Product Review: Timeless 20% Vitamin C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum

Do you use a vitamin C serum? I've been using vitamin C in my skincare routine for over 15 years now, and it's one of the top three products on my "must-haves for anti-aging" skincare list. Over that time, I've tried a lot of different products - some I liked, some were okay, and some I really didn't like at all.

Vitamin C is an interesting topic. There's a lot of conflicting information out there, and of course, every company claims their product is the best. There are different forms of vitamin C, but the main issue (for not only vitamin C, but antioxidants in general) is that it oxidizes, or basically becomes useless, when exposed to air and light. What I believe to be true is this: Applied topically, vitamin C can be great for the skin - evening out skin tone and protecting against free radicals that break down collagen, possibly even help firm the skin.


(This post may contain affiliate links which were added to make it easier for you to find the items. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). You are free to use the links or not - if you do, I thank you!)

Timeless 20% Vitamin C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum contains vitamin C in the form of L-ascorbic acid. It obviously also contains vitamin E and ferulic acid. Studies have shown that ferulic acid works with other antioxidants, and especially makes vitamins C and E more powerful. I try to use vitamin C serums that contain ferulic acid.

I decided to try the Timeless serum after hearing Angie from Hot and Flashy talk about it for so long. It's one of her favorite products, and she's used it for years. I picked mine up on Amazon because it was less expensive, and you know I love my free 2 day Amazon Prime shipping! They do occasionally offer 50% off on the Timeless website, but it's with a $75 minimum order.

It comes packaged in a 1 oz. blue glass bottle with a dropper top nestled inside a box. Angie had mentioned how when she receives her product, she pours some into a smaller dropper bottle for use and stores the rest in the refrigerator. It's a great idea, because a dropper bottle does allow some air in, no matter how quickly you recap it. I had some small dropper bottles on hand, so I put about 1/3 of the original serum in the smaller bottle, and refrigerated the rest. It worked very well, and I never had any issues with oxidation.


The serum itself is clear with a slight bit of color to it (sorry for the slightly out-of-focus photo!) - just enough that it's not completely colorless - so if you see it turn yellow or brown, you know it has oxidized. It has a watery consistency with minimal slip. For me, that makes it a little difficult to apply lightly without tugging on my skin. And I would say that's my one and only complaint. My skin is always a little damp when I apply, and it still doesn't smooth over my skin as easily as I would like. I use about 8 drops for my face, another 8 for my neck and chest, and a couple on the back of each hand. Comparing it to the Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum, the Mad Hippie product has more slip, making it easier to smooth over my skin.


I experienced absolutely no irritation or stinging with this product, even applying right under my eyes and on my neck and chest - all very sensitive areas for me. (see all about my skin) It absorbs immediately, leaving no residue or tackiness. The first month that I used it, I was applying both morning and night. The second month, I started using tretinoin in the evening. It was only one night per week, but I decided that since it would eventually be more, I would just use the vitamin C serum in the morning only. I do want to say that my dermatologist told me that I could apply the vitamin C serum directly over the tretinoin if I wanted, and it was my choice not to do so. This was because my skin is very sensitive and I wasn't sure how it was going to react to the tretinoin - so I didn't want any other potential irritants on my skin at the same time.

As far as results, I can't say that I saw any change in my skin, but keep in mind that I've been using vitamin C products for years, so I'm not sure that I would see a change. And I've only used this particular one for a couple of months, so if it was going to cause a change, it hasn't been long enough yet. But my skin definitely didn't look worse, so that's a good thing. Ha!

This product is also paraben-free, fragrance-free, cruelty-free, dye-free, and made in the USA.

Just a little comparison between two similar products:
SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic® contains 15% vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid), 1% vitamin E, and 0.5%  ferulic acid. This is a list of the ingredients: water, ethoxydiglycol, ascorbic acid, glycerin, propylene glycol, laureth-23, phenoxyethanol, tocopherol, triethanolamine, ferulic acid, panthenol, sodium hyaluronate. A 1 oz. bottles sells for $165.

The Timeless product contains 20% vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid),and I don't know the percentage of vitamin E or ferulic acid. Here is a list of the ingredients: water, ethoxydiglycol, L-ascorbic acid, propylene glycol, alpha tocopherol, polysorbate 80, panthenol, ferulic acid, sodium hyaluronate, benzylalcohol, dehydroacetic acid. A 1 oz. bottle is less than 1/4 the cost of the SkinCeuticals.

As you can see, the ingredient lists are very similar, and in much the same order. Considering a 1 oz. bottle lasts about 3 months, I feel like I'm getting quite the deal with my bottle of Timeless!

I do like this product, and I believe I will repurchase. While I like the actual application of the Mad Hippie serum a bit better, it caused the red dots on my nose, and is $27. The Timeless serum is $11 less and hasn't caused any red dots, so the application issue is really a non-issue.

Do you use a Vitamin C serum? Let me know in a comment here (or on Instagram or Snapchat) which one you use!