Beauty And The Blog

By now most of you know that vitamin C is an antioxidant and a great anti-aging ingredient. It pops up in products and formulations of all types. Personally I feel C does it’s best work in serums. Facial washes contain C but I am of the belief that a facial wash isn’t on your skin long enough to allow the vitamin C to do much of anything, you rinse it off, right? So, maybe you want to rethink how you are applying vitamin C.

As I said, my favorite is in a serum. But many moisturizers contain vitamin C as well. The most important thing to remember about vitamin C when making your choice is packaging. Yes, that might be a really pretty jar to put on your vanity, but what about the light and oxygen it is exposed to every single time you use it? The vitamin C can degrade and/or lose potency in as little as a week. And that is money not well spent.  Sorry, but true. So look for pump bottles and tubes. OK?

Now, there isn’t one single magic bullet for anti-aging. However vitamin C can do a lot of good. But since there are so many forms of vitamin C, each with a different name, how do you know what to look for?

First of all, no matter what the manufacturer may tell you in their advertising, there is no single best form of topical vitamin C.

What should the percentage range for efficacy be? This is something that does matter. It needs to be between 0.03% and 10%. This is the best range for visible results and safe even for sensitive skin.

What are the forms of vitamin C that have been proven to be most stable and effective? Several as follows:

Ascorbic acid

L-ascorbic acid

Ascorbyl palminate

Sodium ascorbyl phosphate

Tetrahexdecyl asorbate

Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate

Some of those are a real mouthful to pronounce but don’t worry, you don’t have to say the names, just make sure that one of them shows up in the product you select. Look for one of those ingredients on the label. You might not be able to say it but it will do your skin a world of good!

When vitamin C shows up in a nicely formulated and properly packaged product, what do you think it will do for your skin? I’ll tell ya. A lot.

Improve the appearance of sun damaged skin.

Protect skin cells and the support structure of the skin from UV damage.

Reduce inflammation.

Strengthen your skin’s barrier response.

Enhance effectiveness of microdermabrasion and peels.

Reduce hyperpigmentation (dark spots), when vitamin C is at levels of 5%-10%.

Promote collagen production.

Boost the effectiveness of sunscreen ingredients.

That’s a lot of good stuff. Cool, huh? I think so and that is why I make sure vitamin C is in my daily serum.

So you want to incorporate this great anti-aging ingredient into your daily regimen right now if you haven’t already. And that goes for women (and you guys, too) of all ages. The earlier in life you begin to address anti-aging the better you will look later. Promise.

Are you already using a vitamin C product? If you are, share it with us and tell us why you like it and what you feel the result of usage has been..

Photos: Citrus Extract by OzureFlame and

Grapefruit Splash by Samya-Photography