Anti Aging Skin Care » Skin Care with Vitamin C

Skin Care with Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that is tremendously effective against preventing and treating aging signs such as wrinkles, fine lines and sun damage. In fact, L-ascorbic acid, a popular form of Vitamin C stimulates collagen production within the skin cells, corrects pigmentation issues and reduces the damage caused by free radicals.

Advantages of Vitamin C

There is perhaps not one skin care ingredient that provides so many advantages as Vitamin C. It not only prevents skin damage but also helps reverse the damage in some cases.

Here are some of its prime advantages.

Production of Collagen

Vitamin C has the basic ability to stimulate collagen production within the skin cells. Collagen renders firmness and tightness to the skin and as its levels begin to deplete, the skin starts developing wrinkles and fine lines. By stimulating the production of collagen, Vitamin C also helps in reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and enhances the overall quality of the skin. Moreover, it increases the hydration levels and prevents skin dryness.

Improvement in Pigmentation

Another very important benefit of Vitamin C is that it treats photo damage, damage caused to the skin by excessive sun exposure. This will help even out skin tone.

Defense against Free Radicals

Free radicals is been formed due to the accumulation of pollutants, exposure to sunlight, stress, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Once formed, these free radicals can damage the healthy skin cells and break down the collagen fibers. This accelerates premature aging of the skin and may even have severe consequences like skin cancer. Vitamin C fights against the free radicals and prevents any damage caused by them.

However, as ironic as it may sound, Vitamin C can also produce free radicals. When Vitamin C based skin, care products been exposed to heat or sunlight, the consistency of the product changes and can lead to the formation of free radicals. That is the reason why Vitamin C, has often been combined with other antioxidants like vitamin E to reverse this effect.

Different Forms of Vitamin C

Vitamin C is available in different forms. Here are some of the most popular ones.

L-Ascorbic Acid is perhaps the most active form of Vitamin C. It is highly unstable and water-soluble in topical skin care products. However, there are varieties of skin care formulations that use its stabilized form.

Another one is fat-soluble form of Vitamin C that is much more stable than the former. In fact, it is also less irritating and thus better for the skin. Because it is fat soluble, it protects the skin better against free radicals and stimulates the renewal of Vitamin E.

Sources of Vitamin C

Vitamin C can either be taken orally or applied topically. However, the body eventually flushes out oral intake of Vitamin C. Therefore, it is important you apply it topically as well.

Oral Sources

Vitamin C is taken as oral supplements. Moreover, citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, grapefruits, broccoli, tomatoes, berries etc are very rich sources of it.

Topical Sources

There are a variety of skin care products available in the market that contain Vitamin C. However, be careful while making a purchase.

Here are some tips.

• Purchase skin care products that have more than 10 per cent concentration of Vitamin C. Look for products like L-ascorbic acid and Ascorbyl palmitate.
• Check the expiration date and packaging details. The product should come in an airtight brown glass jar or metal tube.
• Store the product in a cool dark place and replace the lid or cap tightly after use.
• Dispose the product if it becomes yellow or brown in color.

Product Suggestions:

iS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum

It is a revolutionary skin care formulation comprises of 15% Vitamin C, 1% Vitamin E and 1% retinol combined with powerful antioxidants and olive leaf extracts. It heals the skin, improves skin integrity in addition to enhancing skin texture, and prevents damage by the ultraviolet radiations of sunlight. It contains 0.5% of kojic acid, which evens out skin pigmentation and prevents the occurrence of acne. In addition, the zinc sulfate helps reduce inflammation.

Obagi Professional C Serum 10 Percent

This is an amazing serum, that contains 10 per cent Vitamin C contents that neutralizes the effect of free radicals and hence prevents any skin damage. The total strength of Vitamin C lends superior protection to your skin and the 10% concentration caters to dry and sensitive skin types.