RoC's Vitamin C Serum is one of the most popular products sold by the brand. It's used to brighten and tighten the skin, and the brand claims that 94% of users experienced "instant luminosity."
But does RoC Vitamin C Serum contain ingredients proven to enhance skin quality? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? Is it really clinically proven to work like the brand claims? And is RoC Vitamin C Serum better or worse than other popular serums like Vibriance Super C Serum?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in RoC Vitamin C Serum to give our take on whether or not it's likely to improve skin quality, and whether or not it's healthy.
We'll also share our concerns about the brand's clinical claims, and compare RoC Vitamin C Serum to other popular serums to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Contains some research-backed active ingredients for improving skin
- Contains more unhealthy additives than most facial serums we've reviewed
- We do not currently recommend RoC Vitamin C Serum
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in RoC Multi Correxion Revive + Glow Daily Serum are shown below:
3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid is a derivative of vitamin C, and was shown to have skin-whitening effects in a 2021 clinical trial.
We prefer vitamin C to such novel derivatives, because vitamin C is well studied in dermatology, and is clinically shown to have anti-aging effects and skin-protective effects.
Troxerutin may help protect the skin from damaging effects of UV rays according to a clinical trial published in the International Journal of Molecular Medicine.
Castor oil is clinically shown to naturally exfoliate the skin, as we documented in our Jones Road Miracle Balm review article.
Cistus monspeliensis (misspelled Cistus monspeliensis in this ingredient list) "may inhibit skin aging through mitochondrial regulation" according to a 2022 clinical trial.
There are some inactive ingredients in this serum that we consider to be unhealthy.
Fragrance was analyzed in a 2021 medical review, and the researchers concluded that “[the] risks clearly outweigh [the] benefits.”
Limonene, linalool and citral are additional fragrance ingredients.
Yellow 6 is a synthetic dye that was shown in a 2012 medical review to be frequently contaminated with carcinogens.
Overall, we consider RoC Vitamin C Serum likely to have anti-aging effects and somewhat likely to have skin-whitening effects.
However, we don't currently recommend this product because of the inactive ingredients highlighted above.
Questionable Clinical Claims
RoC Skincare claims that 100% of their products are clinically proven to work, as shown below:
However, we can't find any clinical trials on RoC products on PubMed, one of the largest research aggregators in the US.
Further, we can't even find any full clinical trials published on the RoC website.
We urge the brand to clearly publish the full clinical trials to back this claim.
The only clinical research we can find cited on RoC's website is on product pages, with results such as "97% saw smoother skin."
We recommend that consumers entirely disregard claims of clinical efficacy based on company-funded research that's not published in peer-reviewed journals, especially when the company fails to even clearly publish the full trials they reference in their promotional materials.
The potential for bias is simply too high in our opinion for such research to have any value to consumers.
When we cite clinical studies on Illuminate Health, we're citing clinical studies published in peer-reviewed journals, which is the gold standard for product research.
RoC vs. Popular Serums
Here's how RoC Vitamin C Serum compares to other popular serums in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum
Like most CeraVe formulations, this serum contains ceramides, which are clinically shown to enhance skin barrier function.
Contains two inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy, but none as much as fragrance or synthetic dye, so CeraVe gets the win from a health standpoint.
Winner: CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum
Vibriance Super C Serum
Like RoC Vitamin C Serum, this formulation contains other active ingredients beyond vitamin C which are clinically shown to have anti-aging and skin-improving effects.
Vibriance's serum is free from fragrance and synthetic dye, as we documented in our Vibriance Super C Serum reviews article, so we give this brand the edge from a healthiness perspective.
Winner: Vibriance Super C Serum
Dermelect Beauty Sleep Serum
Contains research-backed active ingredients for skin health, and is free from fragrance and synthetic dye.
Winner: Dermelect Beauty Sleep Serum
Our Clean Skincare Pick
MindBodyGreen Best Skin+ is our top anti-aging skin supplement.
It contains orange extract which is clinically shown to increase skin moisturization, skin elasticity and skin radiance.
This supplement also contains astaxanthin which is clinically shown to cause "wrinkle formation reduction."
This supplement is free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
RoC Vitamin C Serum Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Should have anti-aging effect
- May have skin-brightening effect
- Serum contains a large number of research-backed active ingredients
- Affordable
- Positive online customer reviews
Cons:
- Brand makes questionable clinical claims
- Uses vitamin C derivative
- Contains fragrance
- Contains separate fragrance ingredients
- Contains Yellow 6
- Brand website charges for shipping
