What is Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum?

A lightweight vitamin C serum with 15% L-ascorbic acid, ferulic acid, and niacinamide designed to brighten skin, reduce dark spots, and provide antioxidant protection.

Is Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum worth it?

Mostly yes. 11 of the 13 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 82%.

What is Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum's Guru Score?

Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum holds a Guru Score of 82%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 13 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

What is Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum good for, according to the experts?

In their reviews, experts say Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum is good for dark spots and post-acne marks (1 expert), skin barrier support (1 expert), dull skin (1 expert) and fine lines and wrinkles (1 expert).

Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum: Guru Score 82%

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.

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No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Yay

"This one's got 15% ascorbic acid and 0.5% ferulic acid. And then they add an additional antioxidant called ergothioneine, which is an antioxidant that helps protect your skin from daily damage from light and all of that stuff. [...] It does not contain the vitamin E trifecta. Instead, they kind of stepped out on their own by adding that beneficial antioxidant and kind of made their product stand out from the crowd a little bit."

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"Vitamin E, ferulic acid, and ascorbic acid, that's the trifecta that's what you want to see. Those three ingredients together make the vitamin C serum work so well. [...] I like it, it's fresh, it feels nice, it doesn't feel greasy."

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"Their vitamin C serum is great. It feels really nice on the skin, which is hard to accomplish."

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"Their Lucent-C serum is great."

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Dr. Aleksandra Brown

153k subs

✓Yay

"This is a pretty potent formula. [...] When you put it head-to-head, it compares with serums that are costing like three to four times as much. [...] It can have a little bit of a smell and it [...] is spicy. If you have really sensitive skin and you're just starting, this is probably one of the ones that's going to eat your skin. [...] It's good for tolerant skin, for skin that has used vitamin C and needs extra brightening."

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"And in my experience, it layers beautifully into your daily routine without feeling heavy or sticky. It doesn't cause irritation for most people. For mature skin dealing with sun damage, dark spots, loss of radiance, this is one of those best affordable options out there. Personally, I also love that it comes in a pump. And it doesn't smell like hot dog water like the expensive version of it. The key ingredient here is the 15% ascorbic acid, ferulic acid, and niacinamide."

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"The Prequel Lucent C Vitamin C serum, which is 15% L-ascorbic acid, provides really potent brightening effects, antioxidant protection, at a really affordable price. [...] It can help minimize the appearance of dark spots, boost your skin's natural radiance, improve overall skin tone. I think it's suitable for daily use. It's more suitable for like your normal to combination oily skin type."

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"I love this option for mature skin that's specifically focused on brightening and addressing early signs of photoaging. Vitamin C makes it in my top three non-negotiables for skincare in your 30s. And I do think introducing in your 30s and then just adding to it as we mature is beneficial. This particular vitamin C formula is best suited for those who already tolerate vitamin C well and they want more noticeable brightening effect."

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"I tend to alternate this last time you saw me using Prequel Lucent-C Vitamin C and I love it. [...] If you have really dry skin [...] or a budget friendly option might be Prequel's Lucency. The key ingredients in this one are 2% flutin, it's derived from apples and the bark of fruit trees like pear and grapefruit. The flutin helps neutralize damaging free radicals, aids in cell turnover and improves the appearance of discoloration. This also has 10% pure vitamin C, which is L-ascorbic acid."

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"The first one is the Prequel Lucent-C Vitamin C Serum. 15%. It helps brighten, firm, hydrate. It will support that skin barrier. It's clinically shown to boost the radiance and reduce dullness in just like 4 weeks. It will help improve some of the brightness and firmness and elasticity. And the Prequel Vitamin C is really, really lightweight. So, I would apply my Prequel Vitamin C prior to applying hyaluronic acid serum."

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"It delivers the same brightening antioxidant protection with the same concentration of 50% of the same active aloscorbic acid. It is clinically proven to increase radiance and luminance after 4 weeks."

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"It is 15%. It also has niacinamide and ferulic acid. I love the dispenser. I'm a total sucker for packaging here. The Prequel Lucent-C comes in a really nice pump dispenser and I use about one and a half pumps and I just pump it into [...] my palm and then apply it to my face and I can rub it in. It does not smell. If your skin is very sensitive or if you've overused your retinoid, it can cause some irritation. So, if you're very sensitive, this one you may want to be careful with."

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"My favorite product recommendation in this category [...] is Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum. [...] I am obsessed with this product, it's such a steal in comparison to some of the other vitamin C's on the market. The serum provides potent brightening effects and antioxidant protection at an accessible price point. It reduces dark spots, boosts skin's natural radiance, and improves overall tone. It's suitable for daily use and enhances skin's natural glow over time."

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"It provides really potent brightening effects and antioxidant protection at a really affordable price. It is probably by now available at your local Target as well. It can help reduce dark spots, boost skin's natural radiance, and improve overall tone. It's suitable for daily use for most skin types. Now, some skin is sensitive to L-ascorbic acid, which is the active ingredient here, but most people are going to do just fine with it."

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"This is 15% L-ascorbic acid and ferulic acid. It is very similar to the OG Skinceuticals vitamin C. I don't believe in dupes so I wouldn't say that it is the same, but I think that if you're looking for something that has good ingredients, good data, and you want the feel of Skinceuticals vitamin C, the C E Ferulic, not the Flutin CF, this is your girl. Pretty affordable. I love the packaging. I like the dark container. It's heavy, good stuff."

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"I did recently finish the bottle of lucency from prequel. I loved it. It's very similar to skin sudicles. It does come in a pump which I much prefer over the dropper bottle."

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April Basi

72k subs

✓Yay

"My final thoughts on this product is it's the most scientifically rigorous formula in the entire video. If you have resilient skin, use your vitamin C consistently, and want the most evidence-backed form, this is the one."

Top Pick: vitamin c serum

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

✓Nay

"But I just don't like it, it's runny, it will oxidize in time, and [...] it's got a real heavy sticky feeling that doesn't fully absorb. It also has to be at a pH of 3.2, which is a bit low, so if you're reactive it can sting. [...] I absolutely prefer the Remedy Skin vitamin C, even though its ingredients don't have the level of research that L-ascorbic acid does, because I just can't do L-ascorbic acid, it's stinky and [...] it stings my skin."

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"I hadn't yet gotten around to trying the Lucent Sea Brightening Vitamin C serum from Prequel. I didn't have time to check the ingredients, [...] so I just pumped some out and smacked it on my face. [...] Standing there looking in my bathroom mirror, I realized I had made a terrible mistake, because my poor dentist was going to have to smell that smell while working on my teeth right after. It would have taken me two seconds to read the bottle first."

Mixed Makeup

1.46M subs

✓Yay

"I'm going to plug my friend Dr. Sam Ellis and her brand Prequel. I think that her vitamin C serum is fantastic and it's essentially the Skin Suiticles but like updated."

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"I'm going to plug my friend Dr. Sam Ellis and her brand Prequel. I think that her vitamin C serum is fantastic and it's essentially the Skin Suiticles but like updated."

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"It's a great vitamin C serum in my opinion, very comparable to the Skinceuticals C E Ferulic, but I also think this one's a little bit better because it's just a much better price. [...] It has 15% ascorbic acid in it, it also has ferulic acid, so you get a little bit of that [...] smell, but it's nowhere near as intense as the Skinceuticals one. It's very faint and it dissipates pretty quickly."

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"When you're combining a vitamin C serum like this one from Prequel with the use of your sunscreen, [...] you're just getting much more benefit and protection from UV radiation. [...] Vitamin C has just been shown to be really effective when combined with your sunscreen and protecting your skin from free radical damage."

Mad About Skin

734k subs

✓Yay

"The Prequel Vitamin C has a great price point. I love the formulation. Just reading about the ingredients and how it's created, I think this is a standout product. It's [...] the number one most recommended vitamin C in the comment section. [...] If you're in the US and you can get your hands on this, I would think it's worth giving it a go just based on the results that people have said."

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"Prequel, really love it. [...] They have vitamin C, probably the best of their products. I would totally recommend."

Abbey Yung

887k subs

✓Yay

"Some vitamin C serums that I have told you guys I enjoy before include Prequel."

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"Some vitamin C serums that I have told you guys I enjoy before include Prequel."

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"My experience so far has been positive, this doesn't irritate my skin which is great. [...] The texture isn't oily but has a little more slip than something like Timeless, which is very watery, so [...] if you have incredibly oily skin you may not love this. [...] But I feel like this gives me an immediate glow, whereas with Timeless I didn't really see anything like that. So far so good."

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"Something like Prequel, which is $23. I totally understand that's just not very accessible to a lot of people, so I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments below. [...] My skin is tingling from this Vitamin C right now. It's not like burning, but I feel a tingle, and I like it."

HotandFlashy

1.23M subs

✓Yay

"The first one is from Prequel and this is a 15% ascorbic acid vitamin C serum. This is really nice and lightweight. The price point is pretty comparable to the Timeless. The main difference is that the Prequel is a 15% vitamin C and the Timeless is 20% vitamin C but they're both formulated at the right pH and they're very, very nice products, very lightweight and watery."

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"This formula also contains niacinamide so you're definitely going to get a brightening of your skin with this. The Prequel vitamin C is much more of a watery liquid, [...] will run through your fingers but you just squeeze them together tight. It does absorb really really quickly and [...] this doesn't really leave any kind of a tack or stickiness on the surface of your skin so it rubs right in."

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"The prequel one turned brown really really fast so I was a little disappointed in that. Ascorbic acid based vitamin C serums have to be formulated right, they have to be in the right packaging in order for the vitamin C not to oxidize, but when it oxidizes it turns brown, and once your serum is brown it's really no good and you shouldn't use it."

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"I just discovered this one last month. This is from Prequel, this is a dermatologist brand. This is a 15% ascorbic acid vitamin C serum. This one is $23 an ounce. I think so great price point on both of these and they will definitely help your skin to produce more collagen."

Dr. Jenny Liu

324k subs

✓Yay

"The reason why I think this is a great alternative is number one it contains pure L-ascorbic acid that we know is that great antioxidant, also contains other blends of antioxidants that together work well at defending against external aggressors. Also contains a great brightening and hydrating ingredients to plump the skin while at the same time reducing the appearance of fine lines wrinkles and supporting collagen."

Dr Dray

2.69M subs

✓Mixed

"I didn't find it to be irritating, a lot of ascorbic acid serums irritate my skin, especially ascorbic acid serums like this which have an acidic pH of 3. This one's 3.2, that 3.2 is a great pH in theory for allowing good penetration of the ascorbic acid but it can be more irritating. This product warns against using it around the eyes where the skin is more delicate, more prone to irritation. I [...] didn't experience any irritation with this one."

Dr. Sam Ellis

902k subs

✓Yay

"Prequel's vitamin C serum is more of an evolution of the Skinceuticals C E Ferulic because instead of having vitamin E, it has a different antioxidant called erathionine. It was still formulated with the same goals of giving brighter, healthier skin and it's under $25."

SponsoredFounder's own brand

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"Even though I love it and it is the vitamin C that I use day-to-day, we're not a global bestseller yet, so we're not talking about it in this video."

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"My absolute favorite affordable vitamin C is from my brand Prequel and it's called Lucent-C. I truly have not seen a better, more effective vitamin C at this price point. I consider myself a true connoisseur of vitamin C, so if I was going to make or formulate a vitamin C product, I knew it had to be exceptional. It not only had to include evidence-based ingredients but also be effective as well as a joy to use, and to me that is what the Prequel Lucent-C really is."

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"If you want a drugstore option that also uses 15% L-ascorbic acid, 15% vitamin C, may I recommend the Prequel Lucent-C. This is my skincare brand, but I knew when I created a skincare brand, I wanted to create an effective vitamin C serum that was really affordable. So, this is an option for you if you are within the US."

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"The vitamin C I'm using today is by my brand Prequel, it's called Lucent-C. There are many benefits to topical vitamin C, one being a protection factor, so it protects you against free radical damage. As your skin is assaulted during the day, these little oxygen-free radicals form in the skin and they can bump around on important structures in your skin and prematurely break them down, so vitamin C guards against that."

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"Lucent-C is the vitamin C that I have used all year long. I'm [...] a huge stickler when it comes to vitamin C: I want it to have good strong actives, I want it to be gentle on the skin, and I wanted it to be science backed. [...] This has 15% L-ascorbic acid, which is the most studied form of vitamin C."

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"When I created my brand Prequel, I knew I would want to offer an affordable vitamin C if I felt like we could do a really really good job with it, and I kind of feel like we hit our Lucent-C out of the park. I am obsessed, this is the only vitamin C I use now."

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"It is waterweight, it is slippy and hydrating when you put it on the skin, it spreads effortlessly and then it dries down quickly without any stickiness or residue. [...] The fact that this is a pump means I don't have to worry about throwing it in my bag or having it out on my vanity, which makes it that much more easy to use and helps me keep my product safe. [...] When it dries down you just get this instant luminosity to the skin."

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"The reason I love the Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum is because it has 15% L-ascorbic acid as well as ferulic acid and another antioxidant called ergothioneine that helps stabilize the vitamin C within that formula. Not only does this make for a super effective product, but it also makes it a bit more tolerable, so for people who have sensitive skin and are interested in trying a very effective vitamin C, this is a great option."

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"This is one of our most popular and beloved products and since launching it, I have gotten so many messages on Instagram and also on YouTube from people who have classically had sensitive skin and not been able to tolerate L-ascorbic acid saying that this product really works for them."

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"When I made an antioxidant for my brand Prequel I also wanted to use [L-ascorbic] acid and that's what's in our Lucent-C serum."

Alexandra Anele

1.45M subs

✓Yay

"I [...] love it. I really do. I like it a lot. [...] I did experience a purge with this when I first used it, [...] but if you just stick with it, you get through to the other side and you look fabulous. I'm back on it and things have been going well. [...] I like that it's nice and lightweight, but there's still like a little bit of a silk to it, so it adds like a little bit of moisture. Today I'm not really wearing a ton of makeup, but all I'm wearing for my base is this and some sunscreen."