Skin Care With Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that is tremendously effective against preventing and treating aging signs such as wrinkles, fine lines and sun damage. In fact, L-ascorbic acid, a popular form of Vitamin C stimulates collagen production within the skin cells, corrects pigmentation issues and reduces the damage caused by free radicals.

Advantages of Vitamin C

There is perhaps no one skin care ingredient that provides so many advantages as does Vitamin C. It not only prevents skin damage but also helps reverse the damage in some cases. Here are some of its prime advantages.

Production of Collagen

Vitamin C has the intrinsic ability to stimulate collagen production within the skin cells. Collagen renders firmness and tautness to the skin and as its levels begin to deplete, the skin starts developing wrinkles and fine lines. By stimulating the production of collagen, Vitamin C also helps in reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and also enhances the overall quality of the skin. Moreover, it increases the hydration levels and prevents skin dryness.

Improvement in Pigmentation

Another very important benefit of Vitamin C is that it treats photo damage, damage caused to the skin by excessive sun exposure. This will help even out skin tone.

Defense against Free Radicals

Free radicals are formed as a result of the accumulation of pollutants, exposure to sunlight, stress, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Once formed, these free radicals can damage the healthy skin cells and break down the collagen fibers. This accelerates premature aging of the skin and may even have severe consequences like skin cancer. Vitamin C fights against the free radicals and prevents any damage caused by them.

However, as ironic as it may sound, Vitamin C can also produce free radicals. When Vitamin C based skin care products come in contact with heat or sunlight, the consistency of the product changes and can lead to the formation of free radicals. This is why Vitamin C is often combined with other antioxidants like vitamin E to negate this effect..

Different Forms of Vitamin C

Vitamin C is available in different forms. Here are some of the most popular ones.
L-Ascorbic Acid

It is perhaps the most active form of Vitamin C. L-ascorbic acid is water soluble and is highly unstable in topical skin care products. However, there are a variety of skin care formulations that use its stabilized form.

This is a fat soluble form of Vitamin C that is much more stable that the former. In fact, it is also less irritating and thus better for the skin. Because it is fat soluble, it protects the skin better against free radicals and stimulates the renewal of Vitamin E.

Sources of Vitamin C

Vitamin C can be taken orally as well as applied topically. However, oral intake of Vitamin C is eventually flushed out by the body. So, it is important you apply it topically as well.

Oral Sources

Vitamin C can be taken as oral supplements. Moreover, citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, grapefruits, broccoli, tomatoes, berries etc are very rich sources of it.

Topical Sources

There are a variety of skin care products available in the market that contain Vitamin C. However, be careful while making a purchase. Here are some tips.

Buy skin care products that have more than 10 per cent concentration of Vitamin C. Look for ingredients like L-ascorbic acid and Ascorbyl palmitate.
Check the expiration date and packaging details. The product should come in an air tight brown glass jar or metal tube.
Store the product in a cool dark place and replace the lid or cap tightly after use.
Dispose the product if it becomes yellow or brown in color.