All you ever wanted to know about Vitamin C

If you’re serious about anti-aging, you likely have a morning and night routine – never mind a seasonal routine. And before long, those routines can be complicated and involve many steps and products.

It’s easy to get sucked into the newest and greatest new products, and there are so many great products on the market now, especially serums that you can select specific active ingredients for specific skin issues, that promise smooth, glowing, firm skin, that it’s tempting to use a lot of products at the same time.

In your skincare routine – less is more

And when you go down the rabbit hole that are skincare routines, over and over you hear that in each of your routines, you should be limiting your serums to 2 or 3 items. There’s no actual magic number though, but most experts agree that the principal “less is more” definitely applies to skincare.

This has to do with layering and issues of penetration. …

 specific order so that ingredients can penetrate into your epidermis (-possible graphic)

But it can also overstress your skin. Using too many products can lead to skin irritation, clogged pored, breakouts, and cause that overload feeling where it’s not absorbing into the skin and just sitting on top of it. (See here for more on this topic).

Experts, like Abi Cleeve, founder of skinSense and Ultrasum, a skincare expert, say that a good skincare routine should target products that will deliver the results we want, and avoid complicated routines that can overstress our skin.

Personally, I alternative my night routine, but my morning routine is pretty consistent, and Vitamin C is an every morning must. Here’s why.

What is Vitamin C

Vitamin C, otherwise also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin that has antioxidant properties. It is a water-soluble vitamin (vs fat soluble), which means it dissolves in water. These types of vitamins are more easily absorbed into the body and great for hydrating skin. It’s a vegan friendly ingredient. Some products claim they contain fat soluble Vitamin C, which is actually L-ascorbyl-6-palmitate, which is not a Vitamin C. 

Vitamin C comes as a powder. And because it is water soluble, when used in serums, it is dissolved in a liquid. This makes it highly sensitive to heat, air, and light. Vitamin C is one product you want to use every day because it has a pretty short lifespan. And when buying Vitamin C, you want to make sure it comes in a dark or opaque bottle, with a pump. 

Does it Actually Do Anything?

Vitamin C, along with Retinol, is one of the most recommended skin care active ingredients. 

We all know that the beauty and skincare industry offers up a lot of claims that more often than not is just marketing and what has made it a multi-billion dollar industry. I’m very skeptical of all the claims they throw up. But Vitamin C is one of those ingredients that is proven through lots of studies.

Here are just a few of the many studies conducted on Vitamin C:

According to this study, “Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant… that can be used topically in dermatology to treat and prevent changes associated with photoageing. It can also be used for the treatment of hyperpigmentation.”

This study showed that using Vitamin C every day for at least three months improved the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and improved overall skin texture and appearance. 

And this study showed that Vitamin C may help protect the skin against harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays when used with sunscreen.

Vitamin C is the jack of all trades in skincare

Vitamin C is the jack of all trades in skincare – it lightens, it brightens, it tightens, it hydrates, it protects your skin from your external environment. The more technical benefits are that it reduces hyperpigmentation, it’s an antioxidant that battles free radicals (toxins), and is important for collagen production. 

How does it do this?

Vitamin C is an antioxidant. Generally, antioxidants protect your skin by fighting (neutralizing) free radical production. Free radicals, which are molecules in your external environment, damage your skin cells by attaching to collagen and weakening elasticity, and create what’s known as oxidative stress. 

They are imbalanced oxygen atoms that seek other atoms to stabilize themselves – and they love your skin cells. Once they latch on, they start a chain reaction of damage – which results in aging your skin (oxidation). Antioxidants are the antidote. They help prevent aging. Vitamin C is a very potent antioxidant against anything external wanting to damage your skin – sun, air pollution, chemicals, smoke. 

Vitamin C inhibits the production of melanin (the pigment that gives your skin its color) in your skin. Melanin is created by melanocytes cells, found on the outer layer of your skin. Some cells make more melanin and the more melanin you have, the darker your skin will be.

As Vitamin C inhibits melanin production, this means that using it topically can whiten dark spots and generally brighten skin.  Hyperpigmentation is a darkening of melanin build up. Since Vitamin C inhibits melanin, it can be an effective tool in fighting hyperpigmentation. 

Vitamin C is also crucial in the creation of collagen, a component of skin which maintains it and keeps it firm and youthful-looking (along with elastin). Lower amounts of collagen can lead to wrinkles and fine lines, and the sagging of skin (since collagen is related to skin elasticity). Vitamin C boosts collagen production through a process called collagen synthesis. This synthesis apparently can’t occur without Vitamin C, as Vitamin C is a cofactor for two enzymes required for collagen synthesis. These two enzymes are prolyl hydroxylase (which stabilizes the collagen molecule), and lysyl hydroxylas (which provides structural strength).

As we age, our body naturally starts to produce less of this important protein – especially in our face. As our existing collagen degrades, this combination causes a lot of our skin aging.

Can you use it every day?

You can use Vitamin C everyday, as long as you watch out for conflicts with other ingredients, you don’t overload your skin with other ingredients, and you watch out for side effects.

Vitamin C is an acid and skin lightening products are known for causing side effects like dryness, redness, itchiness, and irritation.

Vitamin C products come in different percentages. Your Vitamin C serum should have at least 10% Vitamin C, and if you’re worried about any side effects, you can start with a lower minimum percentage, then eventually buy products with more concentration of Vitamin C.

Or you can do what I do – I buy the product I like, and I also buy Vitamin C in powder form (ascorbic acid), and add the amount of Vitamin C I need. This changes with the season – I add more in the Summer since my skin is more hydrated, and I add less in the Winter when my skin is more susceptible to dryness. I like the control I have by doing it this way, and I know what I’m getting. This also allows me to use the product I like, because it’s inexpensive, it comes in an opaque bottle with a pump, but it’s on the weaker side of the required percentage required. I found that this saves me a lot of money because, as mentioned, Vitamin C is highly volatile and once mixed with a liquid, has a short lifespan.

It’s also important to know that there are claims that Vitamin C can act as a pro-oxidant when it reacts with iron in the air, or iron or copper cosmetics. 

This can lead to skin irritation, collagen and elastin breakdown, and acne.

The vast amount of studies on Vitamin C found that it increases collagen production, and is therefore a powerful antioxidant, not a pro-oxidant. These studies included exposure to air pollution and other cosmetic products (as sources of metals). The research conducted seems to favour Vitamin C as an antioxidant. 

Starting too young can also lead to a desensitization, which means that at some point your skin will stop responding to Vitamin C and will effectively become useless.

How to use it effectively in your routine

This is where we get to the importance of Vitamin C. 

First we have the issue or layering too many products on your skin. This can not only overstress the skin, leading to clogged pores, or causing that sticky feeling you get when you use too many products, but your active ingredients can become less effective the more products you use at the same time. 

Since Vitamin C boasts benefits like anti-aging, brightening skin, reducing inflammation, reducing redness and appearance of scars and wrinkles, it’s a must in my routine. If you want to minimize your skincare routine, Vitamin C is a “one size fits all” ingredient that accomplishes a lot of things at once. 

The correct order when applying products on your skin is very important. Products should be applied from thinnest to thickest consistency. Serums should be applied first, then oils, the moisturizers, followed by sunscreen.

Water-soluble products go before fat-soluble (think thinner) and Vitamin C should be one of the first, if not the first serum you apply after cleaning or toning. 

You should also use moisturizer when using Vitamin C. When vitamin C comes into contact with your external environment, it can oxidize, which means it can change on your skin – which means your skin can look more orange or darker. To prevent this from happening, layer your Vitamin C with a moisturizer, facial oil, and sunscreen. Personally, I actually like the bit of colour I get from it, but I still use moisturizer and sunscreen on top of my Vitamin C. 

Should you use it at night

You should not use Vitamin C at night. First, it’s an antioxidant, which means it helps to fight free radicals in your outside environment. As you sleep, you encounter less outside stress than in the day, where your skin is abused by the sun, pollution, and any other thing in your environment trying to latch onto your skin. You want a powerful barrier to stop all those things from latching on and aging your skin.

Second, if you use Retinol, another powerful ingredient to fight against aging, you should not mix Vitamin C with it. This can lead to skin irritation.

But (why is there always a but?), some new data has shown that using Vitamin C (or antioxidants generally) at night might help fight post-sun skin damage.

A study conducted by Yale University researchers and published in the Science journal, found that when the sun hits your skin, it causes instant damage (within seconds). But they also found that the cells continue to damage the DNA for hours after exposure, “UV rays trigger free-radical chemistry that excites an electron in a fragment of melanin to a very high energy. The energy goes into DNA and causes damage.” 

This finding suggests that it might be possible to fight sun damage after exposure, through the use of sunscreens or antioxidants.

In addition to Vitamin C, which I exclusively use in the morning, I also have Resveratrol and EUK 134, which I alternate at night when I’m not using Retinol or metal serums (like copper). It just depends on how involved and complicated your routines are. If I had to pick one, I’d use Vitamin C in the morning, with sunscreen, and use Retinol at night to fight any damaged created throughout the day. 

What happens if you use it without Sunscreen

UVA and UVB are two different waves of radiation caused by the sun. UV rays damage your skin’s DNA, collagen, and elastin. When you’re out in the sun, your skin creates even more melanin to counteract the sun’s effects, which can lead to melasma, age spots, and sunburn. Vitamin C stops melanin production. It acts as a photosensitizer, which means it can make your skin more susceptible to the sun. 

Sunscreen protects your skin from UV rays from the sun by slowing down melanin production. But even the most effective sunscreens only protect you so far against free radicals produced by sun exposure. Vitamin C boosts your skin’s defence against the sun because it neutralizes free radicals. When paired with sunscreen, this is a powerful combination.

Studies show that under lab conditions, the combination of Vitamin C and sunscreen reduced UVB induced erythema by 52% and reduced sunburn cell formation by 40-60%. 

Also, as Vitamin C is highly unstable, it’ll break down easily when exposed to light, heat and oxygen. So Vitamin C will evaporate quickly without sunscreen, which means you’re wasting time and money applying it if you don’t use Sunscreen. But if you’re using it everyday, Vitamin C has been preventing melanin production, which makes your skin more susceptible to sun damage. 

What to Look for When Purchasing Vitamin C

First, make sure you’re looking for L’ascorbic acid, also known as ascorbic acid, in the product ingredients list. There are other derivatives like sodium ascorbyl phosphate, ascorbyl palmitate, retinyl ascorbate, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, but ascorbic acid is the most effective ingredient to look for.

People with oily or normal skin want to specifically look for L’ascorbic acid as an ingredient. For people with dry and sensitive skin, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate is less irritating to the skin. 

Ferulic acid and VItamin E (which are also antioxidants) can combine with Vitamin C to make it more effective so look for those ingredients too. 

You also want to be using a product that is at least 10% Vitamin C. The ideal range is between 10-20%. It is pretty ineffective at less than 10% concentration because it has to be at the right acidic level to absorb into your skin. It’s most effective when it’s not combined with anything else, but if you are using other serums and have multiple steps in your routine, it’s best to limit the products and stick to about 2-3 serums.

You want your product to have the minimum amount of other ingredients and avoid fillers like lanolin and petrolatum. Products that have a lot of ingredients won’t be as effective and won’t absorb into the skin as optimally. 

Most products don’t tell you the pH level, but if possible, if you have normal skin look for a pH of 3.5. A pH of 5 or 6 is recommended for sensitive skin.

Vitamin C can be added to many different skincare products like gels, creams, lotions. But you want to look for serums. That’s because when mixed into other forms, Vitamin C is diluted and won’t be very effective when applied. 

When it comes to packaging, as mentioned above, look for a dark or opaque bottle with a pump to limit the amount of light and air from coming in contact with the Vitamin C. This will extend the life of your purchase. Often you can tell that your product should be replaced because the serum starts to turn an orange color. At that point, it’s gone beyond its expiry and you’re not getting any benefits from it. 

If in doubt about whether your product has Vitamin C, you can perform a test at home. According to New York City dermatologist Dr. Doris Day (no really, it’s true, I googled to make sure), you can mix betadine (an antiseptic) with your Vitamin C. If it turns clear, you know the product has Vitamin C in it. But she cautions that this will only tell you that the ingredient is present in the product, not its Ph (the balance of acids and bases which should be 3.5 for optimal absorption).  

How long does it take to work

We all want fast results or at the very least, we want to see that something is working. This is harder to see with a lot of skincare products, as they’re either anti-aging or protection against anti-aging. 

And Vitamin C has reportedly  taken longer to show results. Depending on how often you use it (preferably every day), and the concentration and pH of the product, you could start seeing results after a month, or 12 weeks. Some clinical studies have shown 80% improvement in skin brightness in about 6 weeks. 

There is no exact answer with it comes to skincare as everyone’s skin and product combination will be different. Just stick with it, every day, with your other skincare routine, and especially with sunscreen, and you’ll start to see results. 

The Dos and Don’ts

You want to store it in a cool and dark place to avoid oxidation. Storing it in a bathroom will cause it to oxidate faster due to the high humidity in bathrooms.

Avoid using too much, using benzoyl peroxide, or retinol. All of these things cause cause skin irritation.

Make note of what the product looks like, how it feels, and what it smells like when you buy it. Then pay attention as the months go by. Once the color, smell, and texture change, it’s time to replace your Vitamin C. Yellow/orange, or brown coloring is a good indicator that it has oxidized. 

Make sure the Vitamin C is completely dry before exposing your skin to the sun so it has enough time to absorb as light can reduce its effectiveness. 

Vitamin C is usually good for about 3 months, but again, pay attention to the look, feel, and smell, as this is just a general guideline. And it can easily change depending on what the product comes in and how it’s stored. 

Conflicts with other ingredients

While Vitamin C can be paired with some other ingredients (like ferulic acid), there are a few ingredients that should not be mixed with Vitamin C. 

Always avoid Retinol, any exfoliating acids (AHAs and BHAs), and benzoyl peroxide. You can use these ingredients, but try to use them in different routines, like using Vitamin C in the morning, and AHAs and BHAs in the evening. Or try to alternate the days that you use each product. 

If you absolutely insist on using Vitamin C and Retinol together in the same routine,leave  enough time between them and apply your vitamin C first because it has the lower pH of the two ingredients. 

Niacinamide is somewhat controversial in the skincare industry. It used to be a hard rule to avoid the two ingredients, however, it’s now not uncommon to see experts saying you can mix them but to look for signs of irritation. The idea that you can’t mix the two ingredients came out of outdated research that used pure forms of niacinamide and ascorbic acid, at high temperatures, which can lead to skin irritation (through the formation of nicotinic acid). 

If you’re not exposing your products to high temperature levels, the normal room temperatures in your home (even on hot summer days), won’t heat the ingredients to any level close enough to lead to skin irritation.