BEFORE I GIVE MY PRAISE OF THIS SERUM, let me get a major complaint off my chest. WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH COMPANIES NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO PACKAGING AND INSTRUCTIONS??? This product is designed and formulated in California, but made in China. There's NO EXCUSE for the poor bottle design and ridiculous instructions. This type of sealed serum bottle aggravates me no end. They usually require the tip of the glass bottle to be snapped off by hand or include a tool to do it. No tool included here. Just a dumb diagram and poorly worded instructions about twisting off the cap, not snapping off the cap. The rubberized seal at the base of the bottle tip led me astray. I tried to cut through it with a razor blade, but it actually needs to be SNAPPED off, so just that say in plain English please! For obvious reasons, this is an undesirable design: IT LEAVES A JAGGED GLASS RIM. The included rubber tip is supposed to fit snugly over that jagged opening, and serum is dispensed by pressing the tip of the rubber cap on the skin with the serum dispensing through 3 holes in the top. Physics lesson: You won't get all the serum this way. Much of it adheres to the inside of that thick cap and pools inside the top of the cap which covers more area than the 3 holes. The only way to get the full serum is simply pour the serum from the broken opening directly into your palm. How stupid. I also worry about tiny glass slivers that can flake into the serum. HERE'S A THOUGHT TO ALL THESE COMPANIES: Just design a glass bottle with an actual twist-off cap that can be screwed back on and forget about snapping the tip off. That's what smart companies do with their serums. This way isn't safe or convenient, and I'm deducting for it. I used pliers and wrapped the bottle in a paper towel after being unable to twist of snap the tip off by hand. An hour of trying to figure out how to get into the bottle and I can't get that time back, or seal the remainder. Deminuage Blanq Brightening Serum is full of good ingredients that have powerful results, and comes in 5x2 or 10x2 individual ampoules. The formulation has RICE FERMENT FILTRATE (SAKE) as the 2nd MAJOR ingredient, which is rich in enzymes and 20 amino acids from the fermention process. It helps with skin rejuvenation, pH levels, and skin moisture. The next ingredient is TRANEXAMIC ACID (a synthetic derivative of the amino acid lysine) that brightens skin tone and helps with pigmentation. You get the drift. The serum ingredient is quite good, and contains 10 ingredients besides water that all produce powerhouse results. This one really promotes the ability to reduce wrinkles/fine lines, which is absolutely true. The combined effect of this serum is to visibly tighten skin -- you can see it and feel it right away. There's a warning about possible irritation, but other than an initial sting upon application, I experienced no sensitivity issues on my allergy-prone skin so far. It literally smooths the skin and is useful for making crow's feet disappear. Always remember that the degree of elasticity loss, wrinkling, and line depth has an impact on how quickly and effectively these serums show improvement. The effects are more noticeable quicker on users with a lesser degree of these issues, so have patience and be realistic about how long results may take. While I liked the tightening and smoothing effect, the end result also left my skin feeling dry. In retrospect, I liked some of what the serum achieves, but not the dryness, and truly detested the bottle design and functionality. There were enough thinks I didn't like to give this serum an average rating. Why? Because I have lots of other skincare that does all this and so much more, without any downsides, ESPECIALLY THE UNECESSARY DIFFICULTY OF OPENING AND USING THE SERUM.
