If you follow me on my Instagram for beauty content, you may already know that recently I've included a Malaysian-made skincare serum into my routine. This is not a first-time experience of me using a local product because I've used a couple of them in the past (mostly from the brand House of Healin that's known for their gamat/sea cucumber skincare product). Do I use any local skincare product in recent years? I don't, merely because I have gotten surrounded by Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese brands that are easily available almost everywhere. But, that doesn't mean that I need to stop supporting and featuring brands that come from my homeland; 100% made and founded in Malaysia.
So today I'm going to introduce you to an antioxidant serum by the brand SANNY & JOLEEN LIFESTYLE. They approached me some time ago but I didn't start using the product until last month. Most parts of it were because of how bad my skin condition had become and I believe it was due to the extreme weather that we experienced earlier of this year.
I only decided to review this after I've seen the full ingredient list of the serum as nobody wants to put any sketchy products onto their face. Another reason why I'm giving this product a chance is that the brand is available to purchase in a lot of pharmacists throughout Malaysia, so that's giving me the impression of how this brand can be trusted.
SANNY & JOLEEN LIFESTYLE
Antioxidant Serum
Antioxidant Serum
Type
Serum (use after toner and before moisturiser)
Country of Origin
Malaysia.
Net Content
Available in 2 sizes;
-small (10ml)
-big (30ml)
Where to Buy & Retail Price
-small (RM49)
-big (RM97)
Official Description
Packed with antioxidant goodness from tocotrienol (Vitamin E), Calendula oil and Olive oil. We love applying it for that added radiant glow and hydration throughout the day. It is non-greasy and absorbs quickly into the skin.
How To Use
Use a few drops daily during the day and night to boost skin brightness and nourish the skin
Claims
-Can be used in the face and body
-Non-greasy, rapidly absorbed
-Suitable for all skin types and sensitive skin
-Dermatologist tested, GMP Certified
-Ministry of Health Malaysia Notification registered
-Warm weather (35C): feels comfortable while Indoor Aircond (18C)L feels not drying
-Natural, mild and gentle ingredients with 10 NOs
⛔ No Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
⛔ No Sodium Laureth Sulfate
⛔ No Animal Derivatives
⛔ No Mineral Oil
⛔ No Alcohol
⛔ No Harsh Detergent
⛔ No Artificial Colours
⛔ No EDTA
⛔ No Propylene Glycol
⛔ No Synthetic fragrance
Ingredients
Aqua, Niacinamide, Glycerin, Trehalose, Citrus Reticulata (Tangerine) Peel Extract, Yeast Beta Glucan, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Sorbitan Caprylate, Panthenol, Lecithin, Tocotrienols, Calendula Officinalis Seed Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Propanediol, Benzoic Acid, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate.
Verdicts
1) SANNY & JOLEEN LIFESTYLE antioxidant serum has one of the most simplest designs on a skincare product I've ever encountered in my life. The antioxidant serum might have given out an impression of a low-quality product but they say 'don't judge a book by its cover' and so does the serum itself. Just look at the ingredients list alone, the bottle is full of skin-loving ingredients that none of them is considered as high risk in the standard EWG safety ranking.
The brand did purposely go with the design because for them it's 'simple on the outside; WOW inside', regardless of how fancy or how simple the outer packaging could look like, at the end of the day, what matters the most is the ingredients inside and this whole minimalism concept reminds me of skincare brands such as The Ordinary and The Inkey List, where they go for a similar approach.
2) Ingredient Analysis as per usual, skip this if you're not keen to read;
First of all, we can see a very familiar ingredient that is widely known for skin brightening- Niacinamide. This substance is derived from Niacin, or commonly known as Vitamin B3. The topical use of niacinamide has been effectively proven throughout various studies over the past years, not only this substance is able to brighten up the skin but it also successfully lighten melasma and hyperpigmentation spots, redness, reducing pore size, smoothen out the skin texture, fine lines and wrinkles.
There are a lot of skincare serums containing niacinamide as their key ingredient but how often we do see it being listed as one of the tops in its formula? The SANNY & JOLEEN LIFESTYLE antioxidant serum has niacinamide as their second, following aqua (water) and before glycerin.
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| Niacinamide (or also known as Nicotinamide)'s chemical structure. |
Glycerin act as a skin conditioning agent as well as lowering down the viscosity of the product. It makes the serum to appear lighter in texture and appearance. Meanwhile, Trehalose is a type of sugar that's known to have a moisture-retaining property and it's recommended to people with dry skin. Further reading brings me to a research that was done by Yamashita H. in 2009 where he found that this particular ingredient is able to act as a natural preservative, preventing oil-based skincare products from turning rancid and have a bad odour by suppressing the formation of aldehydes. I guess it's not a bad thing to have trehalose in a skincare product right?
Next, we have Tangerine peel extract and honestly, I have always been wondering why certain skincare products include this ingredient into the formulations because to my knowledge, citrus plant extractions are often known to be photosensitisers due to the fact that they are astringents, though sensitivity towards an ingredient varies among users. Despite this, a 2016 study published in the Journal Pharmacognosy Research did mention about how tangerine peel extract can be a promising antioxidant agent use in cosmetical products since it possesses a strong anti-oxidant, anti-collagenase, and anti-elastase activities. I also cannot help to wonder what is the concentration of the tangerine extract used in this serum because we all know, manufacture can't really put a high amount of essential oils into a product. So...🤷♀️.
Interesting enough the next ingredient listed for the antioxidant serum is polysaccharides found in yeast, namely Beta Glucan, though I doubt it's high in concentration. For further reading, I've found an e-book online written by Roger Mason [here] where you can learn everything about this skin-loving ingredient. The usage of Yeast Beta Glucan in skincare is not something new, in fact, you're able to find it in K-Beauty products such as IUNIK Beta-Glucan Daily Moisture Cream, IUNIK Beta Glucan Power Moisture Serum, JKosmmune Beta-Glucan Serum and Klairs Supple Preparation All-Over Lotion. Yeast Beta Glucan can boost out hydration levels of the skin alongside improving the skin barrier function and act as an anti-ageing ingredient.
Another star ingredient that's worth mentioning is Panthenol (Pro-vitamin B5), it's hydrating and a moisturising agent, help to soothe dry skin. Last but not least, Tocotrienol, the premium highlighted ingredient of the serum although it's listed somewhere in the middle. SANNY & JOLEEN LIFESTYLE has already explained it in details on why they decided to use Tocotrienol instead of Tocopherol [here: https://sannyjoleen.com/why-antioxidant-serum/]. Two types of plant oils used in the formulation; Calendula Seed Oil and Olive Oil? Why? again, it has already been explained on their website; these oils are rich in tocotrienol.
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| Tocotrienol's chemical structure |
A look from the blog post written by SANNY & JOLEEN LIFESTYLE impressively explain the antioxidant serum using scientific approaches, I personally think this showcases that whoever started with the brand is already a person with strong science background because I noticed not all local skincare companies can do this. Plus, this serum is available in a lot of pharmacies! You don't need to worry about it being a sketchy brand.
3) The texture is watery rather than a gel but it's not runny. It's pearl-white in colour and it gives you a cooling sensation as soon as it's applied onto the skin. You don't need to store this into a fridge because it does stay cool in room temperature. The glass bottle is dark in colour for obvious reason, it's an antioxidant product. Just like SPF, antioxidant degrades faster if it's exposed to direct sunlight. It has English and Chinese words printed on the packaging and it's available in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China. You can find the expiry date at the bottom of its box but I wished they could have printed on the bottle itself.
4) How does it feel on the skin?
-Lightweight and non-oily.
Although the antioxidant serum is formulated with a lot of moisturising ingredients and 2 types of plant oils, it does not feel oily or greasy and I'd recommended it to all skin types. Plus, the recent Malaysian's warmer temperature called for something that's not occlusive, so I'm sure everyone would benefit from a little lighter and possibly a gel/water type skincare formula.
-Slightly sticky at first, fast absorption into the skin.
Rather than sticky, I'd say it gives the skin a bouncy texture but of course I wouldn't deny that if I do the 'stickiness test', I can definitely see a couple of small papers stick onto the back of my palm. This situation only happened in the very beginning, which is as soon as you apply it because, in just a matter of a minute, the antioxidant serum will sink rapidly into the skin.
5) Routine, Duration of Usage and Results
Routine: Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 Cleanser ➨ Nightingale Toning Peeling Pad ➨ SANNY & JOLEEN LIFESTYLE Antioxidant Serum ➨ Muji Moisturising Milk Moisture.
Duration of usage: 3 weeks+, I use it on one side of my cheek (the other as a control group (lol), where I proceed with my daily retinol serum).
Results: So okay, let's recap, this antioxidant serum promises 2 things (as printed on its box); radiant glow and hydration. I'm completely agreed with the second part, it's indeed hydrating. Another reason why I like about the serum is that it's suitable to use under makeup since there's no foundation piling going to happen. However, I did mix the serum with a silicone based foundation to see if they can combine, turns out they are not homogenous (see photo below). So my advice is to use them separately. I couldn't really agree with the radiant glow as per claim although this is a very YMMV result. It could be the way of me using or perhaps I didn't use it enough, but as for me, I didn't notice any glow on my skin as compared to Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum.
Needless to say, the serum is more than just a glow and hydration because adding antioxidant into self-care routine could help to neutralise free radicals that are causing oxidation stress. Prolonged usage of it would help to correct and prevent visible signs of ageing and sun damages. Plus, Vitamin E is well documented as an anti-carcinogenic property and may help to prevent skin cancer.
I hope this review will give you some insights especially on all of the key ingredients listed. Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to follow me on my Bloglovin and Instagram page.
Although the antioxidant serum is formulated with a lot of moisturising ingredients and 2 types of plant oils, it does not feel oily or greasy and I'd recommended it to all skin types. Plus, the recent Malaysian's warmer temperature called for something that's not occlusive, so I'm sure everyone would benefit from a little lighter and possibly a gel/water type skincare formula.
-Slightly sticky at first, fast absorption into the skin.
Rather than sticky, I'd say it gives the skin a bouncy texture but of course I wouldn't deny that if I do the 'stickiness test', I can definitely see a couple of small papers stick onto the back of my palm. This situation only happened in the very beginning, which is as soon as you apply it because, in just a matter of a minute, the antioxidant serum will sink rapidly into the skin.
5) Routine, Duration of Usage and Results
Routine: Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 Cleanser ➨ Nightingale Toning Peeling Pad ➨ SANNY & JOLEEN LIFESTYLE Antioxidant Serum ➨ Muji Moisturising Milk Moisture.
Duration of usage: 3 weeks+, I use it on one side of my cheek (the other as a control group (lol), where I proceed with my daily retinol serum).
Results: So okay, let's recap, this antioxidant serum promises 2 things (as printed on its box); radiant glow and hydration. I'm completely agreed with the second part, it's indeed hydrating. Another reason why I like about the serum is that it's suitable to use under makeup since there's no foundation piling going to happen. However, I did mix the serum with a silicone based foundation to see if they can combine, turns out they are not homogenous (see photo below). So my advice is to use them separately. I couldn't really agree with the radiant glow as per claim although this is a very YMMV result. It could be the way of me using or perhaps I didn't use it enough, but as for me, I didn't notice any glow on my skin as compared to Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum.
Needless to say, the serum is more than just a glow and hydration because adding antioxidant into self-care routine could help to neutralise free radicals that are causing oxidation stress. Prolonged usage of it would help to correct and prevent visible signs of ageing and sun damages. Plus, Vitamin E is well documented as an anti-carcinogenic property and may help to prevent skin cancer.
I hope this review will give you some insights especially on all of the key ingredients listed. Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to follow me on my Bloglovin and Instagram page.
References:
(1) Hakozaki, T., Minwalla, L. Zhuang, J., Chhoa, M., Matsubara, A., Miyamoto, K., Boissy, R.E. (2002). The effect of niacinamide on reducing cutaneous pigmentation and suppression of melanosome transfer. British Journal of Dermatology, 147(1), 20-31. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2133.20002.04834
(2) Berson, D.S., Osborne, R., Oblong, J.E. Hakozaki, T., Johnson, M.B. and Bissett, D.L. (2013). Niacinamide in Cosmeceuticals and Cosmetic Practice, P.K. Farris (Ed.). doi 10.1002/9781118384824
(3) Ohtake, S., & Wang, Y.J. (2011). Trehalose: Current Use and Future Applications, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 100(6), 2020-2053. doi: 10.1002/jps.222458.
(4) Vinita D., A., Nancy S., P., (2016), Evaluation of skin anti-ageing potential of Citrus reticulata blanco. peel, Pharmacognosy Research, 8(3):160. doi: 10.4103/0974-8490.182913
(5) Pham-Huy, L. A., He, H., & Pham-Huy C. (2008). Free Radicals, antioxidants in disease and health. International Journal of Biomedical Science: IJBC, 4(2), 89-96. PMID: 23875073
(6) Park K. (2015). Role of micronutrients in skin health and function. Biomolecules & Therapeutics, 23(3), 207-217. doi: 10.4062/biomolther.2015.003
(5) Pham-Huy, L. A., He, H., & Pham-Huy C. (2008). Free Radicals, antioxidants in disease and health. International Journal of Biomedical Science: IJBC, 4(2), 89-96. PMID: 23875073
(6) Park K. (2015). Role of micronutrients in skin health and function. Biomolecules & Therapeutics, 23(3), 207-217. doi: 10.4062/biomolther.2015.003
2 Comments :
Sounds great. I am getting this soon
https://www.melodyjacob.com/2019/05/shark-finning-stop-eating-shark-soup.html
The blog post titled "Sanny & Joleen Lifestyle Antioxidant Serum Review" provides a thorough and insightful analysis of the mentioned serum. t's evident from your review that you had a positive experience with the Sanny & Joleen Lifestyle Antioxidant Serum. Could you elaborate on how the serum fits into your skincare routine and what specific changes or improvements you noticed in your skin after incorporating it? Tel U
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