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CELIMAX The Vita-A Retinol Shot Tightening Serum | Sleepy Hello

CELIMAX

The Vita-A Retinol Shot Tightening Serum 30ml

Evening only

Smooths

Lightweight

Hydrating

PRODUCT DETAILS

The Vita-A Retinol Shot Tightening Serum is CELIMAX's evening retinol step, sold in a 30ml pump bottle with a chartreuse band printed around it. The fluid inside is a pale yellow-green that beads up rather than running away, and a small amount still spreads across a whole face.

The bottle prints three figures, and each one is traceable in the declaration. Retinol appears at 0.1% — the vitamin A alcohol itself, rather than an ester or an aldehyde. Panthenol is printed at 1%, which puts it sixth in the list, ahead of most of the formula. Nine separate peptides close the list out, from tripeptide-1 through to palmitoyl pentapeptide-4.

A-Shot is CELIMAX's own name for the fourth thing on the label rather than a material in its own right. It refers to the 162,000 micro-spicules the brand counts into every bottle, declared as hydrolyzed sponge. Those are why the serum prickles faintly on contact, which CELIMAX describes as expected rather than as a reaction.

Because the active is a retinol, it belongs at night, and sunscreen the following morning is part of the instruction rather than an extra. CELIMAX asks anyone new to retinol to go every other night for a fortnight before moving to daily use. Nothing on the list is added for scent.

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GOES WELL WITH

COSRX Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence 100ml$25.00

Collagen gel mask Sedum jelly 35g 1ea$5.00

COSRX Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream 25ml$28.00

Collagen gel mask Jericho rose jelly 35g 1ea$5.00

100 Reedle Shot Stick Pouch$11.52

1025 Dokdo Cleanser$17.00

1025 Dokdo Eye Cream$35.00

1025 Dokdo Sleeping Pack$23.00

What the three figures printed on this bottle correspond to in the declaration, and what they do not settle on their own.

Retinol, not a stand-in
Nine peptides, each named
Panthenol carried high
Thin enough to layer

Key Ingredients

Three open mauve, apricot and auburn grooves arc across one warm-ivory matte plaster surface beside a tiny coral point.

Retinol

May help soften the look of fine lines and uneven texture with consistent, carefully introduced leave-on use.

A blush paper ribbon curves across an ivory platform with a pale lavender panel behind.

Peptides

Some exact peptide forms may support smoother, firmer-looking skin; evidence varies by peptide and formula.

Panthenol

Pro-vitamin B5 that helps skin hold moisture and feel softer and more comfortable.

Frequently asked questions

Is this retinol or retinal?

Retinol. The declaration names RETINOL, the vitamin A alcohol, and the bottle prints 0.1%. CELIMAX also sells a Vita-A Retinal Shot Tightening Booster in the same line, and that one uses retinal, a different vitamin A form carrying its own evidence and its own directions. The two are not interchangeable, and the line names differ by a single letter, so it is worth checking which of the two you are actually holding.

Why does it tingle?

That is the A-Shot part. CELIMAX counts 162,000 micro-spicules into each bottle, listed on the declaration as hydrolyzed sponge — fine needles harvested from freshwater sponge. They give a light prickling as you spread the serum, and the brand describes that sensation as expected rather than a sign something has gone wrong. If it stings instead of prickling, or the feeling refuses to settle, rinse and drop back to alternate nights.

How often should I use it at the start?

Evenings only, and slowly. CELIMAX asks anyone new to retinol to stick to alternate nights across the opening fortnight, keeping the quantity small and staying on the areas that concern you rather than the whole face. Once week three arrives and skin has settled, nightly use across the whole face is fine. Sunscreen the following morning is written into the brand's own directions, so count that as part of using this serum at all.

What is A-Shot, and is it an ingredient?

It is CELIMAX's trade name, printed on the bottle next to the figure 162,000. The material behind it is hydrolyzed sponge, which sits eleventh in the declaration. CELIMAX says the particles are sized to enter pores and carry the actives further in; that is the brand describing its own design, and an ingredient list can never confirm how much of anything reaches skin. What the spicules reliably do is make themselves felt.

Is it vegan?

No. Hydrolyzed sponge comes from freshwater sponge, which is an animal, so this formula cannot be vegan whatever else is in it. CELIMAX makes no vegan or cruelty-free claim for the serum on its own US page. Retinol raises a separate question that the label cannot answer either: the INCI name discloses nothing about feedstock, manufacturing route or purity, so source-sensitive questions have to go to the brand.

Can I layer it with acids or another retinoid?

No ingredient-level rule forbids it, but stacking exfoliating acids, benzoyl peroxide or a second retinoid on top of a retinol routine raises the odds of irritation, and this serum already brings spicules of its own. Bring in one product at a time and follow each one's directions rather than a general routine. Most people find a plain moisturizer afterwards is what makes the whole thing comfortable enough to keep going.

Is there any fragrance in it?

Nothing on the declaration is there for scent: no parfum, no fragrance, no essential oils. CELIMAX does not print a fragrance-free claim for this serum, so that is an observation about the ingredient list rather than a brand statement. Some individual raw materials do have an odour regardless of what gets added, and a few shoppers mention picking one up on first opening. If you avoid perfume because your skin objects to it, this declaration is clean.