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Drunk Elephant

C-Firma Fresh Day Serum.

Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum
Serums

About this product

A vitamin C serum with 15% L-ascorbic acid, vitamin E, and ferulic acid, designed to brighten and protect skin. The Fresh version requires mixing a powder with liquid serum before use.

Full ingredients

Guru Score

70%

Mixed

14 experts · Strong agreement
14Gurus
8Yay
2Mixed
4Nay

What they liked

  • Airless pump packaging protects from oxidation

What they flagged

  • L-ascorbic acid form may irritate skin of color
  • Low pH can sting on compromised skin barriers
  • Can feel too acidic and irritating for some

What the gurus are saying

The mix-it-yourself formula earns consistent praise for keeping vitamin C stable from the moment you combine it, avoiding the oxidation risk of pre-mixed serums sitting on shelves. However, some find the mixing step tedious, and the product's effectiveness splits sharply by skin tone: dermatologists note that L-ascorbic acid, while excellent for lighter skin, may not be the best choice for deeper skin tones. A few people have found it irritating, though most who tolerate it report real brightening and hydration, particularly those with dry or sensitive skin.
Synthesized from 14 expert reviews · most recent take March 2026

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
~Mixed
"It's got licorice root extract, a beautiful tyrosinase inhibitor. It's got ferment, which is a conditioner for our skin. It's in an airless pump. The only downside is that it's 15% L-ascorbic acid. Out of all of the vitamin C acids, the L-ascorbic acid is my favorite one by far. And if they'd literally picked any other form of vitamin C, I would love this product, but they've gone for the gold standard for Caucasian skin, L-ascorbic acid. It's just not the best for skin of color. So, unfortunately, it's a no for me if you have skin of color, but if you have Caucasian skin, this is the best by far."
~Yay
"Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum, their vitamin C serum is a really, really good, even suitable level good swap for skin suiticles. It's expensive. It's $80, but that's going to still save you over $100 if you were thinking about getting skin suiticles. You can get this one instead. Very similar: vitamin E, ferulic acid, low pH, 15% L-ascorbic acid. [...] I use all of them, but I would say currently I've been doubling down on this option, and also with very sensitive skin, I find this just is soothing to my skin and does not overdo it and still gives me the results I'm looking for."
All 4 takes from The Budget Dermatologist
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"Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum, their vitamin C serum is a really, really good, even suitable level good swap for skin suiticles. It's expensive. It's $80, but that's going to still save you over $100 if you were thinking about getting skin suiticles. You can get this one instead. Very similar: vitamin E, ferulic acid, low pH, 15% L-ascorbic acid. [...] I use all of them, but I would say currently I've been doubling down on this option, and also with very sensitive skin, I find this just is soothing to my skin and does not overdo it and still gives me the results I'm looking for."
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"This is going to be your Skinceuticals CE Ferulic dupe for half the price. So 78 dollars, this has 15% L-ascorbic acid in it, the active form. It also has vitamin E and ferulic acid, so all three of those together are a powerhouse to really stabilize this formula. So it's really good but it is pricey. The way that they keep this stable, I actually like this one more than SkinCeuticals because SkinCeuticals has the dropper bottle format that I really don't like, but you can see here you mix this yourself when you buy it. So it comes in this tube, you mix it. I do give this one a thumbs up, but it is a little bit pricey. You can actually find other good vitamin C serums at less price points, but this one is good."
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"For a vitamin C product, choose a product with the L ascorbic acid form and make sure it has a concentration of at least 10 percent and contains the antioxidants vitamin E and ferulic acid. You can try a dupe such as the Drunk Elephant vitamin C serum."
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"This is an ingredient dupe for the C E Ferulic and it is less than half the price at $78. It has 15 percent pure L-ascorbic acid, the same as Skinceuticals, 0.5 percent ferulic acid, the same as Skinceuticals, and 1 percent vitamin E, again the exact same as the Skinceuticals version. In contrast to Skinceuticals' minimalistic ingredient list, Drunk Elephant has a few other added ingredients such as pumpkin extract to help exfoliate dead skin cells away, sodium hyaluronate to moisturize the skin, and a number of other fruit extracts to boost its antioxidant effects. I personally lean towards Skinceuticals' more minimalistic formula, but as long as these added ingredients do not irritate your skin, I don't find that to be a drawback for most people. This is also a clean product, it is fragrance and paraben free. I love that this brand reveals the pH of their product which is 2.5, very similar to Skinceuticals one if not a little bit lower, and in this case lower is better for absorption. Many brands do not make this pH level public knowledge, so that is wonderful about this one in particular. This is quite the unique packaging and I actually really love it. This product comes with the powder vitamin C separate from the base, which allows it to not become activated until you mix it, and this keeps it stable for longer because it minimizes its exposure to air compared to the commonly seen dropper bottle format like Skinceuticals. For that reason, I give this packaging a nod over Skinceuticals. There was a lawsuit for patent infringement of this product, so you know it was similar enough if L'Oreal who owns Skinceuticals sued Drunk Elephant because of it."
~Nay
"I had given her this Drunk Elephant C-Firma serum. She finished it. I didn't because it did not work well for me, but it seemed to work well for her."
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"I had the Drunk Elephant vitamin C serum which I reviewed finally. There's a little bit left. I just gave it to my friend to finish up because it didn't work well for my skin. [...] It was too acidic, too many different volatile ingredients. My skin really did not like it. It freaked out. It was just too irritating."
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"The Drunk Elephant C-Firma serum, I believe the reason why they changed the formula was probably due to consumer complaints about it being oxidized, but also because I heard Skin Ceuticals was coming after them for using their patented formula."
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"I've been wanting to try for so long however I'm super paranoid about vitamin C serums because they go bad so fast and a lot of times if you don't get on the first packaging manufacturing run a lot of times they end up getting old, oxidized, not great. I will say Drunk Elephant is probably an example of that. If you got their first run of their C-Firma serum it was amazing, then after that it was like they did one run of it and that was it and it turned to just garbage. Now they've repackaged it and stuff and I'm still not a huge fan."
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"I've also currently been testing out the Drunk Elephant new vitamin C serum which in my opinion it's not super impressive. I don't know, some of their releases used to be special and they just don't seem like that anymore."
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"The first night I thought oh that's weird my skin's really dry maybe it's the weather cuz it's getting cold out then the second night same thing except worse. I'm starting to think it's a vitamin C. I take three days off use a vitamin C same thing so anyway so I deducted it was this, it was the new product I had in my routine. If you look at reviews of this a lot of them have had the same issue: dryness, itchiness, redness, flakiness, irritation because of the formula of this. In terms of performance I can't use it that often to get the result that I want so anyway it's in my opinion not a good option for sensitive skin types whatsoever, especially with that Polysorbate 23 which is an emulsifying but also a cleansing ingredient. It's typically used in a lot of rinse off products that high up I think is an issue. For acne prone skin if you still want to try it we've got two ingredients of note: that Polysorbate 23 and then vitamin E so keep that in mind. In terms of the price so this is the full size it ends up being $78 so that's kind of expensive to have your face burnt off I think."
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"They're reformulated C-Firma, this one it's got a low pH although the pH wasn't quite what they advertised it when I tested it. We have a low pH, we have 15% ascorbic acid, which is a combination of two things. Ascorbic acid to function needs a low pH, however the lower the pH the higher chance of irritation, and then you add an active antioxidant like ascorbic acid becomes questionable. But then on top of it, they add in all these exfoliant enzymes in here. They added pumpkin enzyme which functions as an exfoliant alternative to AHAs, they had a pomegranate enzyme, another thing that functions as an exfoliant, they had a gluconolactone which is actually a PHA, gentle exfoliant. So you add all those exfoliants in here and then they also added a Polysorbate 23, which is a cleansing or surfactant emulsifying ingredient, fourth ingredient. You add all those things together and it screams potential irritation. The reviews of this reformulated vitamin C are hit or miss, a lot of people had some issues with it. My skin didn't tolerate it."
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"I burned my face off with their C-Firma serum like big time, like this was a big time recuperation effort just after using this for several days. It's super strong, it's got a good amount of vitamin C in it, it's got supposedly a lower pH which doesn't really happen in my pH test strips, two different types, and then it's got these exfoliants in here as well."
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"I finally finished my Drunk Elephant thing so then I put the refill in and I've just found better luck with other products now. So this, which I used to love and daydream about, I don't love as much. I'll just finish this one off and probably wouldn't repurchase it again at this point."
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"I had given her this Drunk Elephant C-Firma serum. She finished it. I didn't because it did not work well for me, but it seemed to work well for her."
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"I'm still annoyed with Drunk Elephant, what they did with their C-Firma serum, selling it oxidized for years. That leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. I picked up the new bottle, which is similar to Clinique and requires mixing the two parts. I haven't mixed it and tested it yet, but I'm still annoyed with the whole thing. And it's still ridiculously expensive. So I just think there's better options if you're going to spend hundreds of dollars. There's just so many better options out there."
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"This stuff was really nice however I kind of moved on and I moved on kind of from drunk elephant as a whole because of how expensive they are but overall it's still a good moisturizer"
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"The newest version was so irritating it had just too many actives in one product with a low pH and my skin did not appreciate at all. My skin got red, flaky, itchy, all that good stuff. It was just too many ingredients in a too low of a pH and a formula. I mean vitamin C or sorbic acid of itself can be potentially irritating, but when you combine with all these other ingredients like they did in this product, it's really irritating. So yeah, be careful about that one."
~Nay
"Mini versions of Drunk Elephants vitamin C and glycolic acid serums. Not for kids."
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"They capitalized on this growth, introducing several new products to their line, including the very popular C firma Day serum and TLC Sakuri Baby facial."
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"I don't use this daily. I use it like once a week."
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"Their standout products like their C-Firma vitamin C serum [...] really helped fuel this growth and kind of helped cement the brand's status as a staple of the skincare world."
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"The C-Firma Day Serum quickly became one of Drunk Elephant's most popular products. It kind of became a bit of an icon within the skincare world. It was extremely highly praised, it won multiple awards, and it was a pretty immediate success with consumers, both huge fans of the brand and people who were new to it. It was a lot of people's gateway into Drunk Elephant, and before long it was arguably their best selling and most recognizable product. But the success of the C-Firma Day Serum created a lot of buzz and brought the brand a lot of attention, and not all that attention was good."
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"Mini versions of Drunk Elephants vitamin C and glycolic acid serums. Not for kids."
~Yay
"It's got their C-Firma vitamin C serum that is a great antioxidant serum to use every morning. It's got 15% lactic acid along with ferulic acid and pumpkin seed extract for some added radiance."
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"They have their vitamin C antioxidant serum, the C-Firma Fresh Day Serum, and you guys know I am obsessed with vitamin C. It is a must have in my morning skincare routine."
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"It's got their C-Firma vitamin C serum that is a great antioxidant serum to use every morning. It's got 15% lactic acid along with ferulic acid and pumpkin seed extract for some added radiance."
~Yay
"This one is amazing because this formula has different types of hyaluronic acid with hyaluronic acid B concentrations and volume levels that improve hydration."
All 2 takes from Nipun Kapur
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"This one is amazing because this formula has different types of hyaluronic acid with hyaluronic acid B concentrations and volume levels that improve hydration."
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"Effective vitamin C Sunday Riley skin sules SE all sules minimalist 10% 16% I also like the Dr sha one"
~Yay
"I absolutely bought the old formula, and honestly I think I might prefer the new one. I mixed the liquid into the powder and it stayed completely clear, so good job to the formulators, because the problem with ascorbic acid is that it's just not that stable an ingredient. Vitamin C really is a great ingredient, and unlike peptides this has a lot of evidence backing it. We know it can help with hyperpigmentation and increasing collagen production, it's a great antioxidant, great to use in the morning paired with sunscreen. I do want to let you know that the low pH can be difficult for some people to use."
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"I cracked this open and used it up. The catch for me with this type of pure vitamin C serum is I have to have my barrier in a good place, when my skin is doing well I can handle vitamin C, when my skin isn't that's when I cannot, because vitamin C needs that lower pH which can be irritating on already irritated skin. Otherwise it worked fine, I did watch it turn a little bit yellow but I used it up before it oxidized."
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"I absolutely bought the old formula, and honestly I think I might prefer the new one. I mixed the liquid into the powder and it stayed completely clear, so good job to the formulators, because the problem with ascorbic acid is that it's just not that stable an ingredient. Vitamin C really is a great ingredient, and unlike peptides this has a lot of evidence backing it. We know it can help with hyperpigmentation and increasing collagen production, it's a great antioxidant, great to use in the morning paired with sunscreen. I do want to let you know that the low pH can be difficult for some people to use."
~Yay
"The Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum has 15% L-ascorbic acid, vitamin E, and 0.5% ferulic acid, so it's very similar to the Skinceuticals C E Ferulic, and it also contains some extra goodies like pumpkin ferment for exfoliation. What I think is interesting about this one is that you actually mix it fresh before use. It comes with a liquid serum and it has the vitamin C powder, and you put it together and shake it around, and then you have a freshly mixed and freshly made vitamin C serum. I like that because sometimes you buy a product and it just sits on your shelf for a really long time and you might forget about it or you don't know how long that product has already been sitting on the shelf. I like that you can control when you actually make the vitamin C serum, so that once you mix it, you know that you should start using it and that's when the clock starts for when the vitamin C might start to oxidize. I also like that it comes in this type of pump packaging versus a dropper, where you have to remove the dropper and expose the whole bottle to air every single time, so I prefer this packaging."
~Mixed
"This one needs to be actually mixed together so it comes separately and you have to mix the powder into the serum, which I find some people like to be chemists and some people don't like to do it. [...] The interesting thing about this particular formulation is that Drunk Elephant was sued by SkinCeuticals for patent infringement, so the formula was so close to SkinCeuticals' formula [...] that they actually ended up suing them over formula copying, so just important to note there. [...] This is not an inexpensive product, probably still in that 60 to 80 dollar range. What's kind of nice about this is that you're getting exactly what you need and you know that it's stable from the time that you get it, which is actually pretty cool because you don't know how long the other products have been sitting on the shelf with the cap on. [...] The value is that you have these unstable ingredients that can break down and so this may stay stable longer."
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"This one needs to be actually mixed together so it comes separately and you have to mix the powder into the serum, which I find some people like to be chemists and some people don't like to do it. [...] The interesting thing about this particular formulation is that Drunk Elephant was sued by SkinCeuticals for patent infringement, so the formula was so close to SkinCeuticals' formula [...] that they actually ended up suing them over formula copying, so just important to note there. [...] This is not an inexpensive product, probably still in that 60 to 80 dollar range. What's kind of nice about this is that you're getting exactly what you need and you know that it's stable from the time that you get it, which is actually pretty cool because you don't know how long the other products have been sitting on the shelf with the cap on. [...] The value is that you have these unstable ingredients that can break down and so this may stay stable longer."
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"I like Drunk Elephant a lot. I think they have a lot of good products, but they're just expensive. They use pretty high quality actives, fragrance-free, useful products. Their moisturizers are really good, though they're expensive."
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"Drunk Elephant came out with a vitamin C product that duped SkinCeuticals' formulation at the same pH with the same ingredients. They got sued by L'Oreal, who held the patent, and lost the lawsuit, but continued to sell the product."
~Yay
"One of my favorite ones is the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum because it's stabilized in a good formulation. There's good packaging that doesn't damage it, that doesn't allow the environment to damage it, and it stays stable for a longer period of time."
~Nay
"Should kids even be using products like Drunk Elephant? They're retinoid creams, they're intense vitamin C's. [...] I've got beef with that brand for many reasons. [...] The problem is the types of skincare they're using and the manner in which it's being used. [...] If we have people, specifically children, putting retinoids and vitamin C on their face, that can actually sting."
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"Should kids even be using products like Drunk Elephant? They're retinoid creams, they're intense vitamin C's. [...] I've got beef with that brand for many reasons. [...] The problem is the types of skincare they're using and the manner in which it's being used. [...] If we have people, specifically children, putting retinoids and vitamin C on their face, that can actually sting."
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"When my skin was horrible during the middle of the pandemic, my forehead was breaking out and it was super annoying - someone told me to look into Drunk Elephant and I started using this night serum and I swear it changed my skin. But this stuff is pretty strong, especially if it's your first time using it - it will burn a little bit. However, I do not like nor support Drunk Elephant. There's a whole debacle about the founder."
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"This is the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Retinal Serum. This is retinal with an A. Retinol is the basically over the counter form that we all know. Retinal is a step up. Retinal is the closest thing you can get to the prescription and your skin basically transforms it directly into the prescription once you apply it. This means it can be more irritating, but it penetrates so well. It's like a next generation retinol and this stuff, oh, is it expensive? Yes. But does it work? Oh yeah. If you're not going for the prescription, this is going to be the fastest working product as far as the retinoids go for retexturizing the skin. I would recommend this for someone who maybe has more mature skin. She is so silky and she's really brightening to the skin overall. She just makes my face look and feel amazing."
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"This is expensive, but this is probably my favorite product out of all of these for my skin. I would actually say it's an elevated cruelty-free version of the Skinceuticals. Now it is not identical because the Skinceuticals vitamin C smells like hot dog water and it is like a clear liquidy serum. This one is actually the Triple C Plus Ferrulic Brightening Complex at 20%, and boy, this is potent. This works. It is cruelty-free. It absorbs without irritating. This is good, and in my personal cruelty-free opinion, it is better than the Skinceuticals, even though it's still 160 bucks. This has a vitamin C ester, which is actually more stable, it absorbs into the skin better, and it is less irritating than other vitamin C, which I love. We have that ferulic acid, which is an amazing antioxidant and boosts this up, as well as vitamin E, our tocopherol acetate, which we know and love for also boosting up vitamin C. If you are looking for a more luxury hyperpigmentation serum, if you want something that is brightening, if you want antioxidant support before you go out during the day, this is going to be it. I love that this doesn't irritate my skin. It goes on really well. It absorbs quickly. It's also got jojoba oil in it, which you know my personal skin loves. This to me is like a better upgraded elevated version of the Skinceuticals vitamin C. I love this so much. If you have the money, if you are someone who uses the Skinceuticals and either you're looking to go cruelty-free or you're just kind of done with Skinceuticals and you want something that's going to do a little bit more or just to switch it up, this is it."
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"This is from Drunk Elephant. Drunk Elephant is a brand that I do not agree with for some of their morals and philosophies. Do they have some great skincare products? Yes. But the brand founder thinks that all skin conditions are because you don't use her skincare products and if you use one of her products without the other eight then it's like bad. I do not recommend the La La Retro Whipped Moisturizer. There's not much in here that would be really helpful for someone who's breaking out. When it comes to acne it's not just about a cleanser, it's about what ingredients are in my routine and what's actually going to stay on the skin to support it."
~Yay
"The last vitamin C that I really love is the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum. I've been using their vitamin C on and off for several years and I actually started using this over four years ago and I've always recommended this. I like this formulation a lot it does brighten up your skin but I also feel like this formula really helps to firm the skin as well. The formulation is the same but the packaging has changed since I started this back four years ago so now when you purchase this you get the ascorbic acid powder separately and then they provide you with the serum in a different bottle. When you're ready to use this you're going to mix the two together, you're going to shake this really well and then of course you are ready to use it. I like this because with other vitamin C serums you have no idea how long these products have been sitting on the shelf for or how long they've been sitting in a warehouse for so when you get it you don't know if it's already started to oxidize until you open up the bottle."
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"I'm still in love with it and I wish I didn't stop using it because this really is a great product when your skin is super dry and it feels tight. It is very rich and very moisturizing. I feel like this is more moisturizing than the Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream. This one is definitely thicker and it's also great for everyday twice a day. I do like this for nighttime but I will use this in my morning routine and my makeup and sunscreen also sit nicely on top of this. There are six different oils in here so again if you don't like oils in your formulation then you're not going to like this."
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"The last vitamin C that I really love is the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum. I've been using their vitamin C on and off for several years and I actually started using this over four years ago and I've always recommended this. I like this formulation a lot it does brighten up your skin but I also feel like this formula really helps to firm the skin as well. The formulation is the same but the packaging has changed since I started this back four years ago so now when you purchase this you get the ascorbic acid powder separately and then they provide you with the serum in a different bottle. When you're ready to use this you're going to mix the two together, you're going to shake this really well and then of course you are ready to use it. I like this because with other vitamin C serums you have no idea how long these products have been sitting on the shelf for or how long they've been sitting in a warehouse for so when you get it you don't know if it's already started to oxidize until you open up the bottle."
~Yay
"Drunk Elephant also has a C-Firma Fresh serum. It's an oldie but a goodie and has 15 percent pure L ascorbic acid. They recently switched up their product where you click it in and mix it together."
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"I love this serum, it is one of my most prized possessions. I actually cannot live without it. It is loaded in a couple of things at really effective levels. There is alpha arbutin in here, kojic acid in here, there is licorice root in here, and just the right amount of niacinamide, just in this particular product not over burying, just the right amount. This is going to really help target some of that pigmentation and it just delivers the best hydration in the tiniest little amount and your skin has been glowing since I've been using this and I'm obsessed, obsessed, obsessed."
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"Drunk Elephant also has a C-Firma Fresh serum. It's an oldie but a goodie and has 15 percent pure L ascorbic acid. They recently switched up their product where you click it in and mix it together."
~Nay
"I tried a small sample of the vitamin C from Drunk Elephant. This is their C-Firma Fresh and this is the one that you mix the two products together to get a fresh vitamin C. I have to say this was definitely a fail for me because the products never mixed very well. It was always slightly granular and gritty, so definitely not a fave for me. This has to go in the fail category."
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"I tried a small sample of the vitamin C from Drunk Elephant. This is their C-Firma Fresh and this is the one that you mix the two products together to get a fresh vitamin C. I have to say this was definitely a fail for me because the products never mixed very well. It was always slightly granular and gritty, so definitely not a fave for me. This has to go in the fail category."
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"This is the C-Firma Fresh Day Serum by Drunk Elephant. Drunk Elephant definitely struck out for me there's really only one product of the little kit that they sent me in PR of their Minis that I enjoyed. I just didn't find this as brightening as some of the other vitamin C's that I enjoy using and so this for me was a fail."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Vitamin C

Topical vitamin C is an antioxidant with reasonable evidence for dullness and uneven tone. It breaks down in light and air, so how a product is formulated and packaged matters as much as the percentage on the front.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum?

A vitamin C serum with 15% L-ascorbic acid, vitamin E, and ferulic acid, designed to brighten and protect skin. The Fresh version requires mixing a powder with liquid serum before use.

Is Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum worth it?

The gurus are split. 8 of the 14 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 4 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 70%.

What is Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum's Guru Score?

Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum holds a Guru Score of 70%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 14 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Who is Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum best for?

Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum is generally suited to mature skin.

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