Farmacy 10% Waterless Vitamin C Serum for sensitive skin
Ascorbic Acid
Alpha-Arbutin
Ferulic Acid
Betaine
Citrus Extracts
Average
- HighNormal Skin Fit
- AverageEffectiveness
- HighSafety
Works for sensitive skin; other serums fit it better.
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with sensitive skin: redness, stinging, and reactions to new products. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Offers moderate brightening for your normal skin due to Ascorbic Acid and Alpha-Arbutin, which help even skin tone and provide antioxidant benefits that support collagen synthesis.
- While the formula is generally hydrating and cleansing, the concentrations of Ascorbic Acid and Ferulic Acid are not optimized to address your specific concerns of redness and irritation.
- The product is safe for your sensitive skin as it lacks harsh ingredients and prohibited substances, minimizing the risk of irritation.
How to apply
- Use your serum in the PM routine, starting 3 times a week before building up to daily use if your skin is happy.
- Apply the serum after cleansing and toning, but before putting on your moisturizer for the best results.
- Gently press 2-3 drops of the serum into your skin and wait a minute ⏱ for it to soak in.
- Since your skin is sensitive and easily irritated, apply the serum on completely dry skin to help keep it calm.
- Always do a patch test before your first use and avoid getting the serum too close to your eyes .
People Say
★4.6Overall rating based on 600+ reviewsUsers with dry or dull skin frequently praise this serum for its ability to visibly brighten the complexion and fade dark spots without causing irritation, thanks to its gentle, waterless formula. Those with oily or combination skin often find the texture too heavy and greasy, noting that it leaves an oily residue that takes a significant amount of time to fully absorb.
Highlights
Visibly brightens skin Mostly Mentioned
- “Gave my skin an incredible glow”
- “Results showed improvement in dark spots”
- “Visibly brighter skin after 1 use”
Hydrating texture Often Mentioned
- “Feels smoother after application”
- “Provides a nice layer of hydration”
- “My skin feels noticeably softer”
Greasy residue Often Mentioned
- “Leaves an oily finish”
- “Takes a long time to sink in”
- “Felt like an oil slick”
Gentle and non-irritating Sometimes Noted
- “Experienced no sensitivity whatsoever”
- “Gentle on skin”
- “Did not irritate my sensitive skin”
Stable packaging/formula Sometimes Noted
- “Love that it is fully recyclable”
- “Waterless formula is more stable”
- “Pump is convenient and sanitary”
Slow absorption Sometimes Noted
- “Hard to layer with other products”
- “Products slip and slide on top”
- “Takes about an hour to sink in”
Unpleasant scent Sometimes Noted
- “Smells like hot dog water”
- “Has a weird metallic scent”
- “Scent is not the best”
Leaky packaging Rarely Noted
- “Bottle leaks oil everywhere”
- “Packaging does leak a bit”
- “Messy pump mechanism”
Sources: lovi.care, sephora.com, farmacybeauty.com, amazon.com, skinsort.com, spacenk.com, and more
Questions and answers
How well does Farmacy Waterless Vitamin C Serum work for sensitive skin?
This serum works for sensitive skin, though other products fit it better because its levels of vitamin C and ferulic acid are not optimized to calm redness and irritation. It is safe for sensitive skin as it lacks harsh ingredients, minimizing the risk of irritation. A treatment of this type needs soothing ingredients like niacinamide and snail secretion filtrate to properly care for sensitive skin.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Skin Research and Technology, 2003
Which ingredients make this serum a good fit for sensitive skin?
Ascorbic acid and alpha-arbutin help brighten your skin and even out its tone, while betaine helps keep irritation low. However, this serum lacks optimized amounts of ingredients that specifically target redness. A treatment of this type for sensitive skin needs calming ingredients like niacinamide or snail secretion filtrate to properly handle redness and irritation.
What does Vitamin C do for sensitive skin?
Vitamin C helps brighten skin, smooth out fine lines, and fade dark spots. Clinical studies show it is generally safe and well-tolerated when improving overall skin quality.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023
What does Alpha-Arbutin do for sensitive skin?
Alpha-arbutin helps brighten dark spots and even out skin tone while being generally safe with a rare occurrence of irritation. It is less likely to cause redness or stinging compared to stronger treatments, making it a suitable choice for keeping sensitive skin calm.
Where does this serum go in a skincare routine for sensitive skin?
Apply this treatment in your evening routine, using it once a week at first and carefully building up frequency if your skin tolerates it well. To better soothe and protect sensitive skin, this product needs calming agents and gentler antioxidant levels that minimize redness and irritation.
Can I use this serum with retinol, and in what order?
You can use this serum with retinol by applying them on alternating nights or using this serum in the morning and retinol at night to help prevent dryness and irritation. This type of sensitive skin needs gentle, calming ingredients and soothing hydrators to protect the skin barrier when combining strong active treatments.
How often should I use this serum?
Use this serum in your evening routine once a week to start, as it is an exfoliating treatment, and you may carefully use it more often if your sensitive skin tolerates it well and sees good results.
Can this serum clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for sensitive skin?
This serum is unlikely to clog pores or cause breakouts on sensitive skin as it lacks heavy oils and harsh ingredients that typically trigger irritation. However, because it contains active brightening ingredients and exfoliating acids, you should patch test first to see how your skin reacts.
Is this serum fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol.
What the research says
A topical serum containing vitamin C, vitamin E, and raspberry leaf cell culture extract improved skin color, elasticity, radiance, smoothness, scaliness, and wrinkles compared to the untreated contralateral side in fifty female volunteers.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Encapsulation of alpha arbutin in an optimized ethosomal gel significantly improved skin melanin reduction, moisture content, and elasticity in human volunteers compared to conventional formulations.
Heliyon, 2023Soaps containing betaine caused the least skin irritation compared to other tested soaps in twenty-eight healthy subjects, though irritation did not decrease with increasing concentrations of betaine.
Skin Research and Technology, 2003Topical application of 5% vitamin C cream significantly improved global clinical scores, increased skin microrelief density, and induced elastic tissue repair in photoaged skin compared to excipient control in healthy female volunteers.
Experimental Dermatology, 2003Ascorbic acid 2-glucoside gel significantly reduced gingival melanin pigmentation after 4 weeks compared to placebo in 73 subjects with symmetric pigmentation.
Journal of Periodontology, 2009Topical application of VC-IP cream twice daily for 8 weeks reduces periorbital wrinkles in female subjects compared to a placebo cream.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2022A non-hydroquinone topical formulation (SKNB19) improved hyperpigmentation by 28.5% in patient self-assessment and 27% in independent reviewer assessment compared with 4% hydroquinone in 18 adult subjects, while showing significantly less irritation and better tolerability.
Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2020Combining a home-based radiofrequency device and arbutin cream reduced mMASI scores by 25.6% and melanin index by 22.8% at 8 weeks compared to baseline in 38 participants.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025Polyvinyl pyrrolidone-K90/Eudragit RL100 dissolving microneedle patches loaded with alpha-arbutin and resveratrol enhanced intradermal delivery by approximately 2.6 times compared to cream and slightly decreased the melanin index in human participants without causing skin irritation.
Biomaterials Science, 2023Treatment with 14% ferulic acid and 12% l-ascorbic acid significantly reduced pigmentation and erythema while improving hydration and elasticity in 20 women with photoaged skin, with neither acid proving definitively more effective overall though ascorbic acid showed slightly greater skin lightening.
Dermatologic Therapy, 2022Combining fractional microneedle radiofrequency with a topical antioxidant serum significantly reduced wrinkle severity by 29.9% versus 18.0%, increased elasticity by 12.9% versus 2.3%, and improved aesthetic outcomes in 31 participants compared to radiofrequency and placebo.
The Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2025Pretreatment with a topical antioxidant mixture of vitamin C, ferulic acid, and phloretin attenuated ultraviolet-induced sunburn cell formation, thymine dimer formation, matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression, p53 protein expression, and the suppression of CD1a-expressing Langerhans cells in human skin compared to vehicle control.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2008Topical dry mouth products containing olive oil, betaine, and xylitol significantly increased unstimulated whole salivary flow rates, reduced xerostomia complaints, and improved quality of life in adults with polypharmacy-induced xerostomia compared to their normal routine care, with no clinically significant adverse events.
Journal of Oral Rehabilitation, 2007A combination of Aloe barbadensis leaf extract and trimethylglycine in a 1:1 mass ratio synergistically increased aquaporin 3 expression by up to 380% in keratinocytes and safely improved skin hydration in healthy volunteers.
Molecules, 2024Mixed surfactant systems of sodium dodecyl sulfate and dimethyl dodecyl amido betaine significantly reduce acute skin irritation potential in human volunteers compared with the individual surfactants, demonstrating that irritation potential cannot be predicted by simple summation.
Food and Chemical Toxicology, 1998
Why other serums fit sensitive skin better
Topical application of TAT-SOD significantly suppresses UVB-induced erythema formation, blood flow rise, and apoptotic sunburn cell formation in human volunteers compared to a vehicle control.
European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2016
Ingredients
Propanediol, Pentylene Glycol, Ascorbic Acid, Betaine, Alpha-Arbutin, Ferulic Acid, Citrus Aurantium Amara Fruit Extract, Citrus Reticulata Fruit Extract Tangerine Fruit Extract, Citrus Aurantium Sinensis Peel Extract, Glycerin, Lactic Acid, Citric Acid
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
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Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
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Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
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Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
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Victoria Derkova, MS
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist
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