Vitamin C is an Ingredient You Should Know About.
Vitamin C has a great reputation for its immune system benefits. You might take a vitamin C supplement each morning or occasionally mix a vitamin C-based powder into a drink when you are feeling sick.
However, vitamin C has benefits that reach beyond just strengthening your immune system. This antioxidant is also a key ingredient in numerous skincare products, including serums, cleansers, and creams.
From this article, you will learn everything you need to know about vitamin C as a skincare ingredient and how to use vitamin C moisturizing cream. In addition, we’ll cover the timeline for using vitamin C cream, and when to expect results from using it.
What is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is an antioxidant. This means it counteracts the harmful effects of oxidative stress in your body. Oxidative stress is caused by free radicals, and the unpaired electrons within these free radicals are bad news for your skin cells. Free radicals can age and degrade your skin by taking electrons from the molecules within your healthy skin cells, causing a decline in the production of the proteins that keep your skin strong and healthy.
Unfortunately, free radical activity within your body is unavoidable. Oxidation occurs as a natural result of aging. In addition, free radical activity in your body increases in response to exposure to air pollution, excess consumption of unhealthy food, tobacco use, drinking alcohol in excess, and much more.
However, the antioxidants in your body are constantly working to counteract the damaging effects of oxidative stress. Since free radicals are out to steal electrons from cells in your body, including your skin cells, something needs to keep them in check. This is where antioxidants come in.
Within your cells, antioxidants work to target free radicals and prevent them from causing damage and cellular breakdown.
If your body does not have a sufficient amount of antioxidants to stave off the harmful effects of oxidation, you will experience oxidative stress. Your body needs help to prevent oxidative stress, and the best way to equip it is to get enough antioxidants through a healthy diet, supplements and even topical application.
Antioxidants like vitamin C can be applied topically in the form of products like serums, cleansers, and creams to help support your skin and keep it looking healthy and young!
What Does Vitamin C Do For Your Skin?
Vitamin C can help nourish your skin to ensure that you can maintain a healthy and youthful appearance.
A protein called collagen is largely responsible for the structure of many systems and structures in your body. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, and your skin needs it to stay healthy and strong.
When your body is undergoing oxidative stress, collagen production in your skin cells slows down. This means signs of aging start to show up. When your skin isn’t producing enough collagen, it starts to lose its firmness and strength, leading to wrinkles and lines. Lack of sufficient collagen production can also make your skin more susceptible to sun damage, causing dark spots.
Oxidative stress can also cause your skin’s cellular turnover to slow down. Skin cell turnover is the process through which your skin gets rid of dead skin cells and produces new ones, keeping your skin looking fresh and youthful.
A buildup of dead skin cells can negatively affect your appearance by dulling your complexion and potentially even clogging your pores. Clogged pores are the primary cause for breakouts, something no one wants showing up on their skin.
Combining a topical antioxidant like vitamin C with a good exfoliating agent can remove dead skin cells and support skin to ensure that your pores look clear and unclogged!
Use of topical vitamin C on your skin also provides a boost to your skin’s firmness and suppleness, keeping your skin looking healthy, strong, and youthful.
In addition, supplying your skin with antioxidants through your diet can help. Combined use of skincare products with vitamin C and dietary sources of antioxidants can keep your skin’s overall health in check (and benefit your overall health and wellness!). Foods that contain antioxidants include berries, leafy greens, some nuts like walnuts, and even dark chocolate. Drinking green tea or coffee can provide your body with antioxidants as well!
If you are dealing with inconsistencies in your skin’s pigment like dark circles under your eyes are dark spots on your face, vitamin C can help here, too.
Skin discoloration issues often occur as a result of oxidative stress in your body, or as a result of a sun overexposure. Some dark spots are also the result of acne scarring, especially from more severe breakouts. Using topical vitamin C can even out your complexion by reducing the appearance of hyperpigmentation like dark spots, sunspots and acne scars.
Topical Vitamin C in Different Forms
There are numerous ways to incorporate vitamin C into your daily skincare routine.
To supply your skin with the highest possible concentration of antioxidants, you can’t go wrong with a vitamin C serum. Serums are lightweight and contain higher amounts of their active ingredients than other heavier products. When using a serum, you only need a few drops to get the job done. The amount of vitamin C contained in a few drops of vitamin C serum is equivalent to a generous amount of a face cream or other heavier product.
Serums are best used before applying any heavier products and after using cleanser, exfoliator, and toner. Cleansing gets rid of any impurities that can hinder the serum from permeating your skin. Exfoliating sloughs off dead skin cells that can clog your pores and reduce a serum’s impact on your skin. Toning evens out your skin’s pH balance and provides a protective barrier for your skin from irritation and impurities. After you’ve taken these first steps in your skincare regimen, you’re ready to apply a serum.
Vitamin C can also be applied to your skin in the form of a vitamin C face cream. Creams contain a lower concentration of the active ingredient, but they can be applied in more generous amounts. Using a vitamin C serum and a vitamin C face cream together can be a great option.
A face cream with vitamin C can function as a moisturizer in your skincare routine, preventing any dryness or irritation that might be caused by other ingredients. Unlike some skincare ingredients that have greater potential to irritate your skin if overused, you don’t need skip-days when using vitamin C-based products. A serum or face cream containing vitamin C can be applied daily in the morning and at night for best results.
This in mind, following a vitamin C skincare regimen that includes a vitamin C cleanser, moisturizer, and serum is totally doable!
How to Use Face Cream and When to Expect Results
To apply vitamin C face cream, first make sure you have cleansed, exfoliated, used toner, and applied any serums. Heavier products like creams, moisturizers, and sunscreen are best used at the end of your skincare routine.
You can apply vitamin C face cream in the morning and at night generously, using your fingers to spread the cream evenly around your face and neck region. Make sure to avoid your eye area when using vitamin C face cream – the skin around your eyes is especially sensitive and needs to be treated with care. Here, it is best to use an eye-specific product like eye gel, that is specifically designed for your eye area to avoid any irritation.
After you have applied your vitamin C face cream, an ideal final step to your beauty regimen is sunscreen. Sunscreen protects your skin from harmful UV rays that can increase the appearance of wrinkles and dark spots. In addition, daily use of sunscreen helps to counteract any sun sensitivity that might be caused by ingredients in the products you use. Sunscreen is an essential component in any skincare routine, even in situations where your exposure to the sun is minimal.
Vitamin C actively reduces the appearance of spots and wrinkles caused by sun damage, so keep your skin protected from UV rays while vitamin C does its work!
Closing Thoughts
When using a face cream containing vitamin C, patience is key. Introducing a new product to your skin doesn’t typically produce overnight results, and vitamin C face cream is no exception.
You can, however, expect your skin to feel refreshed and rejuvenated after each use. However, drastic changes to your complexion and reduction in the appearance of wrinkles and dark spots can take a few weeks.
A good rule of thumb is to give any new product in your skincare regimen at least a month to show visible results. Good luck!
Sources:
https://www.livescience.com/54901-free-radicals.html
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325873
https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/vitamin-c-serum-benefits#hyperpigmentation
https://med.libretexts.org/Courses/American_Public_University/APU%3A_Basic_Foundation_of_Nutrition_for_Sports_Performance_(Byerley)/07%3A_Protein_Basics
