Recently it came to my attention that Pixi Glow Tonic have a slight change in their formulation. With the help of Sal from Ummbaby we also noted a change in packaging, labelling and colour of the product.
To begin, let’s dive into the ingredient listing aka the core of any product:
(Left – Old Formulation————— Right – New Formulation)
OLD Formulation (from Pixi Website):
Ingredients: Aqua, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Leaf Extract, Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Seed Extract, Glycolic Acid, Ammonium Glycolate, Glycerin, Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Urea, Dextrin, Alanine, Glutamic Acid, Hexyl Nicotinate, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Biotin, Polysorbate 20, Fragrance.
Ingredients are subject to change. For the most complete and up-to-date list of ingredients, refer to the product packaging. Made in the USA.
NEW Formulation (from my recent product purchase packaging):
Note: new additions are in Bold font.
Ingredients: Aqua, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Leaf Extract, Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Seed Extract, Glycolic Acid, Ammonium Glycolate, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Hexylene Gycol, Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Urea, Dextrin, Alanine, Glutamic Acid, Aspartic Acid, Hexyl Nicotinate, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Biotin, Polysorbate 20, Fragrance.
Ingredients are subject to change. For the most complete and up-to-date list of ingredients, refer to the product packaging. Made in the USA.
Well if you’re still reading this after being bombarded with inci list jargon, I guess your first question is What are these ingredients and What is their purpose in life?
Butylene Glycol (chemical compound) and Hexylene Glycol are clear colourless liquids which are used as solvents, and viscosity decreasing agents. Pixi comments, “To be compliant in the USA the Ingredient Listing itemized all the ingredients, even carrier systems. Butylene glycol and hexylene glycol are used solvents, serving as ingredient carriers.”
Aspartic Acid: Aspartic acid is one of two acidic amino acids and they are the building blocks of proteins. Aspartic acid and glutamic acid play important roles as general acids in enzyme active centers, as well as in maintaining the solubility and ionic character of proteins.
The 20 most common amino acids found in proteins are: Alanine, Arginine, Asparagine, Aspartic Acid, Cysteine, Glutamic Acid, Glutamine, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Proline, Serine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Tyrosine and Valine (I’ve probably killed you with TMI by now!)
Pixi comments, “Aspartic acid is an amino acid and used as a skin conditioning agent.”
Now moving onto the packaging and labelling of the bottles.
As you can tell from pic above, the newer bottle is taller and leaner (all I ever wanted to be!), whilst the older bottle is slightly shorter in height and rounder in frame (sigh, the brutality of life!). Just to reiterate the injustice of life here’s another pic.
Onto Change in Product Labelling
Minor, nothing to rant about.
Now if you have a keen eye for attention to detail, you may have already noticed a slight change in Colour!!!
Here’s what Pixi commented on colour, “We also use natural colorants, so the color will vary slightly between each batch.”
We all know the packaging, labelling are all game of aesthetics, but does the change in formulation and colour impact the product and its efficacy?
So I tested Pixi Glow Tonic’s (newer version) ph level at home with two different tester kits and the results were as follows:
The first kit indicated 5 as the ph level. For any acid to be properly effective, the ph level needs to be anywhere between 3-4. Despite having 5% Glycolic Acid, high ph level wouldn’t allow the acid to tingle the skin. Pixi Glow Tonic is very mild and soothing for the skin which makes it an excellent choice for sensitive skin peeps (although sensitivities vary from individual to individual therefore not conclusive) or as a morning toner with sunscreen (obviously!!!).
Second testing kit indicated same results as above.
After such a deep analysis of it all, I wish I had a more juicy answer and say yessss I noticed a difference in its performance and results blah blah blah. Fortunately or Unfortunately (however you take this), No I didn’t notice any change, in terms of its smell, texture, performance, and results. Having said that, if you have noticed something different, I’d love to hear you from, please leave a comment below or reach out to me on Instagram.
HHW.com
xx
All Comparison Pictures Courtesy: Sal from Ummbaby
Thank you darling, this is post couldn’t have been possible with your comparison pictures xoxox
Hidden Harmony World 
I love your attention to detail. Thank you for a very informative post. I’ve heard so many things about this tonic… Would you recommend it? Or are there better alternatives available? xx
I would say yes if you haven’t tried any other acid before and you intend on gradually introducing acid to your skin. However if you’ve used acids and would like to step up there are many other options available xx
I haven’t tried any other acid, so I will give this a try. Thank you xx
What are other options available if you’re already used to acids? Thanks in advance.
Look into Bravura London, Pixi Glow Pads, Zelens PHA pads, Peter Thomas Roth and Dr Dennis Gross pads. Apologies for delayed reply
I definitely prefer the newest release of Pixi Glow Tonic. On my combination skin it doesn’t dry at all and the glow is instant, more than the oldest version which I found too strong on my skin. Love your accurate reviews, as always! Xo
Glad you like the newer release, although question: did older version leave your skin dry? Thank you for taking the time to read and comment xox
This is such a helpful post! I never realised there was a difference as I’m fairly late to the party and only own the new version. Glad to hear it’s just as good in formula though xx
Jasmine Talks Beauty
I’m so glad you found it helpful! 😘
This was interesting and I had no idea. I bought one at Target recently, but haven’t tried it yet. I’m glad to hear that you didn’t notice a difference between the two formulations. Helpful to know!
So glad you found this post helpful😊😘
I love how thorough you are, its inspiring. I mean any time you see a PH Level Testing Kit in any situation, you know you’re going home having been taught some lesson or another.
My absolute favourite part of course is this gem: “the newer bottle is taller and leaner (all I ever wanted to be!), whilst the older bottle is slightly shorter in height and rounder in frame (sigh, the brutality of life!)” which now means every time I use PGT I will be reminded of how I aspire to becoming something I will never be 😥
Great conclusion, at least we can all remain unalarmed for now.
Sal xxx
UmmBabyBeauty | @ummbaby
Hahahaha unalarmed for now, indeed! Hun you should get ph testing kit, it’s really addictive😁 Whoopsie didn’t mean to kill the aspirations, but hey no one said we can’t be delusional 😆😂
After reading this post, I noticed my new lean bottle is actually an orange tinted plastic. I think this is the colour change you are noticing, as the old bottle was clear. The product doesn’t look any different to me on the cotton pad, and as you have noted, I also do not notice any difference in how this works.
I think I reviewed this in midst of change in packaging, my bottle is colourless but Pixi confirmed in an email to me about adding colour to their product so colour changes from batch to batch. But like we agree, still a star product 👌🏻
dear, may i know about text at the bottom of the bottle? 150716 – is it expired date or manufacturing date?
thanks in advance, 🙂
Darl my bottle has been tossed in Empties a while ago, I think it’s the batch number however I suggest get in touch with Pixi beauty for clarification. They have great customer service 😊
@cynthia do you find anything about the text at the bottom of bottle? Cause mine also has that.
Oh im glad someone asked ive been trying to find out .Could you please tell me what did you find
I am new to acids and I just recently learned about the importance of ph level for exfoliation to be effective (thanks to an Asian Beauty reddit thread). PIXI Glow Tonic was on my wishlist and I thought I’d better Google the ph level – so a BIG thank you for testing the ph level!! Now I will not waste my money on this.
In the PM I am using Lactic Acid 5% from The Ordinary line and their website states the ph level is 3.8 (love the transparency of this line).
In the AM I am using the NIP+FAB Glycolic Fix Pads and next I will be using the NIP+FAB Glycolic Fix Night Pads (I got them both on sale for half price so thought I’d give them a go). After some research it seems like the ph levels are a mystery – someone even emailed the company to inquire and the reply was that they would not disclose this information!!
Firstly my apologies for very delayed reply. Seems like you’re gradually building your acid game. Unfortunately they are not as transparent as many other brands but I actually did enjoy their Night Pads, they really made a difference to the skin. Let me know how you get along.
Hello! I just came across your blog about the new /old Pixi Glow Tonic . I’ve used the old version for a long time and really liked the suble glow it gave my skin. It was gentle enough for me to use it in the morning ( spf after of course) couple times a week. Well ,I used the new formula for the first time this morning and by now (7pm )my face is bright red with some bumps coming on my forehead. I guess my skin liked the older version .. going back to Paula’s Choice , she never disappoints.