When you think of Vitamin C, you might think of oranges and citrus. However, it is one of the essential ingredients in the skincare community.
The holy grail of skincare, vitamin C has to be up there with one of the best products you can put on your skin. But what does vitamin C do to the skin?
What we love about vitamin C is that it can help with many complexion issues. It is recommended for uneven skin tones, fine lines, acne, texture, and antiaging. The list goes on and on.
It is one of the most in-demand ingredients for skin care in today's industry, and for a good reason. One of our most frequent questions is ‘what does vitamin C do to the skin?’ Therefore, we thought it would be good to dive deeply into Vitamin C today.
What Is Vitamin C?
So, what is vitamin C?
Commonly you can get Vitamin C from your fruit and vegetables. However, that is not the only way to enjoy vitamin C benefits.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which means it fights toxins that commonly come in contact with your skin. This could be air pollution or UV rays. These toxins can damage the skin, and vitamin C can help combat them to improve the overall appearance of your skin.
Vitamin C is used in the cosmetic industry as it has been proven to keep skin healthy. It has also been proven that vitamin C in skin care is more effective than if you consume it.
Most commonly used in serums, cleansers, oils and even vitamin infusions.
What Does Vitamin C Do To The Skin?
The scientific name for vitamin C is ascorbic acid. It is a water-soluble nutrient vital in keeping your skin glowing and healthy. It has antioxidant and anti-ageing properties, which aid the skin's natural regeneration process. This basically means it helps your body repair damaged skin cells.
If you think about it in the same way that eating food rich in antioxidants helps fights toxins within the body, topical antioxidants like vitamin C help fight aggressors on your skin. Simply put, antioxidants are excellent and are needed to help keep your skin cells and body healthy.
Vitamin C helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Antioxidants found in vitamin C skin care also protect the skin from precancerous cells that can be caused by exposure to UV.
Benefits of Vitamin C
Reduces Appearance of Dark Spots
One of the most overlooked benefit when researching what does Vitamin C do for the skin is the ability to reduce dark spots.
Vitamin C reduces dark spots because it helps block pigment production in the skin. It also helps with dark spots called hyperpigmentation.
Hyperpigmentation is a common side effect of exposure to UV rays. It is harmless; however, it can make the skin look older—a massive benefit for those wanting to reduce dark circles.
Boosts Collagen- Smooths Wrinkles & Fine Lines
Collagen is a protein found in the body that, unfortunately, decreases over time. This is what leads to wrinkles and fine lines on the face.
What vitamin C does for the skin is boost collagen production through collagen synthesis. If we are going to get scientific, vitamin C is the cofactor for two of the enzymes needed for collagen synthesis.
Collagen is what gives your skin that younger, bouncier look. Not only does collagen help your skin look younger, but it also keeps your hair and muscles stronger too.
Therefore, vitamin C gives you two supplements in one. Collagen and vitamin C work together as a dream team to decrease the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Reduces the appearance of Scars and helps wound healing
When you hurt yourself and get a wound, you increase your risk of infection, scarring and inflammation. Vitamin C can help speed up the wound healing process.
When used topically, because of acidity, the skin automatically triggers itself to heal through an acceleration of collagen and elastin. The collagen produced is what helps to heal the wound quicker. Vitamin C has anti-inflammatory properties that help to heal the injury through cell migration to the area.
Protects against sun damage
Of all the vitamin C benefits, this one is probably our favourite. As skin experts, we know how damaging UV rays can be to the skin.
As explained before, as vitamin C is an antioxidant, it can help fight off nasty toxins you might encounter daily, UV being one of them. The UV rays diminish the levels of vitamin C in the skin, causing the skin to appear aged and damaged.
Therefore, vitamin C protects the skin cells against the damage of UV. Now, please don’t mistake this for sunscreen. We do advise you still wear sun cream; there has just been research done when looking at what does vitamin C do for the skin that proves it helps with sun damage.
Brighten your skin
Do you know that glowing skin everyone tries to achieve? Well, vitamin C skin care can help to brighten your skin.
If you use it consistently, it can help to make your skin tone more even. This is due to vitamin C stopping the production of melanin used in the body to produce pigmentation. Some people's skin might have too much melanin, which causes hyperpigmentation.
Vitamin C helps to smooth the skin and reduce any uneven skin tones and redness. This gives your youthful, glowing skin.
So, what does vitamin c do to the skin? More like what does vitamin C not do for the skin!
What Skin Types Work Best With Vitamin C?
To be honest, vitamin C works well for every skin type as it will benefit everyone in a certain way. As vitamin C is also found in food, everyone will already consume it daily.
Vitamin C skin is best for people who suffer from dark circles, acne-prone skin, sun damage, or want to reduce the appearance of ageing. It is safe to use on pretty much all skin types.
On really rare occasions, people have experienced minor irritation from having hypersensitive skin.
Acne-prone skin can benefit a lot from Vitamin C. This is because it boosts collagen into the skin leading to brighter skin, as mentioned earlier. Therefore, don’t be afraid to use it if you have acne.
How Can You Add Vitamin C To Your Skin Care Routine?
Now we have looked at what does vitamin C do for the skin. Let's look at how to incorporate that into your skincare routine.
There are many ways to use vitamin C skincare that are super easy and affordable. One thing to remember is that different products will have different concentrations of Vitamin C.
If you have dry skin, we recommend sticking to the lower concentrations, around 5%. We would say as a rule of thumb, don't go past 20% to prevent any irritation.
Look out for L-ascorbic acid. This is the most effective and stable form of vitamin C skin care. It is proven to work once on the skin. Other antioxidants that are commonly paired with Vitamin C, such as vitamin E and ferulic acid, help to make vitamin C more effective.
Serums are a great way to apply vitamin C to your skin. You only need a small pea-sized amount to apply after cleansing and toning. Either mix with your moisturiser or use beforehand for the best results. We recommend it once or twice a day.
Vitamin C Treatments: Infusions Treatment
Of course, you can apply vitamin C to your skin through creams and treatments, but have you ever thought about infusions?
Now I know this blog is looking at what does vitamin C do for the skin, so you probably think, what has infusions got to do with it? Let me explain.
Vitamin drips are a great way to get vitamins, minerals and amino acids into the bloodstream. They work better than tablets, as when taken orally, you lose all the essential nutrients through the digestive system. Read our blog on vitamin drips to find out more.
Therefore, our infusion treatments can help restore your body with vitamin C in a quick 45 min session. You don’t need to worry about religiously applying vitamin C, as the infusion will give you instant results. Contact one of our team today to learn more about our infusions.
Are There Any Possible Side Effects Of Vitamin C In Skin Care?
Generally, vitamin C is safe. However, nothing is perfect, and everyone is different.
If you are prone to sensitive skin, we advise doing patch tests beforehand or using a low concentrated amount on your skin. Some people have experienced irritation and dryness. To help avoid this, we recommend mixing vitamin C into your moisturiser.
We always say with any product you are applying to your face to test it out first before making it part of your daily routine. Start with small amounts, and before you know it, vitamin C will be part of your everyday skin routine.
Conclusion
So, what does vitamin C do to the skin?
Vitamin C, in our eyes, is a crucial element of every skincare routine. It helps with blemishes and redness and gives you the ultimate glow. It is also a great protector against harsh UV rays, the leading age accelerator.
If you want everyone asking you how you make your skin glow, then you need to be using vitamin C. Consistency is key, which is why we recommend vitamin C skin care.
The vitamin C benefits are so well researched and scientifically proven it is hard to find a fault in this product. Check out our website today to see what vitamin C treatments we offer.