Last year, prestige skincare sales in the United States reached a whopping $5.6 million a 13% increase from the previous year. Not to get too technical, but thats a hell of a lot of fancy skincare products. And yet, even though our social media feeds are flooded with new launches on a near-daily basis, there are still a select few products that make up what we think of as the best of their kind cult favorites, holy grails, top shelf products. Many of these A-list products come with an A-list price tag (think: Crme de la Mer, La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe Cream and the like).

Sitting comfortably in the top tier of this luxe list is SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic , the beloved serum that launched in 2005 after 40 years of academic research. Often regarded as the gold standard of vitamin C serums (a category thats constantly expanding , thanks to research about the many skin benefits of the antioxidant), SkinCeuticals most beloved product will run you $166 and has become a point of near-obsession in the skincare dupes community, with legions of beauty fanatics searching for a less expensive version that provides the same results: firmer and smoother skin, reduced signs of aging and sun damage, and an overall brighter complexion.

We asked skincare pros if the dermatologist-tested, arguably hot dog-scented SkinCeuticals elixir is really worth its price tag, and compared it to one of its most popular dupes, Timeless $18 Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum.

What makes SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic so special?

According to Chloe Smith, who leads SkinCeuticals education and scientific communications team in Canada, C E Ferulic is precisely formulated to neutralize damaging free-radicals caused by environmental factors. It claims to improve everything from skin tone to brightness, and even reduce lines and dark spots.