Trending 19th November 2020 by Adele Miner

Why You Should Be Using Vitamin C On Your Skin This Cold Season

We break down the benefits of incorporating vitamin c into your skincare routine

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Once in a lifetime a miracle skincare ingredient comes around, and sticks around. Being hailed as a literal skin saviour, vitamin c is up there with SPF in terms of its importance, and it’s earned itself legendary status for a reason – it bloody works. Oodles of research has proved it, but you don’t have to don a lab coat and glasses to see the instant glow one slick of it on your skin gives you.

This best kept skincare secret is getting out however, as data from beauty giant Cult Beauty has revealed that ‘Vitamin C’ has already been the most searched for skincare ingredient of 2020 – pretty impressive, eh?

What’s even more impressive are the things it does for your skin. Catching up with Louise O’Brien, Education Training Manager at Dermalogica, she tells me that vitamin c is an absolute powerhouse ingredient, “Aside from protecting you from things like scurvy and lowering your risk of other chronic diseases, vitamin c also plays a key role in the health of your skin.” So, in the same way that eating foods rich in antioxidants aids your body in fighting off free radicals, applying this topically helps your skin to do the same, fighting off daily aggressors like air pollution and UV damage.

Louise says that a topical vitamin c will help to both brighten and firm your skin, “UV induced “age spots” or dark spots after breakouts are no match for Vitamin C as it stops the biochemical reaction that causes uneven pigmentation. Proving Vitamin C is effective in brightening the skin,” she says. “Vitamin C also boosts the production of collagen that keeps the skin looking firm, helping to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.”

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Friendly to most skin types from the age of 20 upwards, Louise believes that you’re never too young or old to start incorporating it into your routine “With so many skin benefits Vitamin C is the go-to option if you are looking to protect your skin from visible signs of ageing. Whether you’re in your 30’s, 40’s or 50’s and regardless of your skin type.” Louise does say that ultra-sensitive skin may be irritated from use of vitamin c, so if you fall under that bracket, apply with caution and opt for a lower concentration. Employing some science to help us decipher which vitamin c product is best for us, Louise explains that both a stable and bioavailable formula is crucial when choosing a product. “Vitamin C is a highly unstable ingredient and absorption of topical Vitamin C into the skin is dependent on how stable the ingredient is.

Bioavailability is the rate at which a substance is absorbed into the skin and is made available at the site of activity.” When choosing your vitamin c products, Louise advises to avoid products that are labelled ‘asorbic acid’ and mention on the label that they may change colour as these are pretty good indications that they’re not stable. What’s more, finding a product that also has Lactic Acid in it’s formula will aid in the penetration of vitamin c, therefore a complex of vitamin c ensures better bioavailability (in layman’s terms, that’s all good, very good).

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Wanting to know how best to incorporate some vitamin c into your skincare routine is probably the only thought crossing your mind by now, and for Louise, she says it’s simple, “A concentrated Vitamin C serum would be the best and most easy way to slot it into your regimen, simply apply a few drops to clean skin AM and/or PM.” Of course, just a serum isn’t enough on its own to call a skincare routine, so after cleansing and toning your skin as you please, Louise says it’s best to apply your vitamin c serum underneath your SPF or moisturiser, depending on what time of the day it is, “The pairing of Vitamin C with a broad spectrum, high SPF (30-50) gives you the ultimate in daytime defence against environmental assault from UV and pollution.”

The great news is, that when layered underneath sunscreen, vitamin c works to protect your skin against exposure damage even further, and when used at night it works to repair and renew the skin while you rest. So there you have it, eternal youth right there in a bottle, and not a spell or sacrifice in sight – if only everything was this convenient.

Check out some of our favourite Vitamin C picks below!