Today I decided to dive a little deeper into the skincare industry’s favorite ingredient: VITAMIN C. I have talked about my skincare routine before and how I incorporate it into my morning routine, but I have never talked about why you need it in your skincare routine?
I am going to answer the 3 most asked questions about Vitamin C:
- What is Vitamin C?
- Why you need it in your skincare routine? The benefits?
- Some of my favorite products including some of the affordable ones.
So what is Vitamin C?
When we think of Vitamin C, most often we think about oranges, grapefruit, or any kind of citrus fruits as well as an ingredient in our skincare serums or moisturizers. But, it can appear in so many different forms.
Vitamin C in its purest form is also known as Ascorbic or L-Ascorbic acid. It is a naturally occurring nutrient in our bodies and we need it for our bodies to function properly, to repair our body, and to restore tissue.
As many of you may already know, Vitamin C has a lot of benefits for our immune system, but I am here to tell you, specifically that when you apply Vitamin C topically to your skin, that is when things become interesting.
Why do you need Vitamin C in your skincare routine? What are the benefits?
- Brightens the skin tone
- Even out skin texture
- Smooth out fine lines and wrinkles
- It is an antioxidant, so it helps the skin fight the free radicals and UV damage from the sun.
- It also helps the skin to produce Collagen and Elastin in the dermis layer which are the two important essentials for bouncy-looking smooth skin.
Now that we know the benefits of Vitamin C let’s talk about how we can use it for our skin?
Vitamin C in skin care products comes in its purest form as well as a derivative. As I mentioned before, Vitamin C in its purest form is known as Ascorbic or L-Ascorbic acid. This is the only form that our bodies and skin cells can absorb. This is important because your skin can get all the benefits like brightening only if it’s absorbed into the skin.
The only downside of the L-Ascorbic acid is, it is very unstable. This means that it can change over time and it’s very sensitive to light and air. This means it can easily oxidize and can go bad very quickly.
Due to the instability in the purest form, a lot of skincare brands have now developed derivatives. Derivatives are more stable. That just means that it won’t go bad that easily and reduces the risk of inflammation. When a derivative form of Vitamin C is applied to the skin, the body breaks it down like ascorbic acid and can give you all the benefits.
Derivative Forms of Vitamin C:
- Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate
- Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate
- Ascorbyl Glucoside
It is important to read the ingredients , to make sure you are getting your money’s worth. Make sure you buy a Vitamin C that has either the above mentioned derivatives or has it in the purest form as L-Ascorbic acid.
What are some of the products on the market that are worth your money and can actually do something for your skin?
Some of my favorite products that I have personally tried:
Paulas Choice Vitamin C booster Serum
This one has 15% L- Ascorbic acid, vitamin E, Ferulic acid, and Peptides. What I like about this one is, since this is a booster, you can decide how to use it with different products in your skincare routine. You can add it to your favorite moisturizer or your other serums. It is also quite affordable.
This one has 15% L-Ascorbic acid, Ferulic acid and Vitamin E as well. This one is great for mature skin. I have personally used this for almost a year and loved the results it gave my skin.
This one has 15% L-Ascorbic acid, Ferulic acid, and Vitamin E as well. This one is my personal favorite and has really improved my skin tone.
Other Vitamin C products that have great reviews:
SHOP SERUMS BELOW:
How to incorporate it into your Skincare Routine?
You can either use it either morning or night. I use it in the morning, the first thing after I wash my face. If you have sensitive skin start with the lowest strength of 5% and build it up as your skin becomes more used to it. Use it for about 3 months to truly see the difference.
You can read all about my skincare routine here.
