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Product Comparison

Here's our complete breakdown comparing the ingredients, attributes, and more of Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US versus SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid .

Last updated on April 09, 2024. Published on March 25, 2021

Overview

What they are

These products are both reef safe . They have a total of 9 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C and Vitamin E

Suited For

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

Free From

They both do not contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, parabens, silicones or sulfates

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

Facial Treatment American Brand United States
Serum American Brand United States

Facial Treatment

Facial treatments are specially designed to treat a skin concern. Acne treatments and anti-aging products are common examples of facial treatments.

Serum

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

Price

Shop

Buy C15 Super Booster

Starts at $55.00
Shop

Buy C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid

Starts at $182.00

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and view relevant 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
ph level
2.75

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Notable Ingredients

Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Hyaluronic Acid
Peptides

Benefits

Hydrating (2)
Redness Reducing
Reduces Irritation (2)
Skin Texture
Anti-Aging (3)
Dark Spots
Scar Healing (2)
Brightening (3)

Concerns

Irritating

Notable Ingredients

Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Hyaluronic Acid

Benefits

Hydrating (2)
Redness Reducing
Skin Texture
Anti-Aging (3)
Dark Spots
Scar Healing (2)
Brightening (3)

Concerns

Irritating
Eczema
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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.

1
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

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 1.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 1.

2
What it does: Antioxidant, Buffering, Masking, Skin Conditioning
Community Rating: Loved

Ascorbic Acid is is pure Vitamin C. This form makes up the largest amount of vitamin C found naturally in our skin.

Not only is vitamin C great for your overall health and immune system, it also has plenty of benefits on your skin.

Vitamin C is best used for brightening skin. It improves dark spots, acne scars, and hyperpigmentation. This is because it blocks the process of skin darkening when exposed to UV.

Remember: Vitamin C should not replace sunscreen!

Your skin uses vitamin C to build collagen. Collagen is one key component in having a strong skin barrier and plump skin. Vitamin C also plays a role in regulating collagen, thus making it effective in improving wrinkles and fine lines.

Ascorbic acid shows potent antioxidant activity. As an antioxidant, it helps fight free-radicals. Free-radicals are molecules that may damage your skin cells. These antioxidants also protect skin against UV damage.

The best formulations include Vitamin E and/or ferulic acid. These two ingredients help stabilize and provide a boost in the benefits of ascorbic acid. This is because ascorbic acid becomes unstable when exposed to UV and air. In fact, you can tell your ascorbic acid has oxidized when it turns an orange-yellow color.

Ascorbic acid is generally compatible with other ingredients. However, using ascorbic acid with other active ingredients might cause irritation. Two ingredients: copper ions and benzoyl peroxide, will inactivate ascorbic acid completely.

Read more about other types of Vitamin C:

Foods rich with vitamin C include oranges, strawberries, broccoli, bell peppers, and more. When consuming Vitamin C, your skin receives a portion of the nutrients.

Learn more about Ascorbic Acid

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 2.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 3.

3
What it does: Humectant, Solvent
Community Rating: Mixed

Ethoxydiglycol is a synthetic solvent.

Solvents are used to keep ingredients together in a product. They can help dissolve ingredients to stable bases or help evenly distribute ingredients throughout the product.

Ethoxydiglycol also helps deliver other key ingredients into the skin.

Learn more about Ethoxydiglycol

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 4.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 2.

4
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

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 5.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 4.

5
What it does: Antioxidant, Masking, Skin Conditioning
Community Rating: Liked

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

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 9.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 8.

6
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

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 10.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 12.

7
What it does: Antimicrobial, Antioxidant
Community Rating: Loved

Ferulic Acid is a plant based antioxidant. Antioxidants help fight free-radicals. Free-radicals are molecules that may damage your skin cells. Ferulic Acid can help reduce the formation of fine lines and hyperpigmentation.

When used with Vitamin C, Ferulic Acid has shown to prevent Vitamin C from breaking down. In other words, it acts as a stabilizer.

Ferulic Acid is sometimes used to preserve food. Foods containing Ferulic Acid include: oats, rice, eggplant, citrus.

In medicine, Ferulic Acid is being studied for helping with diabetes, Alzheimer's, and cardiovascular diseases.

Learn more about Ferulic Acid

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 13.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 10.

8
What it does: Skin Conditioning
Community Rating: Loved

Panthenol (also referred to as pro-vitamin B5) is a common ingredient that helps hydrate and soothe the skin.

lt is a humectant, meaning that it helps the skin attract and retain moisture.

Another benefit is the anti-inflammatory abilities. This means that it's great for sensitive, irritation-prone skin.

Once oxidized, panthenol converts to pantothenic acid. Panthothenic acid is found in all living cells.

Learn more about Panthenol

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 14.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 11.

9
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.

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster US contains this as ingredient number 20.

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid contains this as ingredient number 7.

Here's what our community thinks of the ingredients in these two products.

48% are loved or liked
24% have mixed ratings
24% are disliked or very disliked
5% have no rating yet
58% are loved or liked
8% have mixed ratings
33% are disliked or very disliked
0% have no rating yet

Usage

Here's some more info on how this product is used by our community.

When to use

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Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster 21 ingredients

4.5 /5
from 3 reviews

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic® With 15% L-Ascorbic Acid 12 ingredients

4.9 /5
from 10 reviews
kylepapp's Avatar'
Jun 8, 2023

Actual studies backing up the absorption of the ascorbic acid, thus the collegan building qualities and brightening effects are there.

Actual studies backing up the absorption of the ascorbic acid, thus the collegan building qualities and brightening effects are there.

indindi's Avatar'
Aug 2, 2023

the most cruel thing that anyone has done to me was give me a free sample of this product while its retail price is half of the cost of my weekly mortgage repayment 🫥

the most cruel thing that anyone has done to me was give me a free sample of this product while its retail price is half of the cost of my weekly mortgage repayment 🫥

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