • Sodium Hyaluronate • Diethylhexyl Syringylidenemalonate • Trideceth-6 • Peg/Ppg-18/18 Dimethicone • Mandelic Acid • Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract • Caprylic Acid • Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil • Polysorbate 20 • Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil • Salicylic Acid • Zingiber Officinale Root Extract • Ascorbyl Glucoside • Parfum • Phenoxyethanol • Chlorphenesin

Ingredients Side-by-side

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

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Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Water

What it does: Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 1.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 1.

Glycerin

What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Learn more about Glycerin

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 2.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 3.

Butylene Glycol

What it does: Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Community Rating: Mixed

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

It is a solvent, meaning that it helps to dissolve other ingredients. This also enhances the absorption of the product into one's skin.
It is a humectant, which means that it helps attract moisture into the skin.
It helps improve product application.

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient. It is unlikely to irritate skin, and works well with pretty much all other ingredients.

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 5.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 5.

Niacinamide

What it does: Smoothing

Community Rating: Loved

Niacinamide has emerged as an all-star ingredient due to its many benefits.

It is known to treat acne by reducing inflammation. It also helps fade dark-spots and strengthen the skin by promoting the growth of the ceramide barrier.

Other benefits include smoothing wrinkles and minimizing redness.

The cherry on top? Niacinamide can also help build keratin, a protein that keeps skin firm.

When incorporating niacinamide into your routine, look out for concentration amounts. Typically, 5% niacinamide provides benefits such as fading dark spots. However, if you have sensitive skin, it is better to begin with a smaller concentration.

Niacinamide can be mixed with other ingredients to boost benefits. For instance, it has shown to be effective when used with copper, folic acid, and zinc to treat acne.

Learn more about Niacinamide

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 7.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 2.

Parfum

What it does: Masking, Perfuming

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Parfum is a catch-all term for an ingredient or more that is used to give aroma to products. Parfum, or fragrance, can be a blend of hundreds of chemicals or plant oils. This means every product with "fragrance" or "Parfum" in the ingredients list is a different mixture.

In the US, the alternative name for parfum is 'fragrance'. The term 'fragrance' is not regulated in many countries. In many cases, it is up to the brand to define this term.

For instance, many brands choose to label themselves as "fragrance-free" because they are not using synthetic fragrances. However, their products may still contain ingredients such as essential oils that are considered a fragrance. One example is Calendula flower extract. Essential oil ingredients still impart a scent or 'fragrance'.

Depending on the blend, it can cause allergies and sensitivities on the skin. Some ingredients that are known EU allergens include linalool and citronellol.

Products use parfum often to give products a scent or cover up smells of different ingredients.

The bottom line is: not all fragrances/parfum/ingredients are created equally. If you are worried about fragrances, we recommend taking a closer look at an ingredient. And of course, we always recommend speaking with a professional.

Learn more about Parfum

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 15.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 29.

Salicylic Acid

What it does: Masking, Preservative, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Liked

Salicylic Acid (also known as beta hydroxy acid or BHA) is one of the most well-known ingredients for treating skin that struggles with blackheads and acne. It helps to exfoliate both the skin's surface and pores, and also acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.

This multitasking property makes it a great ingredient for cleaning out pores, controlling oil production, and reducing inflammation.

Unlike AHAs which are water soluble, Salicylic Acid is oil soluble. This means that it's able to exfoliate the inside of pores and reduce blackheads.

Concentrations of 0.5-2% are recognized by the U.S. FDA as an over-the-counter topical acne product.

It can cause irritation and/or dryness if one's skin already has a compromised moisture barrier, so it's best to focus on repairing that before introducing a Salicylic Acid into your routine.

In general, Salicylic Acid is a great ingredient for oily acne-prone skin.

While salicylic acid does not increase sun-sensitivity, we still recommend wearing SPF.

If you are looking for the ingredient called BHA or Butylated Hydroxyanisole, click here.

Learn more about Salicylic Acid

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 16.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 26.

Sodium Hyaluronate

What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Sodium Hyaluronate is hyaluronic acid's salt form. It is commonly derived from the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid.

Like hyaluronic acid, it is great at holding water and acts as a humectant. This makes it a great skin hydrating ingredient.

Sodium Hyaluronate is naturally occurring in our bodies and is mostly found in eye fluid and joints.

These are some other common types of Hyaluronic Acid:

Learn more about Sodium Hyaluronate

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 18.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 16.

Phenoxyethanol

What it does: Preservative

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent germ and microbial growth. By itself, it has a scent that is similar to that of a rose.

It's often used in formulations along with Caprylyl Glycol to preserve the shelf life of products.

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 19.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 30.

Disodium EDTA

What it does:

Community Rating: Disliked

Disodium EDTA plays a role in making products more stable by aiding other preservatives.

It is a chelating agent, meaning it neutralizes metal ions that may be found in a product.

Disodium EDTA is a salt of edetic acid and is found to be safe in cosmetic ingredients.

Learn more about Disodium EDTA

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 24.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 15.

Xanthan Gum

What it does: Emulsifying, Emulsion Stabilising, Gel Forming, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Disliked

Xanthan gum is used as a stabilizer and thickener within cosmetic products. It helps give products a sticky, thick feeling - preventing them from being too runny.

On the technical side of things, xanthan gum is a polysaccharide - a combination consisting of multiple sugar molecules bonded together.

Xanthan gum is a pretty common and great ingredient. It is a natural, non-toxic, non-irritating ingredient that is also commonly used in food products.

Learn more about Xanthan Gum

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum contains this as ingredient number 30.

Aiken Vita-C Bright Moisturiser contains this as ingredient number 14.

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