Versus

Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution Versus Olehenriksen Banana Bright™ Vitamin C Serum

Facial Treatment
Serum
American Brand United States
Danish Brand Denmark

Updated on June 26, 2024

Overview

What they are

These products are both reef safe . They have a total of 7 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain Vitamin C and Vitamin E

Suited For

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

Free From

They both do not contain any parabens, silicones or sulfates

What's Inside

They both contain common allergens, fragrances and oils

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

About this product

About this product

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
Banana Bright™ 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.

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

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. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water
Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting

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
Skin Conditioning

You might know this ingredient as Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, a more stable version of ascorbic acid.

Like other types of vitamin C, this ingredient has many benefits including reducing wrinkles, skin soothing, dark spot fading, and fighting against free radicals.

3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid interferes with the process of skin darkening, helping to reduce hyperpigmentation. It also encourages the skin to produce more collagen.

Once applied, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid is converted to Vitamin C deeper in the skin's layers. This process is slow but makes this ingredient more tolerable for skin.

The optimum pH range for this ingredient is 4 - 5.5

Learn more about 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid
Preservative

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent 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.

Potassium hydroxide is commonly known as caustic potash. It is used to fix the pH of a product or as a cleaning agent in soap. In cleansers, it is used for the saponification of oils.

Sapnification is the process of creating fatty acid metal salts from triglycerides and a strong base. During this process, Potassium Hydroxide is used up and is not present in the final product.

Using high concentrations of Potassium Hydroxide have shown to irritate the skin.

Learn more about Potassium Hydroxide
Perfuming

Linalool is a fragrance and helps add scent to products. It's derived from common plants such as cinnamon, mint, citrus, and lavender.

Like Limonene, this ingredient oxidizes when exposed to air. Oxidized linalool can cause allergies and skin sensitivity.

This ingredient has a scent that is floral, spicy tropical, and citrus-like.

Learn more about Linalool
Antioxidant, Masking, Skin Conditioning

Tocopherol (also known as Vitamin E) is a common antioxidant used to help protect the skin from free-radicals and strengthen the skin barrier. It's also fat soluble - this means our skin is great at absorbing it.

Vitamin E also helps keep your natural skin lipids healthy. Your lipid skin barrier naturally consists of lipids, ceramides, and fatty acids. Vitamin E offers extra protection for your skin’s lipid barrier, keeping your skin healthy and nourished.

Another benefit is a bit of UV protection. Vitamin E helps reduce the damage caused by UVB rays. (It should not replace your sunscreen). Combining it with Vitamin C can decrease sunburned cells and hyperpigmentation after UV exposure.

You might have noticed Vitamin E + C often paired together. This is because it is great at stabilizing Vitamin C. Using the two together helps increase the effectiveness of both ingredients.

There are often claims that Vitamin E can reduce/prevent scarring, but these claims haven't been confirmed by scientific research.

Learn more about Tocopherol

When to use

251 Routines
54% use in am
46% use in pm
90% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->
90 Routines
86% use in am
14% use in pm
91% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->

Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution 24 ingredients

4.0 /5
from 3 ratings
Expensive (2) Light (2) Absorbs Well (1)
ButterflyDreams's avatar

ButterflyDreams

4 months ago
Review

Normally I avoid products with alcohol, but it’s not an issue with this one. It’s well formulated so that it’s balanced out with other more hydrating ingredients. It absorbed nearly immediately and doesn’t dry out the skin. The results aren’t massive. But I just love the apothecary aesthetic and it works about as well as any other dark spot corrector.

#expensive
#light
#absorbs well
#works well
MSP's avatar

MSP

2 years ago
Review

Works as said
I have dark skin and lots of PIH. It lightens them. You can see quicker results with new PIH spots. Holygrail in my routine

Olehenriksen Banana Bright™ Vitamin C Serum 45 ingredients

3.7 /5
from 3 ratings
Strong Scent (3) Expensive (3) Hydrating (3)
sarape's avatar

Sara

1 year ago
Review

I really like the formula. I was a little bit skeptical at first that it might broke me out because it has some oils, but after some purging during the first week, my acne-prone skin tolerated it really well, and on the long run it helped me out fading some dark spots. However, you have to be very careful when applying, leaving enough time between products because it might pill a little. I think Show more

#expensive
#hydrating
#light
#sticky
claraomme's avatar

Clara OK

10 days ago
Review

There isnt alot of product :/ I used it up after one week. Very expensive!
Smell fruity. I have pale skin - so I got a little orange.
Overall it made me smooth and it brighten my eyes up.

#expensive
#hydrating
#light
#absorbs well