Applejack Life Retinol Serum #ApplejackLife

Press Sample.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

It's serum time again on the blog.  I love serums all through the year, but they can be especially helpful in the winter months when my oily skin could use more nutrition, but not necessarily a heavy duty cream.  This serum from Applejack Life has lots of great things for the skin - Retinol, Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin E, and Green Tea, to name a few!

Even at over 40 years old, my oily skin can throw a temper tantrum and break out when it doesn't like something I've tried.  Usually it's because a formula is too rich, but sometimes I don't even know why.  This serum is full of great ingredients - vegan, cruelty-free, and 72% organic - but it just didn't agree with my skin.  I developed deep, cystic blemishes on my cheeks, and other assorted pimples while using this serum, and they started healing when I stopped using it.

I suppose the universe might have been telling me something from the get-go with this serum! When it arrived, it had a spray cap on it.  Tried as I might, I could NOT get it to work.  I'd never had a sprayable serum before, but I thought, maybe there's a first time for everything.  When I contacted the company, they said it should have been sent with an eyedropper dispenser.  I asked if I was going to receive the dropper.... and I never heard back, even after a couple of attempts to contact them.  Obviously, I'm not excited about the customer service, either.

Luckily, I had a clean pump dispenser that fit on this bottle, so I was able to use the serum just fine.  Though it is a thin serum, with a light, inoffensive scent, that dries quickly enough to be used under makeup, I personally prefer using retinol products in the evening.  Even their bottle says that they recommend using a Vitamin C product in the morning and retinols at night.

I definitely love serums, and I've used retinol successfully before.  I love Hyaluronic Acid, and the benefits from green tea and vitamins.  I'm not sure what caused my skin to freak out over this serum.  It might work better for those with skin that isn't as oily as mine.

As much as I didn't enjoy this serum, I love this nailart! The base is white, then I dabbed on some Ulta Peppermint (I think I used a fan brush..) The stamp is from BM 409, and done with Finger Paints Black Expressionism.

For more information, or to purchase, you can find Applejack Life Retinol 2.5% serum on Amazon, where it is currently on sale for $14.99.

What's your favorite serum ingredient?