Versus

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum Versus The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%

Serum
Serum
French Brand France
Canadian Brand Canada

Updated on September 06, 2024

Overview

What they are

These products are both vegan, cruelty-free, and reef safe serums. They have a total of 3 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain hyaluronic acid and Vitamin C

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for anti aging, dry skin, brightening skin, reducing pores, scar healing, dark spots and better texture

Free From

They both do not contain any oils, parabens, silicones or sulfates

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

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and see relevant ingredients

What's inside (and what isn't)

What's inside (and what isn't)

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

found in both products
Light Complete Vitamin C Serum

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Emollient, Skin Conditioning

Isononyl Isononanoate is a synthetic skin-conditioner and texture enhancer. It is created from nonanoic acid, a fatty acid found in cocoa and lavender oil.

As an emollient, Isononyl Isononanoate helps keep your skin soft and smooth. This is because emollients create a barrier on the skin to trap moisture in.

Isononyl Isononanoate helps give products a velvet feel and improves spreadability.

Learn more about Isononyl Isononanoate
BHT
Antioxidant, Masking

BHT is a synthetic antioxidant and preservative.

As an antioxidant, it helps your body fight off free-radicals. Free-radicals are molecules that may damage your skin cells.

As a preservative, it is used to stabilize products and prevent them from degrading. Specifically, BHT prevents degradation from oxidation.

The concerns related to BHT come from oral studies; this ingredient is currently allowed for use by both the FDA and EU.

However, it was recently restricted for use in the UK as of April 2024.

Learn more about BHT
Humectant, Skin Conditioning

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

When to use

234 Routines
76% use in am
24% use in pm
96% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->
365 Routines
57% use in am
43% use in pm
84% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->

Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

Garnier Light Complete Vitamin C Serum 35 ingredients

2.4 /5
from 5 ratings
Broke Me Out (3) Hydrating (2) Drying (1)
horaceon's avatar

horaceon

1 year ago
Review

broke out my oily acne-prone face. the cream version is better when getting rid of dark spots; i suggest never to use vit c with fresh acne.

#hydrating
#broke me out
#heavy
Isya's avatar

Isya

1 year ago
Review

[Oily skin] This product breaks me out so bad even though I do not have acne-prone skin. It only takes around a few days for me to stop using it.

#broke me out
#doesn't work

The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% 15 ingredients

1.6 /5
from 8 ratings
Irritating (3) Pilling (3) Broke Me Out (2)
Yawnkun's avatar

Niko Chan

1 year ago
Review

This Vitamin C is not for beginners. I got a chemical burn because of this and had to take a break with some actives to restore my skin barrier. Turns out that I still had to dilute it with another cream / moisturizer so that my skin doesn't get irritated. I think there are better Vitamin C products out there. I guess a good point of this Vitamin C is that you don't have to refrigerate it and it Show more

#irritating
sameteamdwight's avatar

sameteamdwight

4 years ago
Review

Grainy
The graininess of this feels unpleasant on my face so I'm moving on to a different product.