How to use retinol and retinoids?

    Vitamin A or retinols and retinoids can help reverse photo damage which is what happens when you know you go out and uv ray attacks your skin cells as well as things like fade hyperpigmentation and reduce acne causing bacteria so that's kind of like what you might see on the surface but then under in the dermis it can also help to stimulate collagen and elastin and it's probably one of the only ingredients apart from vitamin c that can help to do that which is why it's also marketed like an anti-aging ingredient but it was first actually researched to help with acne. 

There are so many different kinds of Vitamin A. If you have a product that contains tretinoin which is one of the most effective ingredients and tretinoin is also known as trans retinoic acid and is a bioactive compound that our skin picks up on and uses to work its magic you can see it in a lot of over-the-counter as well as curology they also have tretinoin which is why it's so effective and it's all about pros and cons because that can be a little drying. And then you have things like retinol so retinol needs to go through a two-step conversion process to transform into the old trans retinoic acid so it goes through a double step which means it won't be as potent but it will still have the effects and maybe a little less drying or irritating than straight up retinoic acid.

And then you have things like retinol esters and this conversion process goes through a three-step process so we're like extending the amount of time that this ingredient needs to convert on our skin which might take your skin a little bit longer and therefore once again because it goes through three steps or more it won't be as irritating but it might not be as effective as the retinoic acid but there's a catch because in the world all is fair and because of the potent effects retinol can increase the chances of these irritating or sensitizing effects on the skin which can cause the skin to potentially experience you know the peeling ,flakiness, dryness redness. 

Carrots actually contain natural sources of vitamin a and vitamin a is also really good for your eyesight but beta carotene is a carotenoid found in the chlorophyll contained in plants bacteria different foods usually the ones that are orange so similar to vitamin a you can think of it as a really gentle and more soothing alternative. Beta carotene has a very little affinity to affecting the retinoic acid receptors this means that its effects on the skin are very very mild since it's not an active ingredient but it does give similar effects over a longer extended amount of time.

It's found that it can convert to retinol esters as a precursor to vitamin a and this just means it will take a little bit longer for the beta-carotene to convert into that retinoic acid which is what our skin needs to do its thing and therefore bring very mild results to our skin if used so the process is beta-carotene to retinol esters to retinol retinal and then retinoic acid so you can see why you know the more steps you have the longer it will take right and then to add on to beta-carotene. we also have pink algae which is also a form of pro-retinol found in the retinoid family so what is pink algae this is a type of microalgae microbe that's known to adapt and survive in really harsh and natural conditions and it's found in the sea salt fields and super salty lakes where other algae species might have actually just perished and if you  have ever seen those really gorgeous pictures of like a random pink lake and it's just flat this is actually called lake helia in australia and it's pink because of this algae so it's like the dead sea but pink beautiful.

This pink algae is found to be rich in beta carotene as well as vitamin b12 ,magnesium ,calcium ,iodine , potassium and antioxidants so that's a lot for this humble little algae right as for the skin benefits it might be able once again to help with gently resurfacing the skin fighting oxidative and free radical damage and might even help to stimulate a bit of that collagen production for that plumper glowing fresh and youthful skin. This ingredient is quite unique and you won't really find it in many products. 

The carrot seed oil which is that natural form of vitamin a so it's just naturally brightening,softening and  calming and it doesn't create any of those like drying effects so that's an option if you're looking for like a toner there's also the carrot carotene relief cream wow that's a alliteration right there carotene relief cream. 

Rosehip oil is just another one of those ingredients that we really love especially if you have oily skin rose hip oil is great because it's fast absorbing and it's a rich antioxidant that can also subtly help with hyperpigmentation over a long period of time. If you have acne and it will really help to calm and just kind of like brighten and even out the skin tone very subtly. 

Probably the most important with anything is please wear spf in the mornings because this is probably the most beneficial and most effective ingredient ,you want to protect your skin especially if you're using these active ingredients out in the sun so spf. 

Chemical Exfoliants

AHA, BHA, PHA!  So chemical exfoliants really do suit all different skin types. It just depends on the formulation. Chemical exfoliants, like AHA, BHA, and PHA, are acids derived from fruit or plant extracts. So when you see things, like papaya enzyme, pumpkin, or pomegranate, and a slew of other ones, these are actually forms of gentle chemical exfoliants.  When applied to our skin, the main benefit is that it helps to unstick the gluey substance that holds our skin cells together on the epidermis layer of our skin. So what it does is help break down the excess buildup of dead skin cells on the surface to unclog pores and help keep the skin looking healthy and bright. And if you have acne and breakouts , this is something that you definitely want to look for to help with preventing future breakouts. Because, as we know, a lot of acne and breakouts is caused from dead skin sebum and bacteria that's trapped in the pores and in need of some chemical exfoliants to really help break free. 

Another main benefit has to do with our skin's process of cell turnover. Day by day, our basal cell layer at the bottom of the epidermis is producing new skin cells. Which then eventually gets pushed towards the top of the epidermis layer. Which then means the skin on the very tippy top is getting shed, fluttering off into the wind. And literally covering every single surface of- And turning into dust. But before it flies away, this layer of skin is really important. Because it acts as a shield to protect us against things, like UV damage, bacteria, dust, and other potentially harmful environmental factors. Depending on your age, this process can take anywhere between 14 to 45 days. With younger folks having faster rates of cell turnover and older people having slower rates. When you decide to use things that contain chemical exfoliants, you're essentially helping to speed up that cell renewal rate, which can quicken up the cell replacement process and then leave you with smoother and brighter skin. 

Three types of exfoliants

 Alpha Hydroxy Acids

Let's start with AHA!  So AHA stand for Alpha Hydroxy Acids, and they are water soluble . Which means that they'll work on the surface layer of the skin and stay away from oil-based areas, like the lining of hair follicles and deep within our pores. Which we'll get into later because that goes into BHA. Here's a breakdown of the types of AHAs you can find in your products. The first one is glycolic acid. It is one of the more popular AHAs in the skincare world. And for good reason too. It's highly effective and super potent. Glycolic acid is derived from sugar canes. It actually has the smallest molecular size compared to the other AHAs, which means it's able to penetrate deeper into the skin and work its magic. But for people who aren't used to glycolic acid, it's possible to find it slightly irritating specifically for that reason because it is traveling deeper down. Yeah, that's why you'll find they say nothing more than 10% should be used at home because you can go to the spa and get a 20% peel. But leave that to the professionals! 

Next, we have lactic acid. It is derived from sour milk, but it is a far gentler alternative and well sought after by people with sensitive skin as it has a larger molecular size than glycolic. That is true because the very first chemical exfoliating product. So lactic acid can even help retain some of the moisture in our skin due to its having humectant properties, protect against harmful bacteria due to its antimicrobial properties, and also reduce hyperpigmentation. 

Next, we have mandelic acid.  It is so underrated!  So this acid is also a popular exfoliant found especially in Asian beauty products. Derived from bitter almonds, mandelic acid is rich in antioxidants and has antibacterial properties that can benefit especially oily and acne-prone skin types. And then we have malic acid, and this acid is found in many fruits and veggies again. But it's commonly associated with apples! An apple a day keeps the pimples away! And if you've seen products incorporating apple cider vinegar to brighten the skin and tighten the appearance of pores, malic acid is the reason why. Kind of like the Glow Recipe mist that's got apple cider vinegar. 

Now we have citric acid. And as the name suggests, citric acid is derived from citrus fruits, and it's commonly used in conjunction again with other exfoliants to help brighten up the skin tone. Usually citric acid helps regulate pH levels in your product and can also act as a preservative. Then we have tartaric acid, and this one is derived from grapes and is rich in antioxidants. And currently, it's not as widely researched as maybe something like glycolic acid and lactic acid. But it's found that tartaric acid can help to also moisturize the skin and promote healing. 

Beta hydroxy acids

BHAs, or beta hydroxy acids, are oil-soluble acids that can reach into the oiliest part of our skin, like our hair follicles and pores. In there, the acids are able to soak up excess buildup of sebum and oils from within the pore that will otherwise clog up and become a pimple. They're also known for calming down inflammation and minimizing the appearance of enlarged pores. The salicylic acid, which is a very common ingredient that you'll find across many many products, from your cleansers to toners to serums to moisturizers. They're basically in every type of product and especially BHA spot treatments. The great thing about salicylic acid we found is that it's able to decrease the secretion of sebum in people with acne-prone skin, which can help lead to less breakouts overall. And it's also a great anti-inflammatory and can also help people who are facing things, like open and closed comedones and hyperpigmentation. So there's a lot of great benefits for salicylic acid. Here are some derivatives of BHA. There's willow bark, which is known as salix alba, wintergreen leaves, and sweet birch bark extract. Birch bark! You'll always see them in the back of the ingredients. Another derivative you might commonly see is betaine salicylate. And this is derived from sugar beets and is considered the alternative to salicylic acid, especially in countries where salicylic acid is banned or restricted. Another derivative is lipo hydroxy acid. Like its distinct and famous cousin, lipo hydroxy acid also has exfoliating and acne-treating properties. It also has a large molecular size, which indicates it can be beneficial for sensitive skin types. 

Poly hydroxy acid

 PHA was kind of a new one. You probably won't be able to find them as abundantly as the other ones because they're not marketed usually as PHA.  And the reason why I think they named it PHA is because it contains the two types of PHA, which is known as gluconalectone as well as lactobionic acid. It also contains mandelic acid! So I think the formulation of this one is predominantly designed for people with easily irritated and sensitive skin. And it's also got the hydrating qualities with hyaluronic acid. So the texture of this is very similar to the Mandelic [Topical Acid 12%] because these are more chemical exfoliating treatments, as opposed to actual serum. So Naturium serums that we've used - the Vitamin C or the Niacinamide. Those are generally a bit goopier. These are both a little bit more watery. 

Dark circles: causes and tretaments:

Dark circles under the eyes is the most common misconception is that everyone thinks this is really like a skin first problem it's a problem with skin but there's a lot of different things that cause it. So there are three things that are going to commonly cause these dark circles under the eyes. One is going to be shadowing so that's not going to be true hyperpigmentation but the effect of shadowing creates hyperpigmentation appearance. The next thing is thin eyeline skin giving the prominence to your underlying skin structures that can appear dark and then the third thing is true hyperpigmentation which is what everybody thinks they have and that's going to be either increased melanin production and rarely hemocidran which is a different color pigment but ultimately hyperpigmentation would be the one that everyone thinks they have and that's the one that your creams mostly target.

It's complicated and very difficult to treat. Not all dark circles are created equallyand  not everyone is the same they're caused by different things. A lot of people think their dark circles are created by hyperpigmentation but there are multiple reasons for dark circles.

What causes shadowing?

 Shadowing the easiest thing to think about is even just the shadow coming from the orbital bony structure above the eye casts a shadow underneath the eye. So that could just be your lighting if you have like  top lighting or overhang lightingthat creates the appearance of dark circles and that's not going to be true and some people just have a prominent area no matter what you do the lighting is going to cause that to be more prominent if you take photos you want your camera your light to be facing you so that you don't have that dark appearance.

 So the other thing uh that causes shadowing is tear through depression and some people are just born with deeper tear throughs these areas underneath here being deep creating a shadowing effect in this area and this with time also with age you can lose that periorbital fat pad and they can cause those depressions to get deeper and you can also just get laxity of the tissue with time. They can also create this appearance of dark circles so that's the shadowing that creates this darkened appearance the only thing that you can do to kind of fill in those deep tear troughs is what really procedurally based treatment is the only and really effective thing you can do to offset the shadowing component.

So basically you could do filler at the office of the dermatologist where they inject dermal fillers underneath the eyes and it will kind of pop this out and you almost have an immediate benefit with your dark circles that's created by shadowing or you could do fat transfer things like thats where you're going to actually change the structure because the problem is structural not due to pigment and so you need to first identify that and then you can know what is going to be the most effective and cost effective treatment for you. 

Eye bags also can create a shadowing appearance as well even though it's not truly pigment it's that  swelling underneath the eyes that creates the idea of shadowing and so things that target swelling. That bags can also contribute to the appearance of dark circles so not only do the shadowing and the bags accentuate that but then the thinness of the skin so the thickness of the skin of the eyelid is very thin and it's the thinnest skin in the body so you don't need eye creams.

 The thin skin causes what to appear underneath it okay so underneath the eyelids we have very prominent vasculature whether it's just individually large dilated vessels or whereas just the fact we have blood vessels underneath the sin that causes a tint overlying it or it's the underlying musculature so we have an orbicularis oculi here a muscle that's underlying and around our eyeball or our eye socket and that reddish brown tinge of the muscle can also create a tinge which creates shadowing or the appearance of shadowing or dark circles. So basically if you have prominent vessels what can you do to decrease the appearance of these vessels you can use caffeine-based creams that cause vasoconstriction of the blood vessels. 

The vasoconstriction of the blood vessels is going to decrease their appearance at least temporarily while those caffeine creams are on if you want to eliminate it permanently then laser that targets blood vessels that's going to be something procedural but ultimately can ablate the vessel and and cause that prominence to decrease. So what can you do to help thicken up that collagen maybe give yourself a little more cushion in between the skin and the underlying structures.

Vitamin A derivatives will thicken the skin in the area and over a long period of time but everybody's skin is different. The sensitivities of your skin are actually different in different areas. So using a vitamin A derivative in there be aware and be conscious that it could be more irritating than other areas you're applying it to. So last true hyperpigmentation this is where you get increased pigment deposition in the skin and that can lead to a darkened appearance. A lot of people have this just genetically and also just somebody with eczema that can lead to chronic inflammation that also leads to hyperpigmentation around the eyes other things that can cause it is just sun exposure with time and you know can lead to basically tanning of this area and a lot of people neglect to put sunscreen on the areas around their eyes.

What UVA and UVB?

UVB are these short high-energy wavelengths that actually hit upon the most surface layer of your skin which is also known as the dermis and when your dermis is irritated this is actually what causes the redness and the swelling of what appears to be a sunburn so this is what causes freckling and age spots or any kind of like skin pigmentation. So UVA penetrates more deeply into the skin than UVB rays and it actually affects the DNA of the cells of the dermis so when this is tact I guess you can say this is what causes wrinkling of the skin but also makes your skin look like leather and it's saggy. UVA has more long-term damaging effects.

What are physical and chemical suncreens?

Chemical sunscreens are those that contain chemicals like optic Krillin avobenzone and Octonauts safe so these are just a couple of examples and physical sunscreens use natural agents like zinc and titanium oxide so with chemical sunscreens they work by actually absorbing the UV rays as it enters the skin which is then changed into heat and is released from the skin as infrared rays. Chemical sunscreens are generally more lightweight and blendable which means these can be reapplied throughout the day really easily which will most likely more seamlessly under makeup for like daily makeup but once again it can tend to be a little bit more irritating on the skin if you're sensitive.

In Physical sunscreens, the reason for the white cost is because of the ingredient called a zinc oxide or even titanium dioxide and these are the active minerals that sit on top of the skin to reflect incoming UV rays so the good thing about physical sunscreens is that it works immediately after being applied and it's better for sensitive skin but it does tend to be a little heavier and more visible on the skin which means it's not as grateful layering with your makeup but it is good if you're pretty fair skin and it's also good for outdoor activities like if you're going to the beach.

Some people say it's really healthy to have 20 minutes of exposed Sun without any sort of protection you'll be fine but anything longer than 20 minutes that's when you should start applying sunscreen but then others say that there's actually no safe amount of time that you can spend in the Sun because any type of UV kind of penetration onto the skin is not healthy. 

Soo there's a thing called a shadow test and if you're standing outside if the shadow is really long then that means the UV is generally lower so it's like earlier on in the day or it's later on in the day because the shadow kind of costs longer right but the shorter the shadow is and like if you can't even see it that means the Sun is directly overhead and that means the UV is probably likely to be higher.

If you have fair skin it's about five to ten minutes if you have oil skin it's around fifteen minutes and if you have dark skin you have about twenty minutes so you can kind of see the more pigment in your skin the longer you can go out in sun without burning.

What is SPF? 

It stands for sun protection factor and you'll see that it ranges from like two to four to seven all the way up to like fifty eighty and even a hundredth is the bigger than number always better is it gonna be you're more protected. There is actually very little difference between an SPF 30 which is the one that you commonly see and an SPF 50 which you also see in a lot of makeup as well. It's about limiting the amount of UVA and UVB rays that are entering your skin . So to calculate the SPF factor basically what you do is the minutes it takes before you burn any times ,the SPF number and that equals to the maximum sun exposure so for example it takes me about 10 minutes before I start to burn and if I use an SPF of 30 then that's 10 times 30 which is 300 minutes which is approximately 5 hours so that will last me 5 hours before my skin starts to burn. 

Depending on what climate situation sometimes you do need to reapply a lot earlier depending on your circumstance. So how much sunscreen do you actually need to apply so if you look on any of the directions on a sunscreen it will say apply liberally what does liberally even mean the general rule of thumb is that you want to use a quarter teaspoon for your face so quarter teaspoon is about one to three grams.

Recommendations:

1. Neutrogena Ultra sheer Sunscreen

2. Minimalist Sunscreen

3. RE' EQUIL Ultra Matte Dry Touch Sunscreen Gel

4. La Shield Sunscreen

5. Earth Rhythm

What is fungal acne? Tiny little bumps on the head:

Fungal acne also known as malassezia folliculitis is a very common dimorphic yeast organism that lives on our skin. This organism called malassezia for malassezia globosa or piterosporum ovale pinosporomo valley ,these things have multiple different names but at the end of the day it's a little yeast organism that lives on most people's skin. You have yeast growing on you fungus growing on you. It's healthy to have these organisms on our body they keep other organisms from growing too much, it creates this sort of symbiotic environment so basically these these organisms they live on our skin and  it's normal to have these and in most people it causes no problems at all it lives there  happily and it doesn't cause any issues. However in some people it can manifest in different types of skin conditions.

 Fungal acne or malassezia folliculitis can be caused by this organism super common things seborrheic dermatitis this yeast has been implicated and at least exacerbating and it making it more prevalent so seborrheic dermatitis is basically like dandruff plus a little bit more and then also tinnia versicolor which well a lot of people are familiar with this where you get this little slightly scaly. This pigmentation can be lighter or darker. Most people notice it in the summer those are probably by far the two most common things and there's a lot more uncommon entities that it's involved with as well absolutely. So it can manifest in multiple different forms of diseases in some people and some people causes no problems at all.

How to treat fungal acne?

When you see bumps on the skin they look like acne so acne, not fungal acne . Fungal acne is much less common. It is far more common to have regular acne than it is to have fungal acne so what does fungal acne look like or present. As classically it's described in all the studies ,monomorphic pink papules what does that mean it's just a fancy way of saying little bumps on the skin that all look the same monomorphic means that they have the same features and all of the bumps regular acne may have. Bumps of all different sizes might be a postural it has a little pus in it some might be flat open come done blackheads or a closed come done a white head that's what regular acne can look like. Fungal acne is more the bumps all look the same they're usually a little bit red and a study that showed that for fungal acne most cases , it feels itchy ,the bumps were itchy versus regular acne which is usually not itchy it actually can be painful especially if you have nodular cystic acne.Other things that are more unique to fungal acne it tends to spare the central face actually it's more common on the upper trunk and this has to do with some of the locations of our oil glands and then also hot humid environments that kind of perpetuate the occlusion and the oil production so distribution slightly different distribution meaning where it is on the body slightly different than it is from regular acne appearance slightly different than regular acne and characteristic being itchy slightly different than regular acne so if you know you have those features the other thing that can kind of lead you towards fungal acne is if you've been treating acne for a long period of time and it either is flaring or just not getting better.

A lot of people have a skincare regimen for acne that doesn't have any active ingredients against acne. They have active ingredient adjuncts something like niacinamide, alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic acid or lactic acid these are not acne treatments. Your main acne treatments are going to be benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid and retinoids. If you don't have one of those three you're probably not treating your acne appropriately. There was a good study that showed that you could use this topical ketoconazole shampoo two percent. One percent over-the-counter ketoconazole shampoo which is sold as an israel probably is going to be effective against it as well but you know because it's concentrated in the hair follicle a lot of times topical medications are not going to get really great penetration to that area. You may need an oral medication especially if it's really a widespread , it's most appropriate to use something oral or systemic just because it's very difficult to treat a wide area like that with topical medications.

 If you're someone who malassezia has been a problem for in the past you may need to do something to kind of keep it at away but then also don't forget to treat your acne on top of it if you have both so don't neglect the acne. If you're treating regular acne with antibiotics for a long period of time now you don't have these bacteria on your skin that are keeping this fungus on your skin, it allows that fungus to proliferate and create skin conditions and so if you're on antibiotics for a long time this is the same reason why people get yeast infections. It allows the yeast organisms that are not being targeted by this antibiotic to start to proliferate and so the same thing sort of happens if you're on antibiotics for a long period of time. 

 Vitamin C in Your skincare routine

 Vitamin C is one of those cult favorite ingredients, but has made a name for itself in the skincare world to be a little hard to work with because of its, unstable nature. Maybe like that unstable, sensitive friend that you might have. But when you probably figure out how to use or incorporate it into your skincare routine, it can completely brighten, lighten and protect your entire face and skin from premature signs of aging.  So when we think of vitamin C, most often We just think of like oranges or any kind of citrus fruits as well as an ingredient in our favorite serums or moisturizers  because there are so many, different forms that they actually appear in. First of all, vitamin C in its purest form is also known as Ascorbic or L-Ascorbic acid. It's a naturally occurring nutrient in our bodies. And we need it to function normally to repair itself and restore tissue in our bodies. Vitamin C also helps our body produce protein, and it's recommended to help fight colds when we feel a little under the weather. 

Vitamin C is water soluble which means that our body, doesn't actually produce or store it, but when we consume it, it's completely absorbed in the small intestine during digestion. And it also helps to absorb other nutrients that we consume in the body. So you'll find a lot of vitamin C in fermented foods, in raw fruits and veggies, like citrus fruits, spinach, yellow peppers, strawberries, brussel sprouts, black currants, kiwi, guava. So, there's a lot of things but when we apply vitamin C to our skin topically in  skin care products, that's when things start to get a little interesting! 

What is vitamin C even good for? 

Vitamin C is well known for its ability to brighten the skin tone, even out skin texture and smooth out fine lines and wrinkles. It's also known as the MVP of protecting the skin against free radicals and UV ray damage, from the sun because of its high levels of antioxidants. On top of that, it's involved in helping the skin produce collagen and, Elastin in the dermis layer of the skin, which are two of the most important factors, for maintaining bouncy, soft and youthful looking skin. But even with all the studies and raving reviews that you see everywhere about vitamin C, many dermatologists acknowledge that vitamin C helps with radiant skin, but other ones.

How does vitamin C work in our skin?

 Collagen and elastin both lie in the dermis layer as proteins that give structure to our skin. While elastin keeps the skin firm, bouncy and retain its shape, collagen acts as the glue that binds the cells together. And what vitamin C does is interact with the amino acids, within the collagen cells and adds hydrogen and also oxygen to boost the collagen production. So, it's kind of like a booster shot to the skin system to regenerate and give that healthy glow, healthy skin. So, it's just like instead of the downward spiral of skincare, it's an upward!

Purest form of Vitamin C

There are many different types of vitamin C we can use for our skin. Vitamin C actually comes in pure and derivative forms, and depending on different products. It's purest form is Ascorbic Acid or L-Ascorbic Acid. So these two terms are kind of interchangeable and it just refers to the strongest and purest form of vitamin C. This means that it's the only form that your body can actually recognize and utilize right away. So this is PURE. Because it's super concentrated and potent, it means that it works almost immediately to bring all the benefits of lightening, brightening, boosting collagen, fending off free radicals, etc into the skin. But the downside of Ascorbic Acid and L- Ascorbic Acid is that they're very, unstable ingredients . What unstable means is that the ingredient itself is very sensitive, it can change very easily depending on temperature, light, air in the environment. This means it's much more likely to oxidize, change in color and turn in consistency. Basically, go bad quickly.

What are the vitamin C derivatives and how do they work? 

Because of its instability ,no one wants to deal with unstable things. Formulators and scientists behind a lot of different skincare brands have developed more stable forms of vitamin C known as derivatives. So this just means that because it isn't the pure form, it won't go bad as easily when formulated with other ingredients in the product. But it also won't cause things like inflammation when used in your skincare routines. And this inflammation can be a result of using the pure ascorbic form of vitamin C. When derivatives are absorbed into the skin the body breaks down the derivative into ascorbic acid which can then act to function just like the actual antioxidant. And with that being said, it's once again less irritating to those of you with sensitive skin, or for those  who haven't used any sort of vitamin C. Derivatives can also come in oil and water-soluble forms. 

So one of the many forms of vitamin C derivatives includes the Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, otherwise known as THD. And this is known to be the gold standard form of vitamin c derivative, because THD is known for its skin brightening and hyperpigmentation lightening properties. It also has fatty acid components that make it oil-soluble and it helps to penetrate deeper into the layers of the skin It's also oxygen stable which means when the ingredients in the product are exposed to air, it won't go bad. THD is found in many oil serums as well as moisturizers and often gives the product a creamy texture with moisturizing properties for the skin. So it works really well with people who have dry skin or for spot treatments to target hyperpigmentation or melasma, but also with most other skin types.  

 Another derivative is Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate or MAP. This is a water-soluble and stable form of ascorbic acid. MAP is known to increase hydration levels as well as brighten and sooth an even skin tone. The texture for this ingredient resembles a cream and it's good for moisturizers, although it does come in serum form as well because vitamin C is actually very popular in serum form. And another derivative you'll most often seen a lot of products is a Ascorbyl Glucoside. This is also a water-soluble derivative, and it's recommended to pair Ascorbyl Glucoside with vitamin B or niacinamide for the best results.  Next derivative of vitamin C called 3 - O ethyl ascorbic acid which helps brighten the skin through reducing melanin production. And this derivative also works to stabilize that ascorbic acid which we know is rather unstable. so that one melanin just is in control with producing hyperpigmentation, dark spots and sunspots.

How to use vitamin C in your skincare routine? 

You want to start with the lowest percentage or concentration of products with ascorbic or l-ascorbic acid to avoid irritation. If you're still a little hesitant because you don't know if your skin will like it, start off trying a product that contains one of the derivatives we mentioned before as it's much less irritating and suitable for sensitive skin. Once you know what your skin reacts well with and you see subtle changes, then you can start working your way up the percentage level, and perhaps consider going for a product that contains 10 to 15 or even 20% of ascorbic acid, but keep in mind these levels are pretty potent.

Does it work better during the day or the night?

 The answer is both!! But better use it during the day with a sunscreen because of the Antioxidant properties and the ability to fight off free radicals, and prevent sun damage from UV rays during the day. So it's essentially an armour on your skin during the day. But if you do prefer it at night, or there's vitamin C products that are designed to use at night, this is also fine, because the skin and the body during the night time is in recovery and repair mode. 

Vitamin C Serums:

1. Minimalist Vitamin C Serum 

2. Matra vitamin C Serum

3. e'clat superior vitamin c

The Ordinary balance set

 The ordinary balance set is a set of skin care products none of which are actually new to the ordinary line but them coming packaged together is something new to the ordinary line. There are four products that come in this pack. The ordinary did a great job with the balance set so the ordinary balance set comes with four products one being the squalane cleanser ,two being the salicylic acid mask, three being the niacinamide ten percent with one percent zinc and the natural moisturizing factor moisturizer.

Squalane Cleanser

Squalane cleanser, this product is a product that a lot of people know and love. The squalene cleanser is within the cleansing step and it's a gentle cleanser that's going to be great for most skin types it's fragrance free it's really gentle on the skin and it's lipophilic meaning that it's able to break down sort of your oil based substances so it's very very good for removing makeup and sunscreen from the skin so this is a product is a great and gentle cleanser. If you wear a light skull screen and no makeup this is going to be a great cleanser for you ,you can use it twice a day but if you're somebody who wears heavy makeup or really heavy caked on sunscreen then you probably need to have this as the first step in your double cleanse routine however it's a great cleanser.

Salicylic acid mask

 Next is salicylic acid mask so this is another product that a lot of people know and love. Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid which means that it's a lipophilic it's able to get into your pores it's the go-to ingredient as far as acids are concerned for acne and oily skin so if you have acne prone skin this is going to be the acid you want to use in your skincare routine. Now this is a mask so this is not something that you leave on your face all day all night and it's not something that you're going to use every single day because you should not be exfoliating every single day of course. Always patch test especially with irritating ingredients like this because you don't want to apply it to your whole face find out that you're allergic to it because people that are allergic to aspirin could potentially be allergic to this product as well ,so you would want a patch test on your inner arm ,you can go to the ordinary's website to figure out how to patch test but ultimately you want to make sure you're not going to have an allergy to any of these products of course. So how do you apply this product? you're going to apply it to dry skin ,not damp skin so this is a product that definitely needs to be applied to dry skin so you're going to cleanse your face this is going to be at night you're going to dry your skin and then you're going to apply this mask for 5 to 10 minutes and then you're going to wash it off and you're going to do this once a week maximum you can do it about twice a week. So salicylic acid is an exfoliating acid which means that it's gonna help to improve skin texture get rid of those tiny little bumps on the skin it's gonna help to improve skin tone so it's gonna get rid of hyperpigmentation, dark spots ,uneven skin pigment. It's going to help with acne so this is very very good for somebody who has acne that also wants to get rid of some post inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

Niacinamide 10% with zinc 1%

The next product is the ordinary's niacinamide 10 with zinc one percent ,so this product is a viral skincare product. It has a lot of beneficial properties it helps to even out sebum production so it helps with oily skin which means that it's going to help with acne, it also helps with rosacea and redness and it also brightens the skin and helps with hyperpigmentation and dark circles. You don't need you don't need percentages that are so high because all the studies showing the benefits of niacinamide have been done in lower percentages. So two to five percent is gonna be good enough for you however a lot of people do tolerate this product well and they love it so niacinamide from the ordinary is an excellent product everyone knows about it it is in the balance set and so like i've said so far all these three products.

Natural moisturizing factor 

And the next product is natural moisturizing factor so this is a really interesting product so this is a moisturizer and natural moisturizing factors are actually produced by our skin and it's not one skincare ingredient. There's no natural moisturizing factor in this well natural moisturizing factor is actually a combination of things like electrolytes amino acids urea things like that form this natural moisturizing factor that our skin naturally produces to help prevent water loss, to help moisturize the skin ,to help protect the skin from the external environment so that's what this is made of it's basically a cocktail of ingredients that are naturally produced by the skin that help to protect the skin. The ordinary tried to recapitulate that into a skincare moisturizer so it's a wonderful job by the ordinary to think of something like this. It's a little bit of a medium weight moisturizer and t's fragrance free so it's going to be gentle on the skin. So all the products in this set are fragrance free.

If you were to buy each of these individual products alone the total cost for you would be about 34 dollars now if you were to buy the ordinary balance set as the set that it is then it will cost you about 29 dollars. So you will save about five dollars if you were to buy this set rather than the individual products which is pretty good. This set could make an entirely perfect skincare routine the only thing is you need to buy sunscreen.