The Anti-Ageing Power of Vitamin C
What is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is the most powerful antioxidant in your body. Daily intake of this vitamin is highly important because it’s a water-soluble compound, which means your body doesn’t store or accumulate it.
This amazing vitamin is found in all citrus fruits such as lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit and in non-citrus fruits such as papaya, strawberries, pineapple and kiwi, and vegetables such as bell peppers, peas and all dark green leafy vegetables.
Taking Vitamin C through a supplement or via food is beneficial for your overall health and immune system, but it’s not sufficient to have a major impact on your skin. Applying vitamin C topically to your skin is the best and most effective method to achieve real results.
Different Types Of Vitamin C
Ascorbic acid is the main form of Vitamin C, but because it’s water soluble and our cell membrane are lipid (oil) soluble, it can’t penetrate deeply to our skin layers. What does manage to get into the skin is not easily absorbed by the cells themselves.
Vitamin C has a very short shelf life and therefore only last for three weeks after production in a laboratory. This is why a lipid soluble version of Vitamin C was formulated to generate the most benefit from this powerful antioxidant.
Lipid soluble forms of Vitamin C are extremely stable and can pass easily through the skin layers to enter the cell wall. Once they reach the cell wall, they are then converted back to active ascorbic acid.
The Benefits Of Vitamin C
➢ It’s an essential nutrient required by your body for the healing and maintenance of blood vessels, scar tissue, and cartilage.
➢ Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that neutralises the free radicals and reduces the rate of damage they cause on your skin.
➢ It increases the production of collagen (the protein that gives your skin its elasticity) by skin cells, so it’s very beneficial for the reduction of fine lines and wrinkles and the improvement of overall skin tone.
➢ Vitamin C, like other antioxidants, increases the effectiveness of your sunscreens and provides your skin extra protection against UV exposure.
➢ Vitamin C has a lightening effect on your skin because it slows down the production of melanin (skin pigments), so it’s very helpful for those who want to lighten sunspots or are prone to freckles.
➢ Ascorbic acid has an exfoliant property which improves the appearance of uneven skin tone such as melasma (pregnancy pigmentation), sunspots and post-acne marks.
➢ Vitamin C also works closely with Vitamin E and reactive Vitamin E after being used to destroy free radicals and enables Vitamin E to become an antioxidant again.
Use Your Skin Vitamins Effectively
To get the most benefits from your Vitamin C, use it as freshly as you can before it becomes oxidised. It’s easy to see when ascorbic acid has become oxidised because it becomes yellowish-brown in colour. When the solution starts to turn a pale yellow, you already have less than the original concentration of Vitamin C.
If you experience skin irritation such as redness and rashes with your Vitamin C product, try applying it every second day for a few weeks until your skin get used to it and then increase it to everyday use.
Make sure to apply sunscreen and avoid sun exposure as much as possible to get the most benefits of your product.
Packaging is really important when it comes to any products that incorporate vitamins and active ingredients. A pump or a tube with a small opening is the best to ensure that your products aren’t exposed to light, air and pollution.
Without doubt, Vitamin C is one of the most powerful antioxidant and due to its important role in the formation of collagen, combining vitamin C with Vitamin A and other antioxidants will improve the laxity (slackness) of your skin.
So if you would like to have and maintain a healthy, even-toned and firmer skin, consider using a skin care product with a combination of Vitamin A, E and C daily in your skin care routine.
Elham
Clinic manager
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