It Works With Other Antioxidants For Enhanced Uv Protection
Vitamin C works synergistically with the antioxidants vitamin E and ferulic acid to reduce UV damage in skin. A study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology showed that a combination of vitamin C, E and ferulic acid not only offered improved stability of vitamins C and E but also improved skin’s UV protection.
How Beauty Rewind Can Help
A vitamin C serum is an essential step in any skincare routine!
Vitamin C serum is a product that anyone can take advantage of, from neutralizing damaging free radicals to improving the overall look and feel of your skin.
However, too much can irritate your skin. Before using vitamin C serum, we recommend speaking to a professional skincare expert to examine your skin type and discuss how much you should use.
If youre still looking for more guidance on where vitamin C can fit into your routine, get in touch or come visit us at our Edmonton or Sherwood Park location to chat with one of our skincare experts!
What Are The Skin Benefits Of Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a well-known antioxidant in skincare, says Lian Mack, M.D., a dermatologist in New York City. In skin, this antioxidant has several functions including playing a role in the production of collagen, improving hyperpigmentation and neutralizing free radicals. Here are the primary benefits of vitamin C when applied topically to the skin:
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Dosing: How Much Vitamin C Is Too Much
Since nearly half of U.S. adults fail to consume the minimum requirements of vitamin C daily, it’s unlikely that the average person will overdo it on vitamin C.
So what are those minimum daily requirements? Per the National Academies, the recommended daily intake of vitamin C is 75 milligrams for women and 90 milligrams for men, or about 1.5 oranges.
However, those baseline starting levels are debated. Michels says a daily minimum of at least 200 milligrams is actually needed to maximize blood concentrations of vitamin C. He recommends 400 milligrams daily, though evidence suggests that even higher doses can help bolster vitamin C status and promote optimal cardiovascular benefits.*
When it comes to safety, those taking higher potency vitamin C supplements shouldn’t worryup to 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily is considered safe. Beyond that, the side effects listed above may begin to occur but are generally mild and short-lived, Michels says.
That’s because vitamin C is water-soluble, meaning it’s transported through the bloodstream and doesn’t need another mechanism to move around, like a fat-soluble vitamin does. Thanks to vitamin C’s water solubility, “the body can easily remove any excess through the kidneys,” Michels explains.
Benefits Of Vitamin C For Your Skin
- With daily use, vitamin C provides a range of tangible benefits including evening skin tone, improving hydration, promoting wound healing and fighting signs of aging.
- Vitamin C has proven antioxidant properties that protect against sun damage caused by free radicals.
- The popularity of topical vitamin C for skin care has grown due to its high safety profile among users.
Hailed as one of the most effective anti-aging dermatological ingredients available today, topical vitamin C is a mainstay in many womens skin care routine. Vitamin C serums, creams and other products are highly recommended by dermatologists for their ability to maintain a smooth, even complexion.
Although youre likely ingesting vitamin C in your diet, there is another way to benefit from this star ingredient by targeting your skin directly. Topical vitamin C is the most direct way to take advantage of this vitamins many powerful skin care benefits.
Following are 10 highly compelling benefits of vitamin C for your skin:
Contents
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Fatigue And Poor Mood
Two of the earliest signs of vitamin C deficiency are fatigue and poor mood (
45 ).
While fatigue and irritability may be some of the first symptoms to appear, they typically resolve after just a few days of adequate intake or within 24 hours of high-dose supplementation .
Summary Signs of fatigue and poor mood can appear even with low-to-normal levels of vitamin C, but they quickly turn around with adequate vitamin C intake.
When To Use Vitamin C Serum
Vitamin C is a staple in many skincare routines for good reason!
A potent antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, it fends off daily aggressors that wreak havoc on your skin, such as UV damage and exposure to pollutants.
Adding vitamin C to your routine can bring a smoother, brighter, and glowing complexion.
But how do we know when were using too much?
Beauty Rewind is here to walk you through the amazing vitamin C benefits, when to use it, and how much to use!
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What Are Vitamins For Skin Care
Not all vitamins affect skin health. However, some, like vitamin E and vitamin C, play an essential part in the skins ability to repair itself.
Most of the research on vitamins for skin is inconclusive or limited. The reality is that the most important way to support skin health is to eat a healthy diet rich in vitamins. A healthy body, in turn, helps support healthy skin. Your skin can often be a window to your insides. Yellowed, jaundiced skin, for instance, can be a sign of liver damage.
Popping supplements and applying vitamin-infused creams and lotions to the skin can help, especially when a person is deficient. Some topical vitamin-containing serums can also help reduce scarring and sunspots. But a healthy diet is the best way to get the vitamins your body needs to prevent and repair skin damage.
If you have a particular skin condition, like acne or eczema, you should speak to a dermatologist before adding supplements and topicals to your skincare regimen. They may have an adverse effect and further irritate the skin.
Health And Skin Care Benefits Of Vitamin C
Many people often wonder if Vitamin C is good for skin and care. The answer is YES, at DCSI we have some of the best dermatologists for acne in Palm Beach that truly believe that Vitamin C is key to a healthy diet. One of the main benefits of Vitamin C is its ability to prevent or treat a common cold, help wounds heal faster, as well as repair free radical damage while brightening skin and fading dark spots. Its one of the best vitamins for glowing skin that should be included in everyones diet and skin care routine.
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Is Vitamin C Good For Acne
People with acne can potentially benefit from adding a vitamin C serum to their routines, but there are a few nuances to consider. A 2013 research review in the Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprology suggests that topical vitamin C can improve acne lesions in up to 77% of patients.²
As for acne scars, its good for that too, thanks to those collagen-boosting and skin-brightening powers that were mentioned earlier.
Refrain from getting too vitamin C happy if you have sensitive skin to deal with. Dr. Chiu warns that because vitamin C is a skin-care activemeaning its particularly potentapplying too much of it on your face can potentially lead to more breakouts or irritation. Keep it to a max of two applications a day when a formula that has no more than 10% vitamin C each time. If, after two weeks, your skin hasnt adjusted to the addition of the vitamin C, or worse, your acne has escalated, lay off the product, says Dr. Lamb.
The Physiology Of Vitamin C In Skin
Vitamin C is a simple low-molecular-weight carbohydrate that is essential for the body as a water-soluble vitamin . As an antioxidant, vitamin C has both oxidized and reduced forms in the body: L-dehydroascorbic and L-ascorbic acid. Although vitamin C is an important antioxidant, humans and other primates obtain vitamin C only from their diet, because they have no ability to synthesize it. With blood circulation to all tissues and organs, plasma ascorbate acid concentrations can reach up to 10160 mM after eating a vitamin C diet, and the superfluous vitamin can be excreted by the kidneys . However, there are large differences in the levels of vitamin C in various organs for example, the brain, liver, and skeletal muscle have the highest total content, and the content of testis and thyroid is low .
FIGURE 1. Vitamin C transporters and their transport mechanisms in skin.
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It Protects Against Sun Damage
Excessive exposure to oxidant stress via pollutants or ultraviolet irradiation is associated with depleted vitamin C levels in the skin.
Vitamin C levels are also lower in more mature or photodamaged skin, though researchers are unsure whether this is a cause or effect.
Sun damage is caused by molecules called free radicals. These are atoms with a missing electron. Free radicals search for other atoms from which they can steal an electron and this can lead to significant damage to the skin.
Vitamin C is rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants protect healthy skin cells by giving these free radicals an electron, rendering them harmless.
How To Use It
One highly debated topic when it comes to vitamin C is what time of the day is best for application. While some argue that morning is best for protecting the skin, others are in favor of nighttime when the skin’s vitamin C is most depleted. According to Herrmann, consistency is most important, whether you decide to apply it in the morning or before bed, but avoid using it at the same time as benzoyl peroxide. She also suggests using it daily or every other day, and if you’re using a serum , apply it after cleansing.
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Whats A Vitamin C Serum
If you have your head in the skin care game, youve likely heard of vitamin C serums.
Vitamin C is touted as one of the best ingredients on the market for pro-aging support and the key to maintaining a smooth, even, and glowy complexion.
Although youre probably getting vitamin C in your diet, theres no way to guarantee its going straight to your skin. Using serums and other topical products is the most direct way to reap these benefits.
Read on to learn why you should add vitamin C serum to your routine, how to introduce a new product, and more.
Whether its a tried-and-true skin care regimen, how often you wash your hair, or the cosmetics youre curious about, beauty is personal.
Thats why we rely on a diverse group of writers, educators, and other experts to share their tips on everything from the way product application varies to the best sheet mask for your individual needs.
There are plenty of benefits to using vitamin C on your skin. For example, vitamin C:
- is safe for most skin types
- provides hydration
How Do I Use Vitamin C Products
The general rule for skincare order of operations is to work thin to thick.
Apply formulas with a thinner consistency first so they have a chance to absorb into skin before applying thicker products.
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Persistent Iron Deficiency Anemia
Vitamin C and iron deficiency anemia often occur together.
Signs of iron deficiency anemia include paleness, fatigue, trouble breathing during exercise, dry skin and hair, headache and spoon-shaped fingernails .
Low levels of vitamin C may contribute to iron deficiency anemia by reducing the absorption of iron from plant-based foods and negatively affecting iron metabolism (
44 ).
If iron deficiency anemia persists for a long time with no obvious causes, it may be wise to check your vitamin C levels.
Summary Vitamin C deficiency may increase the risk of iron deficiency anemia by reducing iron absorption and increasing the likelihood of bleeding.
Is Vitamin C Serum Safe
Dermatologists say topical vitamin C is generally safe for use, especially as serums. The water-based formula best delivers this vitamin C into the deep layers of your skin for reparative and preventative functions.
Moreover, in a vitamin C serum, you can have fragments of hyaluronic acid and vitamin E to help stabilize vitamin C which is naturally unstable. These supporting ingredients help to make the serum more effective.
However, a dermatologist, Nazanin Saedi says, one major risk is some of these serums have so many different ingredients in them. He further explains that these other ingredients , can cause certain allergic reactions.
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The Skin Biological Pathways Were Studied At Molecular Level
The expression of proteic as well as glucidic skin markers has been measured by immuno-histochemistry in human tissue explants after the different topical treatments.
Figure 3
Effects of ex-vivo topical treatment of human skin explants for 10 days with three formulations containing 3 wt% Vit C, upon collagen type I expression in whole skin and GAGs staining at dermalepidermal junction . Collagen type I was labeled by a rabbit anti-human collagen I antibody with biotin/streptavidin amplification and FITC fluorescence revelation and cell nuclei stained with propidium iodide . Pictures were realized with a tri CCD DXC 390P camera and stored with Leica IM1000 software, version 1.10 . Staining of fixed skin sections with Schiff reagent revealed the neutral GAGs as purple pink near DEJ , at the bottom of upper epidermis layer. One-way ANOVA with Tukeys post-test was used to compare collagen I signal , relative to untreated control . GAGs coloration measured as percent of DEJ surface from each explant was compared in formulations and untreated control by one-way ANOVA with Tukeys post-test . Graphs were done with GraphPad Prism version 5.0.0 for Windows . Scale bar=50 µm panel A, and 100 m panel C.
Choose The Right Concentration
Identifying the right concentration for your skin type is essential to how effective your topical vitamin C will be, says New York City dermatologist Dr. Patricia Wexler. “Begin with a low concentration of 10% and increase to 15% or 20% as tolerated,” she instructs. For oily or normal skin, L-ascorbic acid is the most potent form of vitamin C and can be the most beneficial, while for dry and sensitive skin, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, a water-soluble vitamin C, is less irritating.
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Aids In Iron Absorption
While vitamin C is a useful, complementary strategy for optimizing iron absorption regardless of your dietary pattern, the synergy becomes even more important for vegetarians and vegans. For those who avoid animal products , vitamin C can play a crucial role in ensuring adequate iron absorption.*
While iron is found in plant-based sources like broccoli and spinach, plants only contain non-heme iron, which is much less bioavailable than heme ironthe kind found solely in animal sources. Luckily, vitamin C can enhance the absorption of nonheme iron, seriously increasing its bioavailability, Johnson explains.*
It May Help Soothe Sunburns
In addition to minimizing redness, vitamin C accelerates cell turnover, according to a 2017 review . This replaces the damaged cells with healthy new ones.
Topical application of vitamin C, in combination with vitamin E and other compounds, has also been shown to reduce injury due to UV irradiation , notes the above 2017 review. This combination also decreases the inflammation induced by excessive UV exposure.
Its important to note that researchers found that vitamin C alone is only minimally effective at reducing sunburn on its own.
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Dos And Don’ts Of Vitamin C Products
Here are a few tips for things to look for and things to avoid when it comes to using vitamin C in your skincare!
pH Balance
For a gentler formula, look for one that uses the magnesium ascorbyl derivative with a pH level of 5-6. Since this is closer to skins natural pH level, it will be more skin-friendly!
Interactions
Without getting into a complicated scientific explanation, the pH levels of these ingredients dont get along with those of vitamin C, and they end up canceling each other out and rendering each other ineffective. The reaction may also cause redness.
If you use a product that already contains a combination of these ingredients, dont worry. Its likely been formulated with a time release process that makes the ingredients active at different times so they dont affect each other.
Appearance
This is just one of those areas where its worth it to splurge a little to save your skin!
