Why You Should Make Vitamin C Part Of Your Skincare Regimen.

Overview

Oranges were my first foray into vitamin c. Growing up, oranges were synonymous with vitamin c and even though I never knew HOW good vitamin c was for the body, or WHY it was good (though I did know that a lack of the stuff would lead to scurvy – yep the same thing sailors used to get), I religiously ate my oranges and drank my juice. It wasn’t until years later (probably last year) when I started taking my skincare seriously that I discovered some of vitamin c’s biggest skin benefits.

Benefits Of Vitamin C

One of the biggest benefits of vitamin c is that it helps with the appearance of dark spots, discolouration and hyperpigmentation. It does this by penetrating the skin and latching onto tyrosinase (an enzyme that produces skin pigments). By doing this, the vitamin stops the enzyme from producing which in turn slowly lightens dark and uneven skin to leave you with a brighter and more even skin. Is it any wonder that this powerful vitamin is lauded throughout the beauty and skincare community? Interestingly, according to Dr. Dennis Gross, vitamin c is especially useful for people with darker skin tones as we are more likely to have issues with discolouration and hyperpigmentation, and so we’re more likely to benefit from it.

As a powerful antioxidant, vitamin c is also great for the skin because it helps to protect the skin from free radicals, promote collagen production, reduces the appearance of wrinkles and reduces inflammation (a cause for some hyperpigmentation). Vitamin c is said to also help protect against UV rays – though personally I would not rely on this and stick to using sunscreen.

A main thing to note is that vitamin c is highly unstable and its molecules begin to breakdown with exposure to light, air and water – convenient I know… This is why you’re very likely to find any vitamin c product in a dark container in order to keep it as stable as possible, for as long as possible.

How Am I Incorporating Vitamin C?

You guys know that for the last couple of months I’ve been using the Nivea Q10 Plus C Anti-Wrinkle + Energy Day Cream. Last week I started using the Avon Anew Vitamin C Radiance Maximising Serum, and recently on Monday I restarted using The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% + Alpha Arbutin 2%. I use each product once a day, but I think that over time I may start using the ascorbic acid twice a day. I’ve already started seeing a vague difference in the dark spots on my face, so I’m hoping that using vitamin c based products throughout my skincare regimen will help speed things along a bit. I’m aware that things may take a little while, but I’m here for the long haul – after all, this is the skin I’m stuck with for the rest of life. Want to read more about vitamin c? Check out these articles here, here and here.

Have you tried any vitamin c products? If so what are some that you’ve loved? I’d love to know and maybe try out a few so please leave a comment below.

alice
xo