Alto Advanced Defense and Repair Serum.

"My favorite here is the SkinBetter Science Alto Advanced Defense and Repair Serum. The Advanced one has a little bit more antioxidants. It comes out of the bottle just a little bit darker because it contains this powerful antioxidant blend. I treat a lot of rosacea patients and I do a lot of pulse style laser, which is a laser that helps with the rosacea redness. All of my pulse style laser patients are encouraged to start vitamin C and sunscreen, and very often I hear 'I cannot tolerate vitamin C,' and I have them start SkinBetter Science Alto Advanced and they do just fine. So it's really not that you can't tolerate the ingredient, you just haven't found the right type. The SkinBetter Science Alto Advanced is an advanced serum that offers comprehensive antioxidant protection by defending the skin from both external environmental stressors but also internal oxidative damage. Unlike traditional vitamin C serums, this one has 19 antioxidants including vitamin C, vitamin E, and their proprietary botanical blend to help brighten skin, reduce oxidative damage, reduce the redness in their clinical studies, and ultimately improve the overall texture of the skin. The key ingredient is the Alo PQQ, which is a potent antioxidant that neutralizes the free radicals from external processes. The vitamin C in here is tetrahexylascorbate."

"SkinBetter Science Alto Advanced Defense and Repair Serum is a really luxurious, rich and nourishing antioxidant serum that is creamy and hydrating. I honestly really love this for my sensitive skin and rosacea patients and friends. Even though C through L leg is my holy grail, there's some people that just can't tolerate the pure vitamin C, and for those individuals this is kind of like my alternative that I really highly recommend. It doesn't have as many studies, but certainly it's up there when it comes to the amount of clinical studies that do exist regarding vitamin C and antioxidant benefits. The benefit of this antioxidant serum is to support collagen, reduce appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, improve skin texture and skin tone, and also helps to calm and support the skin barrier. In addition to lipid soluble C and vitamin E, there are 17 additional antioxidants that work together along with green tea and coenzyme Q10. It's just a lovely creamy serum. I honestly really love using it in the winter time when my skin may not always handle the pure vitamin C as well due to the acidity of that serum, but I highly recommend it for anyone that has super sensitive skin."

"This is an absolute Holy Grail product for me and probably one of my top three products of all time that I use every single day. This has THD ascorbate vitamin E but also 17 other antioxidants. I really think of this as more than just a vitamin C because it really takes kind of a holistic approach to treating your skin. In addition to vitamin C and E, it also has this patented antioxidant called LL-PQQ which helps your body fight free radical production as well as reactive oxidative species from the sun. It also has plankton extract which contains an enzyme that helps to repair existing DNA damage, ergothionine which is an antioxidant, babol for calming soothing effects, niacinamide which is another antioxidant as well as a brightener, licorice extract which is a brightener for dark spots, and tri-floro acetal tripeptide 2 which is a peptide that helps to improve the appearance of skin elasticity and firmness. So it really is like a vitamin C plus product. This definitely comes with a heftier price tag."

"My absolute favorite vitamin C product that utilizes a vitamin C derivative is the SkinBetter Science Alto Advanced Defense and Repair Serum. The reason I love this antioxidant serum so much and why I think it's sort of worth that higher price point is because this not only includes that vitamin C derivative THD ascorbate but also so many other incredible antioxidants. I also really appreciate that SkinBetter has done some clinical studies on this exact product to show that it helps with skin integrity as well as discoloration. This is a very creamy yet lightweight serum and I find that it plays well with a lot of other skincare products and builds well in a routine."

"Next in the product roundup is the SkinBetter Science Alto Advanced Defense and Repair Serum. This one actually does not use ascorbic acid, it uses a vitamin C called tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, or THD ascorbate. So if you can't tolerate ascorbic acid, or if you have very sensitive skin, you may love an antioxidant serum that has tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. It's a lipid loving, very stable form of vitamin C that I find is much better tolerated by my patients who have sensitive skin. Now they don't disclose exactly what percent of the THD they're using in the formulation, it's listed about 11th on the ingredient list, and it is underneath some other ingredients that are typically used at about a 1 to 2% concentration. But they're not just relying on the THD, it's actually a blend of different antioxidants, so it's a little bit less of a vitamin C specific serum and more of an antioxidant defense serum. I do love the packaging, I love that it comes in an airless pump, because it's preventing that process of oxidation, it's protecting that formulation over time. It's not the most sustainable pump, it has metallic accents, but I do really love that it's protecting the stability of that formulation over time. This one retails for, I want to say it's like $160, $165 for 30 mLs, so again it's on the pricey side, but it's an excellent option that many of my patients love."

"The Alto Advanced Defense and Repair Serum is a nice antioxidant serum with 19 antioxidants including vitamin C, vitamin E, polyphenol-rich superantioxidant extracts of acai, turmeric, cocoa, green tea, grape seed, Mediterranean olive blend, coffee, saffron, superoxide dismutase, and licorice extract which also helps with brightening your skin. You can apply this to damp skin in the morning after you cleanse, and bring it down to the neck, chest, and decollete area to help fight free radical damage and photoaging effects where you get red, whites, and browns and wrinkling. It's a lightweight, liquidy serum that you can apply with a pea-size amount using circular motions or tapping."