It doesn’t matter if it’s in your skincare routine or if you simply enjoy eating oranges, Vitamin C is a vitamin that has become a staple of many health routines. However, knowing what Vitamin C does and how to use Vitamin C isn’t always easy. If you want to get the most benefits from this Vitamin and avoid any side effects, you need to know how to use it right.
Vitamin C is one of those things that are just plain good for you. It can help with various issues, from keeping your skin healthy and glowing to easing sore muscles.
What is it?
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid and L-ascorbic acid, is a vitamin found in various foods and sold as a dietary supplement. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin. It is not stored in fat cells throughout your body like many other vitamins and minerals. Therefore a daily intake is required to maintain healthy stores.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps prevent free radicals from forming in your body and causing issues such as inflammation and disease. It also plays a role in collagen production, which allows you to keep your skin looking healthy and young.
It’s also the most crucial nutrient necessary for the growth, development, and repair of all body tissues. It’s involved in many body processes, including collagen production, iron absorption, proper immune function, wound healing, and maintenance of cartilage, bones, and teeth. Vitamin C is also one of the top antioxidants in the body.
It’s found naturally in fruits and vegetables, which we eat, and it’s also commonly produced synthetically to be used in skincare products such as moisturizers, toners, and most often serums.
Why it’s great:
Vitamin C effectively treats everything from acne scars to dry skin to stretch marks to wrinkles! It’s even been used to treat sunburns because it helps protect against UV rays.
How to Use Vitamin C
Vitamin C should be part of everyone’s skincare routine—regardless of age or skin type. Being an antioxidant, Vitamin C protects the skin from damaging free radicals caused by UV exposure. It’s also vital for the formation of collagen, which helps maintain firmness and elasticity.
Vitamin C must be correctly formulated for it to be effective, or else it may not have any effect or can even cause harm. Many forms of vitamin C are available, but L-ascorbic acid is the most effective. It absorbs quickly and remains effective longer when correctly formulated and packaged to avoid exposure to light and air.
However, Vitamin C is a highly delicate and unstable molecule, which makes using it correctly key to getting its full benefits. Here’s how to use it right:
Choose your formula wisely
You want your vitamin C to come in a serum or cream rather than a cleanser or toner. These products are rinsed off too quickly for the vitamin C to have any lasting effect. Be sure to get the best product for your skin type.
Choose the right product for your skin type. If you have dry skin, look for a serum with hyaluronic acid, which gives extra moisture without clogging pores. If you have oily skin or are acne-prone, look for a gel-based serum that won’t clog pores.
Store it properly
One way to tell whether a vitamin C product is of good quality is to see whether it comes in packaging that protects it from light and air, which degrade the ingredient’s effectiveness. Pump bottles are best, followed by tinted bottles that protect the serum from light. Glass jars allow too much air to get in.
Dark packaging is necessary because vitamin C degrades fast when exposed to sunlight. If stored correctly, a well-formulated product will stay potent for at least six months — ideally in a cool, dark place (but not in the refrigerator).
When to apply Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an essential part of any skincare routine, but how do you incorporate it?
For starters, there’s the debate about whether to use it in the morning or at night. Some say that morning is ideal because you are exposed to the sun and the free radicals. Others would argue that nighttime is best since vitamin C is already depleted and your skin rejuvenates at night.
However, there’s no right or wrong answer—it all depends on what works best for you!
Regardless of when you choose to use it, using a product with vitamin C will help protect your skin from damage caused by pollutants and sun exposure.
But we do suggest using ascorbic acid (the pure form of vitamin C) in the morning since it can be powerful stuff on sensitive skin! And when used at night, we suggest using a more gentle form of vitamin C.
Either way, make sure to use a serum with vitamin C before applying your moisturizer—and don’t forget the sunscreen during the day!
Still, suppose you want the benefits of vitamin C at night. In that case, You can also pair vitamin C products with other serums such as hyaluronic acid or retinol for an even more significant effect.
Potential Side Effects of Using Vitamin C
Vitamin C is highly concentrated and potent enough to affect the skin’s pH levels. Vitamin C is best used in concentrations between 5% and 15% and should be applied once daily after cleansing in the morning or night.
Keep in mind that vitamin C is highly acidic, which may lead to skin irritation. To avoid any irritations, test a small area of your skin before applying it to your face. If you notice any redness or itchiness, then stop using the product immediately.
Vitamin C serums may cause skin irritation. A person who experiences this might want to lower the amount of serum they use to once per day or once every few days.
Vitamin C serum also causes skin sensitivity to sunlight. Using sunscreen as part of a daily skincare routine when using Vitamin C serum is essential.
Vitamin C serums can be expensive and less cost-effective than creams or lotions containing Vitamin.
Conclusion
Vitamin C is the most popular ingredient in skincare products. And while there’s no doubting the effectiveness of Vitamin C, it’s important to remember that products come in varying strengths. If you want to get the best results possible, it’s necessary to use the correct dosage and application schedule. Be sure to read the packaging on your vitamin C product or contact The Medspa @50th if you have any questions about how to use your skincare serum effectively.
