Missha is a long-standing quality, Korean beauty company that has specialized in boosting fine lines, using traditional ingredients to soothe and refresh skin and create quality, plumping make-up looks. Their BB creams have been some of the best on the market and every product they made has deep consciousness behind it.  

But one of their most famous products has been their Vita C line, starring their beloved Correcting & Firming Ampoule. With pure vitamin C encapsulated into tiny capsules for deep delivery and a variety of exciting ingredients – is this serum worth the $45 price tag? 

Vitamin C is a beloved skincare ingredient, due to its revitalizing qualities. It protects against UV radiation and environmental pollution and instills deep antioxidants for cell renewal. It also prevents melanin formation, making it a favourite to lift dark spots, old scars and melasma. Missha combines these uses of vitamin C, with another benefit – it boosts natural collagen, creating more youthful, firm and plumper skin. Missha brings in ingredients that support both evening and brightening of skin tone as well as plumping fine lines – making this little ampoule the best of both worlds. What is the effect over two weeks? Let’s test it out! 

Licorice Root Extract: this is the base of the ampoule and its a clever choice. It stimulates wound healing, soothes redness and irritation and lifts fine lines and stops pigment formation. 

Sea Buckthorn extract: also known as ‘vitamin tree’, are little thorny plants that are deeply rich in Vitamin C and other vitamins, making it a deep boost to skin health and natural radiance. 

Niacinamide: brightening vitamin B3 which helps lift dark spots and creates an even skin tone, whilst also infusing a natural glow. 

Tocopherol: soothing Vitamin E that helps strengthen skin barrier and soothe irritation, whilst also boosting natural sun protection.

Vitamin C: coming in two different forms to boost absorption, deeply infuses antioxidants into skin barrier for lifting dark spots and fine lines alike and to brighten skin tone. 

Bifida ferment: enhances natural skin hydration and calms inflammation, helping to plump and firm skin. 

Tranexamic acid (TXA): powerful suppression of melanin formation to tone-up and lift skin tone, as well as calming irritation, redness and swelling to smooth and calm skin barrier. 

Hydrolyzed collagen: fragmented pieces of collagen to help seal skin barrier, lock in moisture and create a plumping and texture softening effect. 

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5: powerful tripeptide that boosts and promotes collagen in skin cells to firm and lift fine lines, whilst enhancing skin elasticity. Also benefits large pores to create smoother, glassier skin. 

With background notes of soothing lavender, brightening carrot extract and refreshing tangerine and orange extract – this serum mixes powerful isolated ingredients with natural essential oils. 

This ampoule is ideal for fine lines, dark spots and large pores. It shouldn’t be used with other strong actives – so if you’re on retinol, using high-dose AHA/BHA and other exfoliants or other strong vitamin C products, you shouldn’t add this to your current routine. 

Strong actives can dry out skin and make it more vulnerable, so adding a lot to your routine at once can lead to deep redness and irritation. Also, this ampoule could be irritating to your skin if you are sensitive to essential oils or citrus peel extracts – so less likely to be useful in dry, sensitive skin types. 

I have combination and acne-prone skin, which has little dark spots left over from previous outbreaks on my cheeks. I was excited to find something that might lift these spots, but I’ve tried previous high-dose vitamin C ampoules before and only found them irritating and not useful. So, my expectations were tempered – but I was determined to give this ampoule a good try. The ingredients were quality choices and had some nice additions that made me excited to trial it out in my routine. I gave it the starring spot – first up after cleansing and toning skin. 

I stored the bottle in the fridge, as directed, to keep the vitamin C as stable as possible (to maximize effect) - although it was a little annoying having to run to the kitchen for every routine. The serum itself was perfectly lightweight and watery, and I was delighted at how quickly it absorbed. It does have a light stickiness (as most vitamin C serums do), but there was zero irritation at all. I was worried it might trigger an acne break-out, but I was shocked to experience two weeks of the clearest skin I’ve had. 

It worked really well with all my other products (including azelaic acid, hyaluronic-acid moisturizer and an exosome serum) and it was the most gentlest and soothing Vitamin C serum I’d ever tried before. It became my favourite serum in my rotation and felt like I could really see the benefits (even if it was just in my head). I would genuinely argue this was the best Vitamin C product I’d tried – in terms of balance, softness and absorption, in comparison to Cosrx, Anua and Medicube!  

Two weeks is not enough to clear dark spots completely, but you can see a good effect already. Each spot was less dark, more lifted and my skin tone more uniform. It was a delightfully hydrating serum and I noticed my skin texture was improved too. It was just a delightfully gentle and refreshing serum.

There's a lot of vitamin C serums on the market, but this has been my far and away favourite, I love how gentle it is, how deeply it absorbs and the background effect of niacinamide, tranexamic acid and refreshing vitamins provides a perfectly holistic brightening and skin tone evening effect.

If you are looking for a gentle vitamin C serum that is delightfully hydrating, this is definitely my top pick.

Take your make-up game to the next level with Missha's carefully curated products that smooth, plump and refine skincare. Shop on Arktastic!