Today’s key ingredient is Mandelic Acid.

I received all the products discussed below free of charge directly from Vivant Skincare in return for my honest and unbiased review.

“Providing solutions and results, Vivant Skin Care has been creating innovative, medically proven formulas for over 40 years. Dr. James E. Fulton, who co-developed Retin-A, has been developing products designed to treat skin conditions such as acne, hyperpigmentation and mature skin. Offering skin care with a purpose has driven Vivant Skin Care to be the leader in providing products such as cleansers to sun protection, with the most potent ingredients to effectively work against any skin condition.”

source: dermstore.com

Why did I say yes?

Although I’m happy with my overall skin health (living that chok chok life y’all), my acne scars refuse to budge. I’ve tried most over the counter ingredients like arbutin and licorice root to moderate success. The bummer is that most of the effective products I know about include niacinamide which is a no-go for me. Vivant Skincare claims to be an effective brand for People of Colour, using mandelic acid to help manage the very skin problems I struggle with. Aww yess, sign me up please!

When Vivant asked me to select products I’d like to review, the 3% Mandelic Acid Toner really jumped out at me. I prefer toners as they’re light and easy to layer on my oily skin. To try out a fuller routine, I also selected the wash and the SPF 15 lotion.

My Experience

My skin is really finicky so I like to find out the full ingredients lists before I make a purchase.  There are some products that I would love to try but won’t risk because they contain ingredients I know my skin hasn’t liked in the past. The world of skincare is so vast, why spend time struggling when there are so many other options to try?

I was unable to use a product I received due to the inclusion of an ingredient I can’t use. I initially  thought maybe I’d misread the ingredient list online, but then I realised that it wasn’t displayed. Gah! A partial ingredient list is worse than a full one. With brands like Vivant Skincare that rely on exclusivity and personal consultations I can see how this slipped through the cracks. Why have a full ingredient list when the ultimate goal is to walk through the purchase one on one with the customer? Still, there will be people who buy sight unseen, so that’s a huge oversight. 

3% MANDELIC ACID 3-IN-1 TONER

Water, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Mandelic Acid, Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, Camelia Sinensis (Japanese Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Actinidia Chinensis (Kiwi) Fruit Extract, Honey Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract, Butylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance, Red 36.

This smells so lovely, it’s like a baby shampoo and has this soft cottony sweet-fresh feel. I like it a lot! It’s a gel, and with a little bit of work with a net, it foams up really nicely. 

Until this product I was unconvinced that any cleanser could do more than clean and so I never put much weight on acne fighting cleansers. After a few uses, my skin was clear and soft until it wasn’t. Very quickly it started to show the tell tale signs of over exfoliation, and it was then I started to believe that cleansers could be acne fighters too. 

I could never seem to make this cleanser work well for me. Use it too frequently, clear skin but over exfoliate, use it once a week and no effect. Come on! The packaging says it can be used for shaving, as a scalp treatment and for body. As a body wash this did help lighten some acne scars on my chest which was awesome! I also used the SPF lotion there too, which helped. I think for my body this is a winner, but not for my face. 

---

DAY TREATMENT LOTION SUNSCREEN SPF 15

Active: Octinoxate 7.5%, Octisalate 5%.

Inactive: Water, Propylene Glycol, Octydodecanol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 60, Dimethicone, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Titanium Dioxide, Polysorbate-20, Carbomer,Diazolidinyl Urea, Metylparaben, Propylparaben, Saccharomyces/Zinc Ferment, Disodium EDTA,  Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance 

This was the dark horse of all the products I received. It was my least anticipated, but actually turned out to be the one I liked the best. From the ingredients, I expected it to be quite chalky and bulky like sudocrem, but it was surprisingly light! I was able to use it under my makeup without any bobbling. Using the moisturiser was surprisingly straightforward with no white cast! Which is great for darker skin tones. Still, it felt just like any other day moisturiser and didn’t WOW me.

Would I purchase?

Ultimately no. The packaging is a real letdown. They’re really basic and pretty inelegant. I can understand that it’s the aesthetic of clinical chic, but other brands with a similar aesthetic like CosRx and Eucerin manage to be creative by switching things up while keeping relatively the same packaging across all their range. Although not clinical, Pixi Beauty is another company that uses ‘boring’ packaging, but still manages to be attractive through the use of colour. Still, it’s what’s inside that counts right? Well yes and no. Product is important, but packaging can really push me one way or another. 

I’m pretty happy with my current cleansers and SPF/day moisturiser products, to beat them I was hoping these would help fade my acne scars so I could throw these into rotation, but they really didn’t do much for me. Damnit!

That’s not to say it couldn’t work for someone else! This company has been around for so long, they must be doing something right for someone. With that in mind, I gifted the toner and the moisturiser to my cousin. She has a similar skin type and skin issues with none of the sensitivities my skin has so I’m looking forward to seeing how her experience varies from mine.

Purchase Locations

You can purchase Vivant Skincare through www.vivantskincare.com. To get 20% off your order, use coupon code adoredee20.

The above link is not an affiliate link, and I receive no commission or benefit if you use the code.