How to Choose and Use a Vitamin C Serum
If you choose the wrong vitamin c serum you just end up with a fancy, expensive container of water.
This notoriously unstable ingredient is one of the only scientifically proven skin goodies, but it must be used right to get the benefits.
Like all active products, it can only do its awesome work in the right formula. Unfortunately we can’t just crush up a vitamin c tablet and stick it to our face. While that might be fun (?) it won’t do one thing for our skin.
So, on this page: what it does for your skin, how to choose the right product, and our recommendations.
What Does Topical Vitamin C Do for Your Skin?
Right, we all know vitamin c is an antioxidant that can protect skin from free radicals that cause unwanted premature aging.
Sure it is important to eat/drink the stuff too, but this really doesn’t do much for the appearance of your skin.
Instead, we have to find the right type of topical serum to see the following benefits…
Vitamin C Serum Benefits
1. Brightening and Tightening
Vitamin c can brighten your skin, and give you a fresh glow. You might even notice this after the first few uses.
Its ability to stimulate collagen also helps tighten your skin; it really can improve the texture and firmness of your skin with consistent use (of the right product).
2. Lightening/Whitening: Great for Pigmentation
Vitamin C helps prohibit the formation of melanin, the pigmentation in skin that causes dark patches. Combined with the brightening effect above, it can help lighten your skin and prevent more pigmentation from appearing in the first place.
Make sure you combine it with sun protection during the day, and wait several minutes before stepping outside after using.
3. Anti Aging Benefits
Free radicals are those nasty things that contribute to premature aging. They come from pollution, household products and daily things we encounter, internally from stress… you name it.
We can’t avoid them (and that’s ok), but we can limit their damage by using anti oxidants that “mop” them up.
See also: Anti Aging Peptides in Skin Care
How to Choose the Right Vitamin C Product
Color:
A vitamin c serum should be clear/colorless. A yellow color means it is “off” and should not be used. While it may not harm your skin, it is entirely useless at this point.
Storage/Container:
The above danger of yellowing (oxidizing) means any vitamin c product should come in an opaque container that does not let in light.
See also: Onion Juice for Wrinkles
Vitamin C Serum Product Recommendations:
1. Image SkinCare Vital C
This is a great choice if your skin is on the drier side as it contains hyaluronic acid.
The Image line is a professional range that has been successfully sold in spas for a while now, so it has a track record. You can trust it to do good things for your skin (the range includes other good products too like cleansers and moisturizers).
See Image Vitamin C serum and other products here>
2. OzNaturals Hyaluronic Serum with Vitamin C
Another brand with a track record (important these days with the seemingly endless range of skin care brands to choose from).
Oz Naturals uses “cold process” for their formulas, which can help delicate ingredients like vitamin c keep their active natures during formulation.
Yes, this brand does have a specific vitamin c serum, however we really like this one as it less drying. This makes it easier to use twice a day so you may see better results.
