The Power of Vitamin C and How It Impacts Your Skin

You might have seen a lot of Vitamin C cleansers, serums, and moisturizers popping up lately promising brighter skin — and while it’s never bad to be skeptical of “trends” in the world of beauty products, this is one that us derms can get behind. 

Vitamin C is an antioxidant that, when applied on top of your skin, has the potential to do a lot in brightening dark spots, boosting collagen growth (which helps keep skin firm), smoothing out fine lines, reducing the appearance of scars, and also keeping your epidermis protected from harmful free radicals.

If it seems like every other Vitamin C product is a serum, that’s because those formulas are a great way to pack a ton of great stuff into a concentrated dose for your skin. 

What’s important, however, is finding the formula that’s right for your skin. A concentration of around 10% to 20% is great (those with more sensitive skin should start lower and work up — but a patch test is always a good idea with new products). 

If you use a retinol- or retinoid, it’s generally good to keep that to the evening part of your skincare and leave the Vitamin C for the morning. Another word of advice? Don’t combine Vitamin C with lactic or glycolic acid products on the same day, the chemistry cancels them both out (or causes some redness). 

Questions on how to move forward with Vitamin C? Make an appointment to come talk to us, we’re here to support you!