Product Review

-- Product Review -- 

After speaking with Dean J. of Small Town Outlet Co. about reviewing their interesting serum several weeks prior to the product being available (out of stock), they sent a confirmation of the order on July 20^th and it arrived July 27^th in a yellow bubble-padded 8 x 10” envelope. The product was wrapped in an additional plastic bubble protective envelope inside a small drawstring burlap bag. All the packaging is recyclable in our area, but the burlap bag – being reusable – was set aside to either use it in the future or give away to someone else.

The Ponte VedraVitamin C Serum, comes with a screw top dropper (made of plastic, rubber and glass), instead of a pump, and is housed in a 1 fl. oz. brown glass bottle (recyclable) with a recyclable plastic screw top. The serum has a 12-month shelf-life, which I appreciate since I have a different brand of serum being used at the moment.

There are several things that I liked about this product.

-The ingredients are 98% natural and 72% of the ingredients are also certified organic.

- It is made in Canada.

- The container, caps and packaging are recyclable.

- The product is cruelty free, and is not tested on animals.

- It is alcohol and paraben free.

Like most facial serums, it is made with 20% vitamin C , amino acid and hyaluronic acid however it has a special formula that creates a potent antioxidant that not only, protects and brightens skin but it also prevents the effects of aging as well. The company states that their product is designed to penetrate more deeply in the skin than just sitting on the surface like other products.

According to the label: “The vitamin C in our serum formulation is Stay C 50, a stabilized (phosphorylated) sodium salt of L-ascorbic acid. The esterification of ascorbic acid protects vitamin C from destruction by oxidation. The result is a stable, highly effective Vitamin C - combined with the superior moisturizing power of botanically derived hyaluronic acid and natural jojoba oil, the tightening and moisture retention power of Witch Hazel, along with the collagen production boosting properties of the amino acid Arginine.”

 I did notice that the liquid is slightly foggier than some other more clear serums that I have tried, but check out the list of ingredients below and you’ll see that the mainly plant based ingredients are very wholesome.

Ingredients: water, aloe, vitamin c., Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), plant derived hyaluronic acid, witch hazel, vitamin 3, carbomer, arginine, ferulic acid, kosher vegetable glycerin, organic jojoba oil, phenoxyethanal, ethyl hexyl glycerin, gotu kola extract, horsetail extract, geranium extract and dandelion extract. 

Simply apply a few drops on your fingers and lightly spread on your clean face, neck, forearms and backs of hands with your fingertips (where your skin is exposed to the sun and harsh elements).  I apply it up to 3 times a day: in the morning after washing my face with a cloth, after a late afternoon shower and then in the evening after wiping my face with a cloth… and follow each application with an organic moisturizer.

There was some confusion about the actual name of the company; the review contact was from Small Town Outlet Co. while the bottle stated the company was Ponte Naturals. The product is supposed to be made in Canada but isn’t sold on amazon.ca and Ponte Naturals is based though in Jacksonville, FL – USA. Sadly the company representatives are not as communicative as one would hope. The website address listed on the bottle (PonteNaturals.com) is not active so I wrote the company directly to ask about this on July 27^th... and never heard back. I like to do research on the companies I feature on my blog as to their environmental impact, social responsibility, charities they support, staff volunteering activities, purchasing habits and other corporate responsibility steps that any modern business should be embracing and celebrating on their website. I even invited the representative to send me any of this information on their company. Sadly I never heard from them. It reminded me that initially early on in the review process they took a long time to let me know the product was not available and it was several weeks before I got a notice saying a sample was sent. However they did apologize for the delay.

You can find this product on Amazon.com where it has a retail price of $19.99 (US)

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