Long live vitamin C! The benefits of vitamin C for your skin

Vitamin C isn't just good for your health; it can also transform your skin. This vitamin makes it smoother, gives it radiance, and protects it against the signs of aging. Healthy skin with a beautiful glow is possible by adapting your beauty routine. But there are still a few things to remember about its active ingredients. 

First of all: it spreads, but it is not eaten. 

Adding more and more citrus fruits, peppers, strawberries, cabbage and kiwis to your diet is certainly good for your health, but this vitamin C will not have any visible effects on your skin. This is why it is included in skin care products, because when spread on the skin, it acts directly . 

What does vitamin C do for our skin?

Vitamins are truly multi-tasking ingredients, so the list of their benefits is impressive:

- Vitamin C acts as a powerful antioxidant. It neutralizes 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 the excesses of our lifestyles…)

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

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

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

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

One vitamin C is not the other

Vitamin C is used in various forms in cosmetics. You can recognize them by the acronym "ascorb" in the ingredient list. The best known (and most potent) is ascorbic acid, or L-ascorbic acid, from pure vitamin C. Stable derivatives of the vitamin include retinyl ascorbate, ascorbyl palmitate, decyletetrahexyl 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 oxidize, causing it to lose its strength and reduce its effectiveness. Therefore, it's best to always look for airtight and light-tight packaging like pump bottles. They help keep the vitamin "fresh" 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 absorb it effectively.

What is the right concentration of vitamin C?

Good news: 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 at a concentration of 0.6%, slowing down skin aging. Higher concentrations of 15% or more are used when tackling stubborn skin problems such as dark spots.

To get started…

Want to see the effects of vitamin C on your complexion? 

Our selection for healthy, even and radiant skin.

- Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster . 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 it can also be mixed with your serum or day cream.

- Dermalogica Biolumin-C Gel Moisturizer . This lightweight gel moisturizer is enriched with vitamin C and hyaluronic acid. It hydrates and smooths the skin while helping to protect it.

- Glow and Protect Serum by REN. This serum, with superfruit extracts, contains three types of vitamin C and hydration boosters like glycogen and hyaluronic acid. It works to make skin more supple and smoother, for a glowing complexion that 's protected from oxidative stress.