VITAMIN C: Ingredient of the week + Skin Care Benefits and Recommended Products

One skin care ingredient that has had a resurgence lately is good ol' Vitamin C. There were a lot of skin care preparations and brands that have been utilizing Vitamin C; it's just that before, people were either afraid to try skin care with special ingredients or they never really bothered with what goes in their products anyway. Turns out Vitamin C is one of the best anti-aging and brightening ingredients out there.

Today, we'll talk about one of the famous ingredients in skin serums, VITAMIN C!

Vitamin C is an antioxidant; this is a known fact, especially for health and wellness. For skin/topical use, Vitamin C is known for anti-aging, brightening, and protection of the skin. It is sourced from many ingredients such as citrus fruits, broccoli, tomatoes, and can be clinically- derived and made as well.

The most potent form of Vitamin C for skin care use is L-Ascorbic acid. However, Vitamin C itself is not stable; it degrades under sunlight that's why it is stored in dark places and amber- colored bottles to prolong shelf- life; it also performs better if formulated with other ingredients.

VITAMIN C: BENEFITS

Vitamin C is mainly used to address anti- aging, brightening and scarring concerns. How it works is since L-Ascorbic Acid is fat soluble, it breaks down an area of the skin where it is applied, which is a signal of an injury to the brain, therefore it instructs the body to produce more collagen, which helps with scarring, eradication of fine lines, and the acidic formula is what brightens the skin by shedding off old, damaged skin.

On its own, Vitamin C is okay, but it is often mixed together with other ingredients either as a catalyst, to boost its effect, or to prevent early degradation.

Vitamin C is oftentimes mixed with Collagen; the breaking down action of Vitamin C's acidic formula helps topical collagen penetrate the skin better and improves the skin's collagen level. P.S. Collagen is also best applied topically.

Vitamin C is best mixed other antioxidants such as Vitamin E; together, they ramp up the antioxidant, free- radical fighting properties of skin care for clearer, healthier- looking skin.

Vitamin C is also mixed with Ferulic Acid, a type of AHA derived from bran such as rice, oatmeal, and other grains. Studies have shown that Ferulic Acid helps protect Vitamin C from UV degradation, helps it become more stable, and boosts its photoprotection properties, or the effect that helps minimize sun damage on the skin.

For the health, Vitamin C is ideally taken with Ferrous Sulfate or iron supplements because Vitamin C helps boost the effect of iron and the body's iron- absorbing capacity.

VITAMIN C: SIDE EFFECTS

Vitamin C side effect on the skin can range from redness, itching, and tenderness of the skin. Since it's very potent stuff, misguided use can lead to serious burns and redness. It's always best to start with low concentrations first (around 2%) and gradually move up the dosage chart to ensure that skin adjusts properly to the formula.

VITAMIN C: USES

- as supplement

- as skin care ingredient

- great for aging skin

- great for skin type that gets clogged easily

- great for sun- damaged skin

Here are some Vitamin C skin care products that you can try:

1. KIEHL'S DERMATOLOGIST SOLUTIONS POWERFUL-STRENGTH LINE- REDUCING CONCENTRATE

- One of the first powerful Vitamin C serums in the beauty industry; this serum helps reduce the appearance of micro- wrinkles and other fine lines, while helping skin look plumper and firmer.

2. PIXI VITAMIN C + FERULIC ACID

- A new skin care range by Pixi that combines Vitamin C for brightening and Ferulic Acid for added antioxidant properties and mild exfoliation.

3. GLUTA-C SKIN CARE

- One of the famous affordable skin care lines locally that targets whitening concerns. Vitamin C and Glutathione work together to exfoliate, lighten, and give skin a healthier- looking fairness.

Photo credit: avalonorganics.com

4. AVALON ORGANICS

- One of the first skin care brands that I tried from Healthy Options. Intense Defense Vitamin C skin care is a daily skin care that utilizes Vitamin C more as a protective ingredient and also has other benefits of this vitamin too such as brightening and anti-aging.

Photo credit: cultbeauty.com

5. DRUNK ELEPHANT C-FIRMA DAY SERUM

- Drunk Elephant is one of my best skin care finds lately; I'm currently using T.L.C. Framboos, a super potent AHA/BHA serum and it's SUPER effective on me as a spot treatment; I've yet to use it on my entire face, but I'm confident that it's going to be a great experience so I'm equally interested in the rest of DE's skin care such as C-Firma Day Serum, a potent day serum that helps protect, brighten, and smooth the skin. It also has Ferulic Acid and Pumpkin ferment and Pomegranate extracts that help loosen up dead skin cells for faster turnover and incredibly soft skin that you can touch.

There you go! I hope you learned a lot about Vitamin C today. I also hope this will make you even more confident in discovering and trying out various Vitamin C products. :)