Pure Vitamin C, shielded by gold. Designed for radiance without irritation.
We think the most interesting advances in skincare are not found in harsher acids or longer ingredient lists. They are found in smarter technology, and in understanding what an ingredient is actually doing once it reaches your skin.
So rather than ask you to take our word for it, this is a proper look inside the bottle. What each ingredient is, the problem it was designed to solve, and why that matters for the way your skin looks and feels. So take your time with it. Think of this as the long read for anyone who loves to understand what they are putting on their skin, and why every part of it is there to look after you.
The trade-off most "high-performance" serums quietly accept
Most potent serums are built on a familiar compromise: load the bottle with a high percentage of a volatile active, and treat a little barrier stress as the price of results.
Pure Vitamin C is the classic example. Its most bioactive form, L-ascorbic acid, is notoriously unstable. It oxidises quickly on contact with light, air and water, and at high concentrations it can tip from antioxidant to pro-oxidant, stressing the skin rather than supporting it.
Collagen ingredients carry a different limitation. Skin's fibroblasts respond to structure, not just presence, so a collagen that does not share the human sequence may not be recognised as a native building block.
And most delivery systems are passive. A conventional carrier tends to sit on the surface and release its cargo, rather than communicating with skin cells the way the body's own messengers do.
We wanted to step past all three compromises, not by working around them, but by addressing each at the level of chemistry and biology. The Vitamin C Exosome Serum brings together three next-generation actives, Golden C, Biomimetic Exosomes and Next-Gen Collagen, inside a stable, skin-compatible base formulated at a pH of 5.0 to 5.5.
What actually makes it different for your skin
Before the deep dives, here is the short version of why this serum behaves differently from a conventional Vitamin C serum, and why that is good news for your skin.
It is formulated to be gentler. The Vitamin C works at a highly efficacious low dose, helping to reduce the surface stinging often associated with high-percentage formulas. It sits at a pH close to skin's own and is fragrance-free and free from known EU allergens.
It stays active for longer. Instead of accepting that Vitamin C degrades the moment it meets air, the formula is built to keep recycling it back into its useful form, helping more of it remain active when you apply it.
It helps more Vitamin C reach the skin. The gold carrier helps guide Vitamin C through the skin's outer layers, while biomimetic exosomes are engineered to interact with skin cells rather than simply passively coat the surface.
It works with your skin's natural structure. Next-Gen Collagen is a human-identical fragment, created to act as a familiar building block that helps support the collagen network responsible for firmer-looking skin.
And it's consciously created. All three hero ingredients are vegan and produced through biotechnology, with no animal harvesting involved in their production.
Now, how each one works.
01 | Golden C
The challenge with pure Vitamin C
L-Ascorbic Acid is the purest, most bioactive form of Vitamin C, and it needs no conversion in the skin to get to work. That potency comes with a genuine formulation problem: it oxidises rapidly when exposed to light, air and moisture. As it oxidises it turns into dehydroascorbic acid, a spent, inactive form. And at the high concentrations common in conventional serums, around 10 to 20 per cent, undiffused acid sitting on the surface can sting or redden skin before it ever penetrates.
The gold, glutathione and Vitamin C system
Golden C is built as a system of three components working together: pure L-ascorbic acid, glutathione, and gold submicroparticles, a combination known as an AU-AA-GSH complex.
The easiest way to picture it is two helpers looking after one hard-working active.
The gold is the protective carrier. Engineered to a fine particle size, it is designed to anchor the Vitamin C rather than leave it exposed on the surface, acting as a scaffold that helps guide it through skin's outer layers towards where it is active.
The glutathione is the rechargeable battery. As Vitamin C neutralises free radicals, it naturally gives up electrons and becomes spent. In a conventional serum, that is a one-way street. Glutathione is designed to work as a reducing agent that donates electrons back, regenerating spent Vitamin C into its active form so the system can keep cycling rather than burning out after a single use.
This is why the serum uses 0.5% of the Golden C complex rather than the 10–20% typical elsewhere. The aim is not maximum concentration, but delivery efficiency: less acid sitting on the surface, with more designed to reach where it is meant to go.
Built for stability
Because ascorbic acid is so reactive, the whole system is engineered around keeping it stable. Glutathione's continuous recycling is designed to counter Vitamin C's tendency to degrade, the gold carrier is intended to keep the acid from sitting exposed, and the skin-compatible pH supports the active's stability. In accelerated-ageing testing of the raw active, the Golden C complex was characterised as highly stable, a resilience that is rare in a system built around pure L-ascorbic acid. As with any Vitamin C, we still suggest keeping the bottle away from direct light and heat.
Golden C is also high in natural-origin content and produced with no animal testing.
02 | Biomimetic Exosomes
What exosomes actually are
To really understand this ingredient, we first need a little biology. Don't worry, we will keep it simple and walk you through it.
Exosomes are naturally occurring extracellular vesicles, tiny membrane-bound packets that your cells use to talk to one another. They carry proteins, lipids, RNA and signalling molecules from cell to cell, and they are one of the main ways skin coordinates repair after stress or damage.
The hard part of turning that biology into skincare is structural. A genuine exosome is not simply a lipid bubble. It is a highly organised vesicle with a complex membrane and a dense layer of surface proteins that let it interact directly with cell receptors. Without that surface architecture, a vesicle cannot communicate with skin cells the way a real exosome can. Most cosmetic delivery systems, including liposomes, are structurally much simpler: a plain lipid bilayer with no signalling architecture, designed to carry an ingredient to the surface rather than interact with cells.
Think of a liposome as an envelope that drops off its contents, and an exosome as a messenger that actually holds a conversation.
Grown from green microalgae, not animals
Our Biomimetic Exosomes are cultivated from green microalgae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, rather than derived from human or animal sources. That matters on two fronts: it removes the ethical and sourcing concerns of animal- or human-derived exosomes, and because it is lab-cultivated, the quality is consistent batch to batch rather than dependent on seasonal harvesting.
The cultivated vesicles measure around 150 nm in diameter, placing them within the size range of naturally occurring human exosomes. More importantly, they are engineered to closely mimic the complex structure of natural human exosomes, with specialised surface proteins and a sophisticated lipid membrane designed to support cellular bio-communication rather than simply carrying ingredients.
Compositional analysis identified 1,369 proteins and 109 distinct lipids, reflecting a level of molecular complexity that sets them apart from conventional delivery systems. Instead of passively releasing their contents onto the skin, they are designed to interact with skin cells in a way that supports the skin's natural communication pathways.
In toxicology testing of the active, it was reported as non-irritant, non-sensitising and non-phototoxic, and it is preservative-free at the raw-material stage. On the finished ingredient list, it appears as Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Extract.
03 | Next-Gen Collagen
Why most collagen ingredients fall short
Collagen is skincare's timeless classic, but how it is sourced makes a real difference to whether skin can use it.
Most collagen in skincare is animal-derived, from bovine, marine or porcine sources. Beyond the ethical questions, there is a structural one: animal collagen does not carry the same amino acid sequence as human Type I collagen, so skin's fibroblasts, the cells that build and maintain your collagen network, may not recognise it as a native building block. Plant-based and microbial alternatives solve the ethics, but many diverge even further from human collagen in structure, and yeast or bacteria cannot always perform the fine chemical steps that give collagen its stable, recognisable shape.
Human-identical collagen, grown in plants
Next-Gen Collagen takes a different route. It is a fragment of human Type I collagen, produced through a technique called molecular farming.
A synthetic gene sequence for human Type I collagen is introduced into Nicotiana benthamiana, a wild relative of tobacco used purely as a biological host, not as the collagen source itself. The plant's own cellular machinery then produces the human collagen sequence through transient expression, a temporary process that does not alter the plant's own genome, which is why it is non-GMO. The protein is then purified and extracted from the leaf.
Because the resulting fragment carries the same amino acid sequence as human Type I collagen, including the proline and hydroxyproline residues that are critical for collagen's triple-helix stability, it is designed to be recognised by skin as a structurally familiar building block. It is high purity, endotoxin-free, high in natural-origin content and Vegan Society certified.
How it works with your fibroblasts
The cellular mechanism centres on integrins. Fibroblasts attach to the surrounding collagen network through integrin receptors on their surface, and that binding is part of what prompts them to keep building collagen and to hold back the enzymes, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), that break it down.
Ageing and UV exposure gradually reduce the number of intact attachment points in the skin's matrix. Introducing human-identical collagen fragments is designed to help reinforce that structural network and support the signalling environment fibroblasts rely on to maintain it.
There is a nice detail in how it is grown, too: the plants are cultivated in controlled-environment agriculture, in protected greenhouses under LED light, with no pesticides and with water and energy recycled throughout the process. On the ingredient list it appears as Nicotiana Benthamiana Hexapeptide-40 SH-Polypeptide-47.
How the three work together
Each hero is designed to answer a different question, and together they tell one coherent story.
Golden C is engineered for stability and delivery efficiency rather than raw volume: designed to brighten and even the look of skin tone while defending against everyday oxidative stress, at a dose intended to stay gentle.
Biomimetic Exosomes are designed for cellular interaction rather than passive delivery, supporting the look of renewed texture.
Next-Gen Collagen is designed for structural recognition rather than surface moisturisation, working as a familiar building block for the network that keeps skin looking firm.
Vitamin C and collagen are also natural partners in the skin's own biology, which is part of why the three were chosen to sit together in one formula.
Gentle by design
A serum this considered should feel considered on the skin, too.
The formula is fragrance-free, free from essential oils and free from known EU allergens, and it is held at a pH of 5.0 to 5.5, close to skin's own surface. Each of the three hero ingredients has been reported as non-irritating and non-sensitising in toxicology testing of the individual actives, and the low-dose Vitamin C system is specifically designed to minimise the surface stinging associated with high-percentage formulas. It is suitable for all skin types, including sensitive and rosacea-prone skin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes this different from a regular Vitamin C serum?
Traditional Vitamin C serums usually rely on L-ascorbic acid alone, at high concentrations that can stress the barrier, with no mechanism to slow oxidation. The Vitamin C Exosome Serum layers three biotechnology-led actives designed to work together across brightening, renewal and firmness. The Vitamin C system is engineered for efficiency rather than volume, the exosomes are designed for cellular interaction rather than passive delivery, and the collagen fragment is designed for structural recognition rather than surface moisturisation.
Is it pure Vitamin C, or a derivative?
It is pure L-ascorbic acid, the most bioactive form, not a derivative. Most derivatives such as ascorbyl glucoside or ascorbyl palmitate need to convert within the skin and tend to be less potent. The challenge with pure ascorbic acid is stability, which is exactly what the gold and glutathione system is designed to address, so you get the bioactivity of L-ascorbic acid without leaning on high, surface-sensitising concentrations to make up for degradation.
Why only 0.5 per cent Vitamin C?
The 0.5 per cent refers to the Golden C complex, the combined active including the gold and glutathione system. The thinking is delivery efficiency over raw concentration: the gold is engineered to help guide the ascorbic acid through the skin's outer layers, and the glutathione is designed to regenerate spent Vitamin C back into its active form. The goal is a system that keeps more of the Vitamin C active for longer, rather than a headline percentage that begins degrading the moment it meets skin.
How stable is the formula in the bottle?
The whole Golden C system is engineered for stability. Glutathione's continuous recycling is designed to counter Vitamin C's natural tendency to degrade, which is quite different from conventional Vitamin C serums that often depend on anhydrous formulas, special low-light packaging and short shelf lives to manage instability. In accelerated-ageing testing of the active, the complex was characterised as highly stable. As with any Vitamin C, keeping it away from direct light and heat helps it stay at its best.
What exactly are exosomes, and how are these different from liposomes?
A liposome is a synthetic lipid vesicle, a simple bilayer sphere used to encapsulate and carry ingredients to the skin surface. It is a passive vehicle: it deposits its cargo and dissolves. An exosome is biologically more complex, with a multi-component membrane and surface proteins evolved for cell-to-cell interaction. Our Biomimetic Exosomes are engineered to replicate that complexity, with a surface protein architecture designed to interact with skin cell receptors the way naturally occurring exosomes do. That structural difference is what drives the difference in behaviour.
Is it suitable for sensitive skin?
Yes, it was formulated with sensitive skin in mind. It is fragrance-free, free from essential oils, free from known EU allergens, and formulated at pH 5.0 to 5.5. Each hero ingredient has been reported as non-irritating and non-sensitising in toxicology testing of the individual actives, and the low-dose Vitamin C system is designed to minimise the surface stinging common with high-percentage formulas. It is suitable for all skin types, including sensitive and rosacea-prone skin.
Can I use this with tretinoin or retinol?
The serum is formulated at a gentle pH of 5.0 to 5.5. Many people find it comfortable to keep a low-pH Vitamin C serum and their retinoid at different times of day. We would suggest the C-Exosome Serum in the morning and reserving tretinoin or retinol for the evening, so the two pH environments stay separate.
Should I switch from my Green Rooibos serum to this one?
You do not have to choose, they are designed to complement each other rather than compete. Apply the Vitamin C Exosome Serum after cleansing as your morning treatment step, and use the Green Rooibos Pressed Serum right before your LED session to support skin during the light treatment. If you are looking to use both serums before your LED, we recommend applying C-Exosome serum first and then our Green Rooibos Serum Light (as opposed to our Pressed Serum) - this water-based formula is better for layering and formulated with this in mind. The Vitamin C Exosome Serum acts as a high-tech prelude, not a replacement.
How to Use
Apply 2 to 3 pumps to a clean face, neck and décolletage each morning, right after cleansing. Follow with your daily moisturiser, and always finish with a broad-spectrum sunscreen.
Formulation Details
pH: 5.0 to 5.5. Texture: a feather-light serum.
Vegan. Fragrance-free. Free from essential oils and known EU allergens. Suitable for sensitive and rosacea-prone skin. Presented in an eco-friendly glass bottle and recycled carton.
Full ingredient list: Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Propylheptyl Caprylate, Pentylene Glycol, Squalane, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Triheptanoin, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ascorbic Acid, Glutathione, Gold, Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Extract, Aspalathus Linearis Leaf Extract, Nicotiana Benthamiana Hexapeptide-40 SH-Polypeptide-47, Propanediol, Tridecane, Honokiol, Undecane, Magnolol, Sorbitol, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Tocopherol, Castor Oil/IPDI Copolymer, Sodium Gluconate, Dilinoleic Acid/Butanediol Copolymer, 1,2-Hexanediol, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Caprylyl Glycol, Cellulose Gum, Polyglyceryl-4 Caprate.
Every ingredient in this formula was selected for one reason: to help pure Vitamin C perform at its very best, while supporting brighter, smoother and healthier-looking skin.
