What Does Vitamin C Do For Your Skin?
If you’re into skin care, you’ve almost certainly heard about Vitamin C for skincare, as this common antioxidant is heralded as a cure-all for all kinds of skincare concerns. And since it’s an ingredient in many of our professional-grade skincare products, we wanted to take some time to explain exactly how Vitamin C works and how it can take your skincare routine to the next level.
What is Vitamin C?
Chemically, Vitamin C is ascorbic acid (or L-ascorbic acid). It’s a nutrient that dissolves in water and has a variety of functions throughout your body, including your skin. Vitamin C is involved in protecting skin and helping it function at a high level, keeping it youthful in a number of ways. Vitamin C is suitable for all skin types from oily to combination.
How Does Vitamin C Benefit Skin?
The main reason Vitamin C is so effective is that it’s a potent antioxidant. Antioxidants are important nutrients for the skin because they neutralize and destroy harmful free radicals in the environment. Free radicals are all around you, and they are highly reactive, damaging skin cells’ DNA, over time causing signs of aging such as pigmentation and wrinkles. Making sure your skin is rich with antioxidants is a good way to ensure everyday protection from these elements.
Vitamin C also plays a role in cellular regeneration, and having enough Vitamin C is key to signaling the skin to produce new skin cells and support proteins like collagen and elastin, helping to keep skin fresh, firm, and elastic.
Finally, Vitamin C helps the skin retain all-important moisture, keeping your skin smooth and plump while enhancing the benefits of your moisturizer, helping to maintain a good balance between oil production and dryness.
Dietary Vitamin C
You probably already guessed that there are two ways Vitamin C can enter your body: through your diet and through your skincare routine. Many common foods you consume on a regular basis, especially citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits, are good sources of Vitamin C. However, this doesn’t always mean eating a healthy diet automatically translates to having flawless skin.
When Vitamin C enters the body through digestion, it is used for internal processes like catalyzing chemical reactions and other essential services. Plus, the body knows how much of every nutrient it needs and will often get rid of those it has in excess. So while we encourage you to consume foods containing Vitamin C, just know that’s not how it’ll help your skin glow.
Topical Vitamin C
Topical Vitamin C goes directly to the areas where it can have the most beneficial impact on your skin’s health. It’s absorbed directly into the upper layers of skin for the most efficient method of gaining the compound’s benefits. Vitamin C is incorporated into many products, from sunscreens to serums, so there are many ways to incorporate it seamlessly into your daily routine.
Who Should Use Vitamin C?
Anyone who wants to reap the benefits of this potent ingredient should feel free to do so! Vitamin C is a balanced ingredient that works for any skin type. However, stronger concentrations of ascorbic acid can cause irritation for some people with sensitive skin. In addition, if you have a history of allergic reaction to Vitamin C, you should also not look for Vitamin C skincare products.
Professional Skincare Products From Epicuren Discovery
At Epicuren Discovery, we’re always looking for the most potent, scientifically verifiable ingredients to incorporate into our complementary formulas. For a kick of Vitamin C in your routine, there’s no more potent place to start than with our Enzyme Concentrate Complex. This highly concentrated serum is rich in vitamins and amino acids to give your skin the ultimate resources for a youthful and radiant appearance. Or if you’re looking for an ultimate moisturizing sunscreen, our X-Treme Cream Propolis broad-spectrum sunscreen could be right for you. Find other products tailored to your skin type by taking our Skin Quiz today.