Kiehl's Vital Skin-Strengthening Super Serum Review

Hi guys, today I'll be sharing all about the new Vital Skin-Strengthening Super Serum from Kiehl's!

This product was recently released, so I did a "brunch" themed skincare routine and shared it on Youtube!

*Remember to like the video and to subscribe to my channel!*

I also shared my review of the Avocado Nourishing Hydrating Mask (which you can find here)

In this post, I'll be sharing all about the Vital Skin-Strengthening Super Serum!

Without further ado, let's go go go~

WHAT IS IT

The Vital Skin-Strengthening Super Serum is a lightweight multi-benefit serum formulated to strengthen skin from within its deepest surface layers to help resist signs of aging (including those accelerated by internal and external stressors). This serum also works to smoothen fine lines, improve resilience and boost radiance of the skin

It's important to strengthen our skin because it helps our skin resist signs of ageing. Signs of ageing like fine lines can be cause by a lot of things that stress it out (like pollution, stress, etc), and this serum helps to combat that, improving the skin's resilience and boosting the radiance as well.

WHERE TO BUY

This serum is available nationwide in Malaysia, but since we're living through a pandemic right now, you can also get it via their official online website.

The 30ml bottle currently retails for RM239 (it's a bit up there in price like most of their serums), and you can get a complimentary 5g tube of the avocado mask.

PACKAGING

The box itself is simar to their usual packaging with all the info like benefits, directions and ingredients clearly stated:

The serum comes with a pump instead of a dropper (which I think is quite convenient/hygienic):

My only criticism of the packaging is that I wished it was transparent like the Clearly Corrective serum, but after I started using it I realized that the bottle is actually semi-transparent and you can see how much you have left, which is great!

INGREDIENTS

Here's the full list of ingredients:

After analyzing it, it seems like most of the ingredients have EWG green/yellow-level ratings, save for two which are used for fragrance. I also noticed that alcohol is pretty high in the ingredient list:

Ingredient list: Aqua, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Alcohol Denat, Hamamelis Virginiana Water, Propanediol, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopherol, Ammonium polyacryloyldimethyl taurate, Schisandra chinensis, Capryloyl salicylic acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Xanthan Gum, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate, PEG-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Disodium EDTA, Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Peel Oil, Limonene, Adenosine, Sodium Hydroxide, Methyldihydrojasmonate, Citric Acid, Eugenol, Sodium Benzoate, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Citral, Potassium Sorbate, Lavandula Angustifolia Oil, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Oil, Citronellol, Linalool, Geraniol

This serum features 11kda Hyaluronic Acid. Hyaluronic acid is a hydrating ingredient that is featured in a lot of products, but not all HA is made equal. HA has 6 different sizes, and different molecular weights help penetrate different levels of the skin.

11kDA is 11,000 Daltons, and here's a guide showing the effects of the different sizes of HA:

11kDA/11,000 Daltons falls under XS, which is the smallest molecular size of HA for maximum efficiency to deeply penetrate into the skin.

Although this serum has alcohol, it is paraben-free and sulfate-free. It contains anti-ageing ingredients which most will enjoy (Adenosine, Tocopherol and Citric Acid), and I think those with dry skin will like the hydrating ingredients it has as well (Glycerin & Tocopherol)

FRAGRANCE & TEXTURE

This serum has a milky white colour with a slightly citric scent. Nothing too heavy, just barely there. The texture is light and absorbs quickly, and I do feel like it has a bit of a cooling effect.

HOW TO USE

This product can be used both day and night after cleansing and toning. If you want, you can apply another serum on top of it, followed by a moisturizer. For me I find it to be hydrating enough to not add another serum.

It does absorb quite quickly into the skin, and it doesn't leave any stickiness/uncomfortable feeling.

MY REVIEW & VERDICT

There were a lot of concerns on IG regarding the ingredient list, and I personally was a bit skeptical as well. After using this product, I find that not only did it not dry me out/break me out (because of the highly placed alcohol), I actually really like it! I feel nicely moisturized and I do feel like it helps to brighten up my complexion a bit. In the mornings when I apply this, I do feel like it provides adequate hydration that lasts me throughout the day, and it doesn't leave me sticky/greasy/too shiny.

Kiehl's actually recommends using this as a kind of pre-ageing serum to help you keep your youthful skin + fight incoming wrinkles. I do feel like my skin feels nicely plumped after using this, and I think it's doing a great job so far of helping my skin.

WILL I REPURCHASE?
Though the price is up there, I think it's a worth it product to try. It does what it says it will do and I didn't get any breakouts or uncomfortable reactions as well. It feels good in this hot & humid Malaysian weather, and I'd gladly continue using/repurchase this serum.

And that's it for this review!

If you're interested to see how I use both this serum and the avocado mask in a routine, check out the video below:

*Remember to like the video and to subscribe to my channel!*

Thanks for dropping by my blog, see ya in my next post!