The website of Dr. Audrey Kunin features the question/concern:
Dr. Kunin replies:
This is not true whatsoever. The samples should be used within a few days of opening.
The advice seems contradictory, for the response that the contents should be used in entirety "within a few days of opening" plainly points to the formula having a very short life.
However the user's question is misleading, because the original information stated neither that samples needed to be used "within a few days of manufacture" nor that they were always unsuitable (singularly or in succession).
Further, refrigeration is known to extend useful life, the manufacturer recommends storing in a cool, dark place, expiration occurs in under a year, and the published scientific data makes repeat mention of stability issues.
As antioxidants are naturally unstable compounds, they provide challenges for formulation and supply. To work, they must be chemically stable, they must get into skin, they must not expire before use, and they must be used at meaningful concentrations.
Very small amounts (3.75 ml) will oxidize more readily than larger amounts because the ratio of exposed surface area to total content is much greater, just as small apple pieces will turn brown (reduce) faster than larger pieces.
Serum darkening marks a loss of antioxidant potential owing to denaturation by oxidation, and is probably one of the main reasons the manufacturers of some ascorbic acid serums colour them more orange than they will end up after having spent time on a shelf or cooking under department store counter lights.
La Prairie reflected this in C Energy Cellular Serum and even moreso in Cellular Defense Shield SPF 15 by preventing ascorbic acid from coming into contact with air, and by not allowing it to combine with their sunscreen for more than 12 days at a time.
Left to expire, Skinceuticals C E Ferulic separates into fluid and gel, and ultimately crystallizes.
The extent of harm possible by applying substantially oxidized ascorbic acid at a low pH to skin is not known, and probably relatively minor if infrequent and at low percentages, but there can be no question that it forces a pointless aging burden on skin because the formula continues to penetrate into and affect the dermis whether it is pristine or not.
As we are told, such formulas cannot be washed off once absorbed, so our skin's must metabolize them for better or worse.
Skinceuticals C E Ferulic studies do not pertain to oxidized C E Ferulic.
As a preventive treatment for ongoing use, it isn't really clear why samples are made because it is not possible to judge effects (positive or negative) before at least four months.
In practice, we recognise when this has occurred by having measured change over time by objective, scientific measurement, and by replacing treatment which is found to have performed poorly in a timely manner to maximize skin health.
It seems reasonable to conclude that the grey and black market trade in antioxidant samples is centered around a belief that purported benefit is as good as actual and that infrequent/incomplete use is therapeutic.
That is the department store/beauty therapy mandate. Skin care of this undertaking is superficially moisturizing and psychologically beneficial only.
You cannot force dermatological principles on poor materials and practices and produce physical benefit — you will produce relative detriment.
Asking a dermatologist to process misleading information may allow you to feel better about doing the wrong thing, but it secures an inferior outcome.
Individuals who insist on skin care by ongoing sampling never realise therapeutic benefit because their skincare is a performative distraction and time marches on.
There's no point in insisting that the time for rehearsals is still now after the curtain has already gone up.
Skinceuticals C E Ferulic Disucssions
17/1/08 — What Colour is Skinceuticals C E Ferulic Supposed to Be?
17/6/08 — Question regarding Skinceuticals CE Ferulic samples.