You’ve all heard about making sure you have enough vitamin C in your diet (hello, those delicious little chewable vitamins!), but it can also be hugely beneficial for your skincare routine.
There’s a reason that serums with vitamin C are considered miracle products: they really work. Experts say that adding a C to your routine can help everything from uneven skin tone, dullness, rough texture, fine lines, pigmentation and even scarring. So what are the biggest benefits of adding Vitamin C into your routine?
It brightens your skin tone.
It’s no secret that as we age, environmental and natural factors cause some changes in the skin: UV rays causing sun damage, post inflammatory pigmentation, general dark spots. Vitamin C inhibits melanin production. Melanin is basically a darker pigment your body puts out, which causes dark spots, age spots and general pigmentation. Vitamin C comes along and tells your skin to cool it on the melanin and has been shown to brighten dark spots while leaving normal skin alone.
It firms your skin.
Because it’s highly acidic, our little friend C also promotes cell production, triggering the production of elastin and collagen thus renewing the skin’s surface. This helps cell turnover, as well as reducing the appearance of fine lines and helping prevent premature aging of the skin.
It does all of this without damaging the skin, because it’s promoting naturally occurring protein fibres.
It helps defend against damage.
On top of these other wonderful things, Vitamin C is also an antioxidant, meaning it protects skin cells from free radicals caused by UV exposure. So it’s like a prevention and cure in one.
And if you want a real one-two punch, add some vitamin E into the mix as well. Experts say that vitamin C effectiveness increases when combined with other antioxidants (hello vitamin E) and offer twice the protection against damage.
So what type of Vitamin C should you use?
As amazing as vitamin C is, it’s one of those ingredients that’s highly unstable in certain forms and can lose its effectiveness quickly if not in the proper form. You want to look for ascorbic acid as an ingredient (also called L-ascorbic acid) as the most stable form.
You’ll also notice that the bottles or jars of most of these products are dark or opaque. That’s because vitamin C breaks down on exposure to light and air so they want to keep that goodness hidden away in the bottle to maintain its effectiveness.
And just remember: as with any strong ingredient it’s best to go slow; only use it a few times a week until your skin works up to it.
Then bask in the results.
Liz’s Favourite Vitamin C Products
Skinceuticals C E Ferulic serum CE Ferulic is a vitamin C serum formulated with 15% L-ascorbic acid to combine its powerful antioxidant benefits with vitamin E (1%) and 0.5% ferulic acid for advanced environmental protection and visible anti-ageing benefits.
Saturday Skin Yuzu Vitamin C Sleep Mask This unique jelly-textured mask infuses your skin with yuzu, which contains three times more Vitamin C than any other citrus. It works overnight to soothe skin, support better barrier function, and improve dryness so your skin feels hydrated, supple, and smoother. It also contains super ingredients niacinamide and retinol for extra power.
Aspect Extreme C 20 A powerful antioxidant serum containing Vitamin C and peptides to help promote skin elasticity and illuminate appearance.
Paula’s Choice C 15 Super Booster This concentrated booster with 15% pure vitamin C dramatically brightens uneven skin while improving the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.
Ole Henriksen Truth Serum This potent True-C Complex™ and collagen serum helps brighten and firm the skin as it delivers all-day hydration.
In her spare time, she likes long walks down the makeup aisle and performing in Brisbane theatre. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and TikTok @thebeautypalate.
