Ingredient Spotlight: Vitamin C

While other anti-aging serums drift in and out of favor our C & E Antioxidant Serum has remained our best selling serum for decades.

Vitamin C serums are legendary for a reason: they work. Uneven skin pigmentation, rough texture, fine lines, acne scars and just general dullness are just a few concerns where Vitamin C can make a big improvement. How does this ingredient work so fantastically for your skin? Are the brighter, smoother results due to the same potent antioxidants found in orange juice?

First off, What is Vitamin C?

As far as your skin is concerned; Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that can neutralize free radicals that damage the molecular structure of skin cells. Free radicals are infamous “skin agers.” Because of its antioxidant properties, Vitamin C aids in your skin’s natural regeneration process, which helps your body repair these damaged skin cells. In the same way that consuming antioxidant rich foods helps your body in fighting off free radicals, topical antioxidants do the same for your skin by helping to offset daily aggressors like UV damage and exposure to air pollution. While we’re not sure just how much of the Vitamin C you ingest really gets to your skin, we do know that you can get up to 60% of your Vitamin C requirements via a good Vitamin C Serum applied topically.

How else does Vitamin C benefit the skin?

Amazingly, Vitamin C’s skin-saving benefits aren’t limited to its antioxidant abilities. It has plenty of other skin-healing properties that make it worthy of a permanent place in your medicine cabinet. For one, because it’s highly acidic, when vitamin C is used topically the skin is triggered to heal itself by accelerating the production of collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin are naturally occurring protein fibers that keep skin plump and firm. So, in helping to promote collagen production topical Vitamin C can help prevent premature aging of the skin.

Another cool thing about this ingredient: It contains a property that inhibits your skin’s melanin production, which is what causes skin discolorations like dark spots and hyperpigmentation. With continued topical use, Vitamin C can even help prevent dark spots from forming in the first place. Vitamin C is a superior brightening agent that works to fade brown spots without altering normal skin pigmentation. I have used our C & E Antioxidant Serum every morning for over 30 years. People are alway commenting on how smooth and even my skin looks. I attribute a lot of this to my religious application of this product over the years. So, if your in your 20’s, or 30’s you should adopt this anti-aging habit right now!

How should you add Vitamin C into your daily skin-care routine?

Dermatologists and estheticians agree, the best Vitamin C skin-care product to use is a serum. Serums are more effective than creams or toners because they have higher concentrations of actives and better delivery systems to get the product to the deeper layers of the skin where they are needed. Moreover, adding Vitamin E into the mix is like a one-two punch of skin-saving goodness. Known to be synergistic in their effects, Vitamin C recycles Vitamin E as an antioxidant, increasing Vitamin E’s free radical-scavenging effects fifty times normal. These vitamins also help prevent sebum oxidation, working together to reduce and prevent blackheads and clogged pores.

Many companies tout L-Ascorbic acid as the preferred form of Vitamin C in formulations. Though L-Ascorbic Acid is easily identified by cells, it is very unstable. Have you ever purchased a Vitamin C serum where it looked clear when you first purchased it, but in only a few short weeks the formula turns amber or brown. That’s the Vitamin C oxidizing right in the bottle. Free radicals in the air have disabled the Vitamin C and made it inactive. Even more troubling is the fact that these free radicals could be introduced onto your skin and create more damage. The forms of Vitamin C we prefer to use are the ester versions of the vitamin. That means they need a chemical reaction to convert into L-Ascorbic Acid. They remain just one step away from L-Ascorbic Acid until you apply it to your skin. As the conversion occurs fresh Vitamin C can now perform its magic.

Vitamin C & E Antioxidant Serum by Elizabeth Renee is a stable, no-sting formula. This skin lightening serum uses a clinically proven blend of antioxidants that have excellent stability and delivery advantages over other water-soluble formulas. Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate is the most recognizable Vitamin C ester we use. It is very stable and gentle and effective. But the lesser known Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, which is a lipid-soluble version, has greater bioavailability and penetration because it can travel easily through the lipid layers of the skin. In C & E Antioxidant Serum the Vitamin C levels stay constant throughout the shelf-life of the product, producing maximum vitamin stability and effectiveness.

For best results, C & E Antioxidant Serum as with all Vitamin C serums, should be applied in the morning. This is because this is the time of day your skin is more likely to come in contact with damaging free radicals. Save your exfoliating serums like AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) or retinol for night time use.

Oh, about the orange juice thing. The problem with orange juice is that by the time it’s been processed, arrives at the store and comes home with you most of the Vitamin C has dissipated. All you’re left with is a sugary drink that’s sure to spike insulin. You’re much better off eating fresh fruits and veggies. Some fruits and veggies that contain more vitamin C than oranges are bell peppers, kale, broccoli and kiwi. Start with a good diet that contains a healthy dose of Vitamin C and supplement with a Vitamin C serum for the enduring longevity for your skin.