I pick my skin more than I'd like to admit, but this $25 vitamin C serum helps to fade my acne scars

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• As a semi-frequent skin picker, I have a tendency to cause acne scars more than I'd like to admit.
• I Dew Care's Bright Side Up Vitamin C Serum ($25) helped fade a particularly bad acne scar in just one month.
• Like other vitamin C serums, this formula is skin-brightening, and it helped give me a gorgeous glow. The results compete with other luxury serums I've tried.

I've been a hopeless skin picker since my teen years. I typically squeeze when I have a really noticeable or painful whitehead on my chin that is just about ready to pop. But, when things get a little stressful in my life, I sometimes take it out on my skin.

I ran into a situation like this a few months ago. Between work, my personal life, and the early rumblings of a pandemic starting to percolate, I was more than a little stressed out. In the midst of all of this, I sprouted a huge, unsightly blackhead on my cheek that I couldn't ignore. So one night, I posted up in my bathroom and went to town on the little black speck.

When I was done, I didn't have a blackhead anymore. Instead, I'd squeezed so hard that I had a dime-sized open wound on my cheek. After it finally healed, it left behind a similarly-sized scar, and I panicked and started calling all of my beauty editor friends to see what they suggested for fading acne scars. My friend Hannah suggested I Dew Care's Bright Side Up Vitamin C Serum. And the rest, they say, is history.

How does the I Dew Care Bright Side Up Vitamin C Serum work?

I Dew Care is a Korean skincare brand that specializes in simple, straightforward formulas for their face. I particularly love their packaging; it's cute and punchy — but don't let that fool you. Their products are serious workhorses chock full of super potent ingredients.

The Bright Side Up Vitamin C Serum, for example, contains a handful of other great ingredients besides the vitamin C, which boosts radiance and evens skin tone. It uses grapefruit extract, which is naturally enriched with vitamin C and is full of other antioxidants, too. Vitamins E and B5 round out the ingredients list, both of which help to add moisture and bounce to the skin.

Here's how I use it:

Since I use retinol at night, I started using a dropper full of the serum as part of my morning routine — after cleansing and toning, but before my moisturizer. (It's a good idea to avoid using retinol and vitamin C together, since they each have different pH, and mixing the two can lead to irritation.) Vitamin C can make you more photosensitive — and the sun can make acne scars worse — so I made sure to slather on the SPF after my moisturizer, too.

The serum itself has a jelly-like consistency that instantly made my skin feel plumper and more hydrated. And even though I Dew Care's serum has grapefruit extract, I can safely say that it has no noticeable scent.

Does it really work?

I started to see results in about a week of regular use. My skin looked brighter, and the huge scar on my cheek had started to fade every-so slightly. Another surprising benefit was that I didn't have to use as much moisturizer. Since I Dew Care's formula contains vitamins E and B5, I was getting a shot of hydration before I even put on my moisturizer, which was a serious boon.

After about a month, my super-obvious acne scar has faded about 75% by my own estimate. I imagine that after another month of use, it will be gone completely — faster than it would usually fade on its own.

Cons to consider

The process of fading acne scars is a long one unless you're using medical interventions like lasers. So while a month may seem like a long time to wait for results, it's to be expected. Vitamin C serums can only speed the healing process up so much, but I Dew Care's Bright Side Up serum has actually helped my skin a lot faster than I thought it would. My skin is also brighter and more hydrated — so much so that I plan to use this serum even after my scars have faded.

The bottom line

I hope to one day finally kick my skin picking habit for good. But in the meantime, I have a secret weapon to help me if acne scars to crop up. And even when I don't have acne scars, I'll continue to use I Dew Care's serum for brightness and hydration.

Read the original article on Insider