This $20 Moisturizer Will Brighten and Plump Your Skin in One Step

Many of us struggle with dullness and discoloration year-round, not just in the colder months. In fact, my dullness and discoloration reach a peak in the summer, which is when my skin is naturally exposed to excessive sun and heat. I wear sunscreen every day, but still. And that’s before all of the drying salt water and chlorine my skin has to put up with. As a result, just like clockwork, I notice my complexion looks uneven and lackluster at the end of summer. So much so that I’ll schedule brightening facials ahead of time. I expect it every year. This year, I’m not settling for end-of-summer dullness and discoloration. Instead, I’m being proactive and getting ahead of it. Wearing sunscreen, seeking, shade, and keeping my skin cool are a big part of that, but so is my skincare routine. I’m loading up on gentle brightening products (like my trusty vitamin C serum) as well as a brand-new moisturizer. The moisturizer in question only costs $20, yet it can effectively brighten and plump the skin. It’s helping me prevent dullness and discoloration with every application. Keep scrolling to see which moisturizer I’m talking about and learn why I’m so excited about it.

Here it is—Versed’s Weekend Glow Daily Brightening Moisturizer. It contains a combination of effective ingredients that help me keep my dullness and discoloration at bay. The ingredients are vitamin C, cloudberry oil, and carrot-root extract. Let’s discuss.

We all know and love vitamin C, but for the sake of specificity, let’s go over the benefits of this ingredient. It’s a potent antioxidant, which means it fights potentially damaging free radicals. It’s also a renowned brightening ingredient, and that’s why it’s so often recommended for dullness and dark spots. It can also help firm the skin by protecting collagen and elastin. It’s no wonder vitamin C is so highly recommended by skin experts. The next two ingredients are cloudberry oil and carrot-root extract. The first one is rich in essential fatty acids, so it’s a super-effective skin softener. The second one is another antioxidant, shielding the skin from free radicals and blue-light damage.

I’ve been using it for three weeks, and I can already see a slight difference in my skin. The sun spots and freckles that always litter my cheeks by mid-June are paler than usual. The post-breakout marks that sit stubbornly by my mouth and chin have faded slightly. Keep in mind that I use this moisturizer in conjunction with daily sunscreen, and without sunscreen, a brightening skincare routine isn’t effective. The sunscreen I use it with is also a Versed product, and let me tell you—they play very nicely with each other.

This is a mineral sunscreen that offers SPF 35 along with lightweight moisture. What I love most about it is that it has a slight peach tint, so there’s never a white cast. I find that it blurs imperfections and leaves a natural-looking finish on my skin. The fact that it also contains antioxidants to fight off environmental and electronic damage doesn’t hurt either.