My biggest skin concern has always been PIE/PIH.

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Every time I got a spot it would be hanging around forever. Even when the spot itself had gone, the redness that stayed behind used to drive me mad. It meant that even when my skin was in a good place in terms of acne, the hangover from the last breakout was still there.

It wasn’t until I really started looking after my skin and got into Korean Skincare that I discovered what this actually was. PIE stands for Postinflammatory Erythema. It’s the scarring post acne that’s the dark redness that hangs around after you’ve defeated the spot.

After some research I discovered one of the key products in helping to get rid of PIE was Vitamin C.

The first product I tried was Melano CC Serum which was raved about. You can check out my review here.

I loved this serum but the packaging and the length of time a tube lasted me annoyed me. So I started looking out for an alternative and came across the Klairs Vitamin Drop on the Skinsider website. As I’d heard loads of good stuff about Klairs, I gave it a try.

This product contains 5% Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

The other Vitamin C I was debating at the time was the one By Wishtrend. Coming in at 21.5% it’s substantially stronger than the Klairs. As the Melano CC doesn’t state the concentration of vitamin c in their product, it was hard to work out whether I was buying something stronger or weaker than it. I therefore went safe and opted for the Klairs.

You receive 35ml of this for £21.

So in terms of pricing it’s not far off that of the Melano CC (£11 for 20ml). However the packaging is much better. This comes in a plastic bottle with a great pipette. This is perfect for only getting the right amount of product you need each time.

The product itself is a thin, clear liquid that takes some time to sink into the skin. I had to go away and do something else for a few minutes before applying the next step in my routine.

I went straight in and started using this every morning and had no reactions or issues. The only time I stopped using it was if I had a particularly bad breakout and stripped back everything from my routine. (If you want to see what my simple skincare routine looks like, it’s here).

Given how disappointed I was in how long the Melano lasted I was keen to see how long the Klairs would last me. I purchased this at the end of September and have only just replaced it. Over 6 months of usage is pretty good for something costing £21. Given the Klairs serum is so much thinner than the Melano CC, I wasn’t overly shocked that it lasted a lot longer because you do need less of it to get full face coverage.

As an added bonus, the Vitamin Drop also contains Centrella Asiaticca Extract.

I’ve heard loads of good things about this ingredient and have picked up a couple of Dr Jart products containing it. This ingredient is all about calming redness which is perfect in a product aimed at sorting out PIE.

While we’re talking ingredients, if you have sensitive skin or issues to certain ingredients definitely look it up on Cosdna. I had a quite look and there’s nothing too alarming on there.

So after six months of use, will I repurchase?

In a word, no. It’s just not strong enough. I could very easily tell a difference in how quickly the Melano CC cleared up my redness compared to the Klairs. It did have a postive effect on my skin, just not one that was as strong and quick as the one I’m used to.

For my next Vitamin C I decided to go stronger (though not all the way up to 21.5% just yet). I picked up Purito’s Vitamin C serum* that has a concentration of 10%. It also contains hyaluronic acid which is great for hydration (which is just what you need when using acids and actives).

Despite not really liking the Vitamin Drop, I’m really loving the Klairs brand at the moment.

I’ve been using their Supple Preparation Toner for a while and I have zero complaints. I was also sent their Freshly Juiced Vitamin Mask as part of the Skinsider Panel of Reviewers and I’m seeing some really great results so far.

If you have any top Klairs or Vitamin C recommendations, please let me know in the comments!

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