The 6 Best Vitamin C Serums of 2026 | Reviews by Wirecutter

Best splurge: SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic

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Upgrade pick

The 15% concentration of liquid L-ascorbic acid in this decades-old formula is particularly effective and well studied. That may explain the exorbitant price.

SkinCeuticals launched its first vitamin C serum in 1997, so it can take a lot of credit for the explosion of the entire antioxidant skin-care category. The company was founded — and the serums were formulated — by the late Sheldon Pinnell, the chief of dermatology at Duke University School of Medicine at the time. He published watershed studies that showed the effective absorption of a low-pH L-ascorbic acid. During label-concealed testing, our panelists truly favored the simple elegance of SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic.

Specifically, C E Ferulic contains a 15% concentration of the L-ascorbic acid, alongside vitamin E and ferulic acid at a sub-3.5 pH. (Other brands have wisely piggybacked off of Pinnell’s research; 18 of the products we tested contained ferulic acid and 26 contained vitamin E.) Compared with other derivatives, L-ascorbic acid is especially good at absorbing into skin. Other versions of the vitamin — like the 3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid in Olay Vitamin C + Peptide 24 Brightening Serum, one of our picks — have to react with the skin before penetrating. (Think of it as L-ascorbic flying direct and other derivatives making connecting flights.)

This serum has a nice viscosity, too: Many options we tried were runny and dribbled right off testers’ faces. The C E Ferulic, however, “is liquid but still has movement to it,” one panelist said. “That gives it a self-care angle,” versus feeling like you’re just dribbling water on your face. Best of all, testers quickly noticed that the serum felt firming. “It made my skin feel tighter, which gave me the vibe that it was really working,” one tester noted. (Still, at least one panelist said the SkinCeuticals serum made her skin feel a little too tight.)

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• At more than $180 per ounce, C E Ferulic is by far the priciest vitamin C serum we recommend. Our budget pick, Timeless Skin Care 20% C + E Ferulic Acid Serum, boasts a similar ingredients panel, but it costs less than $30.
• Several testers commented on the formula’s initial — yet fleeting — stickiness. It also had mixed results throughout the day, leaving a few testers with an oily sheen.
• The fragrance is a turnoff. The serum’s scent is hard to pinpoint — different testers detected notes of shredded wheat, soy sauce, or hotdogs. No one mentioned the scent as a positive.

Best budget-friendly option: Timeless Skin Care 20% C + E Ferulic Acid Serum

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Budget pick

The little yellow bottle pumps out a tingly serum powered by fast-acting L-ascorbic acid. The sticky residue requires a little time to dissipate.

Timeless Skin Care’s 20% C + E Ferulic Acid Serum shares most of its ingredients with SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic, but this serum costs 85% less. The watery formula is rather runny, but the product absorbs quickly and feels zesty on the skin.

The Timeless Skin Care serum has 11 ingredients, while the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic serum contains 12 — and eight of those ingredients overlap. Both formulas contain an effective mixture of L-ascorbic acid, vitamin E, and ferulic acid. What’s more, the Timeless Skin Care serum has a 20% concentration of L-ascorbic acid, compared with 15% in the SkinCeuticals serum. While that 5% uptick was a selling point for some of our testers, it is the upper limit of concentrations that dermatologists recommended to us. And some people — especially those with sensitive skin — may find it irritating.

Antioxidants like vitamin C even out skin tone and improve texture, and our testers noticed benefits very quickly. One tester reported an “immediate brightening effect” upon application. Another perceived her complexion to be smoother and more evenly toned within just one day.

The cheery yellow bottle also garnered a little fanbase. Knowing how finicky L-ascorbic acid can be — it degrades with exposure to light and air — testers appreciated that the serum comes in opaque glass with an airtight pump. Compared with our Naturium pick’s taller packaging, this squat bottle was preferred by some testers for stashing in small travel bags.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• It’s very drippy. The similarly formulated SkinCeuticals serum has glycerin, which can give the drops a little more body.
• Some folks found that the serum tingles as it absorbs. At least one of our testers noticed that the zestiness lasted for about five minutes — but she actually enjoyed the feeling. “It was like when I use Listerine, and the sensation means it’s working,” she said.

Best for sensitive skin: Naturium Vitamin C Complex Serum

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Best for...

Housed in a bottle with an airtight pump, these gel-like drops contain a mild, efficacious vitamin C derivative that absorbs quickly and leaves skin looking smooth.

If you’ve never used a vitamin C product before, this is a great one to try. With water and glycerin as its first two ingredients, Naturium Vitamin C Complex Serum glides on like a liquid, nourishes like a gel — and makes skin feel smooth and not at all sticky. It earned rave reviews from multiple testers (including several with very sensitive skin), who preferred it to many products that were five times more expensive.

Here, the primary vitamin C derivative is sodium ascorbyl phosphate, which is milder than L-ascorbic acid (in our picks from SkinCeuticals and Timeless Skin Care). Accordingly, our testers noted how gentle the Naturium serum felt on their skin, with none of the tingling or stinging that some other water-based options triggered.

Although it’s not as dewy and rich as La Roche-Posay’s Vitamin C12 Serum, the Naturium serum still has a lush heft that many water-based blends lack. Testers appreciated how quickly it absorbed and dried without any stickiness, and they also liked that it could be worn under makeup.

Plus, it delivered all-day benefits. Several testers noted that the Naturium serum minimized redness and neutralized surface grease. “My skin looked and felt smooth, even at the end of the day,” one said.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• During testing, the bottle occasionally sputtered and emitted foamy drops.

Best for dry skin: Sunday Riley C.E.O. 15% Vitamin C Brightening Serum

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Best for...

With a luxe consistency and quenching formula, this serum can double as a light moisturizer. THD ascorbate, the vitamin C derivative, remains stable in a creamy mixture, and the zesty scent is a nice add.

Dry skin thirsts for moisture, and Sunday Riley C.E.O. 15% Vitamin C Brightening Serum comes through with a luscious formula powered by tetrahexyldecyl (THD) ascorbate, a form of vitamin C that stays stable in creamy suspensions. Our only lotion-like pick, this serum glides over skin in a sheer layer that takes a few minutes to fully sink in. Once the slight tackiness dissipates, other skin-care products and cosmetics go on smoothly.

With squalane, jojoba, and glycerin in the mix, the Sunday Riley serum contains some of the key ingredients we looked for in contenders for our guide to the best moisturizers. But it also has the active derivative THD ascorbate, which maintains its effectiveness even in a creamy formulation. (L-ascorbic acid is more potent, but it wouldn’t stay stable in a sheer lotion like this.) “There was no tingling or redness, and I loved the creamy texture — not too heavy, but hydrating,” one dry-skinned tester said.

Some vitamin C creams we tried felt greasy under moisturizer or makeup. (Testers liked Drunk Elephant C-Luma Hydrabright Serum but found it slick and prone to pilling under other products.) The emollient Sunday Riley serum, however, created an elegant base. Testers also raved about the zippy, citrusy fragrance, with one noting its “subtle, enjoyable scent.”

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• At more than $80 per ounce, it isn’t cheap. Essentially, you pay a lot for a less efficient vitamin C derivative; THD ascorbate doesn’t have the proven-research wind power of the also pricey SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic. For dry skin, however, the creamy formula may be worth the trade-off.

Best for combination skin: Olay Vitamin C + Peptide 24 Brightening Serum

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Best for...

This gel-liquid hybrid feels luxurious on the skin — even if the bottle feels chintzy in the hand.

With the notable exception of its plastic packaging — which is truly horrible — there’s a lot to recommend Olay Vitamin C + Peptide 24 Brightening Serum. The plump, pearlescent formula left skin soft and smooth, with a hint of fresh fragrance.

Unprompted and entirely coincidentally, several of our testers used the word “luxurious” to describe this serum. And the formula packs in a lot of high-achiever ingredients — the 3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid derivative of vitamin C is rounded out with gently smoothing additions, such as niacinamide and lactic acid. “It’s a little thick out of the dropper, but then feels liquid while massaging into my skin,” one tester said. “Applying this is a treat.”

Unlike many of the other bulkier, viscous contenders in this category, the Olay serum absorbed quickly and left a sheer, silky finish for those with combination skin. In contrast, RoC Multi Correxion Revive + Glow Daily Serum required upwards of 10 minutes to sink in and dry down — not ideal when you’re waiting to start the next step in a skin-care routine.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The fragrance was polarizing. One tester said the subtle fruit scent was a positive, while another panelist bemoaned the fact that “the tangerine smell doesn’t fade.”
• The bottle feels cheap. Of all of our picks, the Olay serum is the only one that comes in a clacky plastic bottle.

Best for oily skin: La Roche-Posay Vitamin C12 Serum

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Best for...

A hearty gel, this ascorbic acid formula noticeably brightened skin during our testing. But the powdery scent is a bit off-putting.

With a unique texture, La Roche-Posay Vitamin C12 Serum seemingly melts into skin to leave a sheer, touchable finish. The orange-tinted drops are juiced up with skin-care all-stars like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and salicylic acid. Testers loved how the formula perked up their complexions, though they were less keen on the baby-powder-meets-medicinal scent.

In this plumped-up formula, the vitamin C derivative ascorbic acid (a twin to L-ascorbic) is at a 12% concentration — second only to water on the ingredient panel. One tester pointed out that the serum made her skin look noticeably less ragged after just a few days. And a minimalist panelist copped to using La Roche-Posay’s serum in lieu of her usual face cream for a few days.

This is our only pick with salicylic acid, a beta hydroxy acid that combats skin’s surface oils and can have a mattifying effect. Indeed, while our Olay pick is silky on the skin, La Roche-Posay’s serum feels plush — similar to the difference between satin and velvet. “It melted into my skin and felt super soft, with a powder finish,” one tester said. (By contrast, Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum, which has a similar texture, tended to dry out skin. And Buttah Vitamin C Serum made one tester’s skin look more oily.)

For a drugstore brand, the La Roche-Posay serum’s packaging and presentation both register as significant upgrades, with a glass bottle that’s more in line with the pricey SkinCeuticals serum. The powdery fragrance also feels a bit fancy, though some of our scent-averse testers deemed it unacceptable.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The emollient formula gums up the dropper and gloms on to the bottle, making the experience untidy.

What does vitamin C do?

Sunshine, air pollution, smoke, and just getting older, day after day — all of it leads to the formation of free radicals that can harm your skin, making it look lined, slack, discolored, and otherwise damaged. Because free radicals are oxygen molecules with unstable unpaired electrons, applying an antioxidant like vitamin C can neutralize and stabilize the molecule.

Generally, your skin does not benefit from the vitamin C that you get from your diet or oral supplements. Topical vitamin C, on the other hand, can help improve skin tone, soften the appearance of lines, renew collagen production, and treat hyperpigmentation — though definitive studies are limited, and stable versions of even reliable vitamin C derivatives are elusive. As much as Krupa Koestline, the cosmetic chemist we interviewed for this guide, likes vitamin C formulations, she still considers vitamin C to be among the most overrated skin-care ingredients. And she agreed with other experts we spoke to who said vitamin C is best used as a tool of prevention, not repair or reversal, in a skin-care routine.

Anecdotally, however, we know that plenty of people (lots of Wirecutter staffers among them!) swear by this step in their skin-care and self-care routines.

Who this is for and when to apply it

On the continuum between “need to have” and “nice to have,” sunscreen and moisturizer are firmly planted in the former, and a vitamin C serum lands much closer to the latter. Even so, dermatologists we interviewed recommend adopting it as a step in your morning skin-care routine, after cleansing and before moisturizer and sunscreen (vitamin C has been shown to enhance the effects of SPF).

How we picked

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Vitamin C serums, like many skin-care products, have options that can seem both overwhelming and duplicative — with price tags that range from about $10 to more than $200.

For this guide, I polled colleagues (from beauty newbies to the skin-care-obsessed) to discover the products they swear by and those they’ve rejected for myriad offenses (like sticky textures and cloying fragrances). I dipped into skin-care subreddits and visited popular beauty retailers in person and online to suss out newcomers and old favorites. I also interviewed dermatologists and a cosmetic chemist to get their insights, and I read health articles and academic studies about vitamin C and its effects on skin.

Through that reporting, we arrived at some metrics for the ideal formula:

• a vitamin C concentration of 5% to 20%
• an ideal pH for each specific type of vitamin C derivative we tried
• reliably effective derivatives of vitamin C

Ultimately, we picked products that contained the following derivatives or modified versions of the chemical compound:

L-ascorbic acid (sometimes labeled as “ascorbic acid”) is considered the gold standard for absorption, and it is especially effective when paired with additional ingredients like vitamin E and ferulic acid.

Sodium ascorbyl phosphate is more stable but not as potent. Your skin needs to enzymatically convert it to L-ascorbic acid.

3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid is stable and effective in different formulations — it can be in a creamy serum for dry skin or a watery one for oily skin.

Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate is found in oil-based formulas, and it penetrates the skin nicely.

Ascorbyl glucoside is a milder product, in that it doesn’t have as much power in neutralizing free radicals.

We used those parameters to winnow an initial list of 60 considerations down to a test set of 30.

How we tested

Panelists tested three types of formulations: liquid serums, dewy serums, and sheer lotion serums. Rory Evans/NYT Wirecutter

I personally tested 34 products over the course of three months. By testing each formula against our ideal criteria, I arrived at a tighter list to send to eight panel testers, who were grouped by skin type and included people in a range of ages and with diverse skin tones. They evaluated the serums using the following criteria:

• Experience and perceived benefits: Each pick earned high praise for how skin felt and looked after application.
• Texture: Formulations for vitamin C serums vary between creamy lotions, dewy drops, and watery liquids. Our testers compared products within those categories, and they chose the ones that felt the best in their hands and on their faces.
• Absorption: A lot of the serums we tested seemed to form a tight film on skin, or they left a long-lasting stickiness. Several also caused unpleasant tingling sensations. The best contenders were granted some initial tackiness but then sank in elegantly, with just a little tingling and minimal sensitivity.
• Packaging and fragrance: To warrant a spot in a daily skin-care routine, a product should have user-friendly packaging and an inoffensive fragrance. Testers gravitated toward brands that offered upgraded experiences, like a chic dropper, a handy airtight pump, or fresh, zesty scents.

Why you should trust us

I have been writing articles about skin care and beauty for more than 25 years. While working for several lifestyle magazines, I’ve written many best-of-beauty roundups that reflected the real-life needs and feedback of readers. I’ve interviewed dozens of dermatologists and dug into hundreds of academic articles about skin care, ingredients, and efficacy.

Although I wish I had the energy to mimic my teenager’s hour-long skin-care routine, my own regimen is streamlined and simple. I wear moisturizer both day and night, and I slather my lips with balm at all hours. And (child of the ’70s, teen of the ’80s here) I am a rueful and belated adopter of sunscreen. When I add a step or a product to my minimalist routine, I want it to be easy, enjoyable, and effective. I consider myself an excellent judge of products and the experiences they offer.

Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of my editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards.

The competition

For combination skin (dewy serums)

We liked the cool, fresh feel of Clarins Bright Plus Face Brightening Dark Spot Serum, but we were turned off by the floral fragrance and the fussy dropper.

Although we were intrigued by Dr. Althea Gentle Vitamin C Serum’s gentle formula, it felt tight on our skin after it dried.

With both L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Derm Intensives 12% Vitamin C + E + Salicylic Acid Serum and Olay Super Serum, we loved how emollient the drops felt. But they were edged out by the Olay and La Roche-Posay serums we recommend, which also have other exfoliants (like salicylic or lactic acid).

While the Melano CC Essence has longtime fans on our staff, we were frustrated that it took almost a month for our order to arrive.

Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum and RoC Multi Correxion Revive + Glow Daily Serum had nice, plump consistencies, but we didn’t love how sticky they felt as they dried. TruSkin Vitamin C Facial Serum, on the other hand, looked unappealing — one tester likened it to snot — and it remained tacky on the skin.

For oily skin (liquid serums)

In this category, we wanted to tamp down shine, not enhance it, but that’s exactly what Buttah Vitamin C Serum, Dr. Brenner C Serum, and Dr. Dennis Gross Vitamin C Lactic 15% Vitamin C Firm & Bright Serum all ended up doing: They made our skin feel greasy.

We loved how affordable Geek & Gorgeous 101 C-Glow was, but it left a lasting stickiness. Similarly, Maelove The Glow Maker was just edged out due to its tacky texture, as well as its medicinal smell.

We loved how quickly Obagi Professional-C Serum absorbed — but on the flip side, liquid dribbled all over the place, wasting (a pricey!) product. Testers were deeply split over the odor: Some found it to be fine, but others didn’t want it anywhere near their faces.

Multiple testers said the Paula’s Choice C15 Super Booster made them look shiny, yet it also felt sticky. And the Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum had a thin, adhesive feel and a musty-meets-chem-lab aroma that was deeply unpleasant.

SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF has a devoted following and over a decade of great online reviews, but we preferred the brand’s C E Ferulic formula.

Nothing extraordinary stood out to recommend either The Ordinary Ascorbyl Glucoside Solution 12% or The Inkey List 15% Vitamin C And EGF Serum. Both felt sticky, and The Ordinary’s serum even seemed to accentuate redness and pimples.

The formula for Vichy Liftactiv 16% Vitamin C Brightening Serum felt a little greasy. And it really lost points due to its fussy bottle and odd detachable plastic nozzle.

YonKa Serum C20 was a hands-down favorite for fragrance, with a fresh, subtle smell. Testers liked the self-care aspect of the emollient serum, but they ultimately deemed it a bit too greasy for daytime wear.

For dry skin (sheer lotion serums)

Biossance Squalane and Vitamin C Dark Spot Serum rubbed in easily, but it left behind a film.

While its creamy texture felt hydrating at first, the CeraVe Skin Renewing Vitamin C Serum triggered a mild tingling sensation and a little redness.

The Derma-E Vitamin C with Hyaluronic Acid had an artificial scent, like old-school baby aspirin. While testers appreciated that the Drunk Elephant C-Luma Hydrabright Serum had virtually no fragrance, they disliked that the smooth formula never seemed to fully absorb into skin, and it pilled under moisturizer. Kiehl’s Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate also felt too heavy.

A close runner-up to Sunday Riley C.E.O. 15% Vitamin C Brightening Serum, Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Power Serum has a sheer consistency and sinks in easily. For all of its refinement, though, it smells like a pile of rotting leaves.

Testers appreciated how the fragrance-free Vanicream Vitamin C Serum made skin look glowy, but they didn’t love the tube-pump combo packaging.

We also ruled out a number of other vitamin C serums from Belif, Biossance, Bliss, Current State, Dermalogica, Glossier, Glow Recipe, Goodal, Goop, HoliFrog, Innbeauty Project, Innisfree, M-61, Ole Henriksen, Origins, Relevant, Sérumtologié, StriVectin, Tata Harper, The Ordinary, Tula, Ursa Major, and Vibriance for a variety of reasons, including insufficient or unfavorable reviews, limited distribution, or value concerns.

This article was edited by Jennifer G. Sullivan and Hannah Morrill.

Sources

1. Esther Williams, MD, dermatologist, email interview, September 23, 2024

2. Arielle Nagler, MD, dermatologist, phone interview, September 23, 2024

3. Neelam Vashi, MD, dermatologist, video and email interviews, September and October, 2024

4. Krupa Koestline, cosmetic chemist, video interview, October 1, 2024