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.
0 Comentarios