The benefits of vitamin C for your skin

Vitamin C is not only good for your health, it can also transform your skin. It makes your skin smoother, gives it a glow and protects it from the signs of ageing. Healthy skin with a nice glow is possible if you adjust your beauty routine. But there are a few things you should know about its active ingredients. 

First of all: it is spreadable, but not eatable 

Adding more and more citrus fruits, peppers, strawberries, cabbage and kiwi to your menu is good for your health, but this vitamin C will not have any visible effect on your skin. That's why it's included in skin care products, because when you spread it on your skin, it acts directly on the skin.. 

What does vitamin C do for our skin?

The vitamin is a true multi-tasker. The list of its benefits is therefore impressive:

- Vitamin C acts as a powerful antioxidant. It neutralises free radicals, those unstable molecules that age the skin prematurely and can cause wrinkles, pigment spots and accelerate skin sagging. (These are caused by oxidative stress, caused by UV rays, pollution, and lifestyle excesses...)

In addition, recent research has shown that vitamin C also strengthens the skin's natural defence system, thereby protecting it from oxidative stress.

- A tip? Beautystas often apply vitamin C first thing in the morning to ensure daily sun protection. And rightly so. The vitamin increases the effectiveness of sunscreens, so that the skin is (even) better protected against the sun's harmful rays.

- Vitamin C ensures a more even and radiant skin. It optimizes melanin production in the skin and also helps to fade and prevent superficial pigmentation spots or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, (spots that can develop after pimples.)

- Vitamin C also helps to keep skin firmer, as it boosts the production of collagen and elastin in the skin, which decreases with age.

One vitamin C is not the other

Vitamin C is used in various forms in cosmetics. You can recognise them by the acronym "ascorbic" in the list of ingredients. The best known (and most potent) is ascorbic acid, or L-ascorbic acid, pure vitamin C. Stable derivatives of the vitamin include retinal ascorbate, ascorbyl palmitate, decyletrahexyl ascorbate, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, aminopropyl ascorbyl phosphate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate.

The stability of each vitamin C derivative used is very important. Vitamin C must remain stable to be active and effective. When exposed to air, light, heat and/or water, it can easily oxidise, losing its strength and reducing its effectiveness. This is why it is best to always look for air and light tight packaging such as pump bottles. They help to keep the vitamin "fresh" for longer.

The vitamin C in your creams and skincare products must not only be stable, but also optimally bioavailable to the skin. This means that the skin must be able to convert it into ascorbic acid in order to be able to absorb it efficiently.

What is the right concentration of vitamin C?

The good news is that you don't necessarily need a high concentration of vitamin C to see better results. Research has shown that the vitamin already has strong antioxidant power when its concentration is 0.6% and therefore slows down skin ageing. High concentrations of 15% or more are used when tackling certain stubborn skin problems such as age spots.

 To get started...

Would you like to see the effects of vitamin C on your appearance? 

Our selection for healthy, even and radiant skin.

- C15 Super Booster from Paula's Choice. This booster contains 15% vitamin C to fade dark spots, even out skin tone and reduce fine lines and wrinkles. It can be applied neat under your cream, but can also be mixed with your serum or day cream.

- Biolumin-C Gel Moisturizer by Dermalogica. This light-textured gel moisturizer is enriched with vitamin C and hyaluronic acid. It moisturizes and smoothes the skin while helping to protect it.

- Glow and Protect Serum from REN. This serum with extracts of superfruit contains three types of vitamin C and moisture boosters such as glycogen and hyaluronic acid. It works to make the skin more supple, smoother, for a glowy, protected on oxidative stress.