What does vitamin C do for your skin?
Vitamin C has joined the ranks of only a few other ingredients whose praises are sung by just about everyone. This natural ingredient boasts a boatload of benefits for not just the young or the old, not just the blemish-prone or the ones with a dull skin tone, but for all of them! That’s right, vitamin C is a hero ingredient for many skin concerns out there, which is why you need it on your shelf.
Don’t believe us? Keep reading. The research is out and just keeps rolling in on how vitamin C is good for the skin. We’re sharing all the incredible benefits of vitamin C and how vitamin C serum, in particular, can help you reap the many rewards of this powerful antioxidant.
What is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, isn’t one of those ingredients that raises a question mark when you see it on an ingredient label. We’re all pretty familiar with this vitamin, which we most commonly associate with oranges and immunity boosters. However, you may not be familiar with how it works for the skin.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that is naturally occurring in the skin, which should give you a clue that it serves some important functions. Antioxidants help prevent environmental damage, leading to a slew of problems. Vitamin C helps protect against these damaging compounds, but it also does so much more than that.
What are the Benefits of Vitamin C for the Skin?
You know vitamin C is good for you; it boosts your immune system, so you don’t get sick, it helps protect you from environmental damage, and a slew of other health advantages. But what does vitamin C do for your skin? A lot, actually. This potent antioxidant has just as many benefits when applied topically as it does when ingested. Let’s explore all those beautiful benefits…
Brightens
One of the most noticeable benefits of vitamin C is the glow it gives to the skin. A dull, lackluster complexion is no match for a vitamin C serum, which can restore radiance and revive tired-looking skin by brightening dark spots.
Evens Tone
The brightening aspect of vitamin C also means it’s effective at evening out skin tone. Vitamin C not only can help reduce the appearance of dark spots but also help prevent them from occurring in the first place. It’s also effective at reducing hyperpigmentation for an all-around more even skin tone.
Smooths Texture
The use of a topical vitamin C product can confront blemish scars and even fine lines and wrinkles as well. How can it do that? Well, vitamin C helps increase skin firmness, which helps increase skin firmness and help support the natural repairing process. Studies have shown that vitamin C is effective at decreasing general roughness to the skin as well. For these reasons, adding a vitamin C serum to your skincare routine can help contribute to a smoother skin texture.
Protects
Given vitamin C’s antioxidant properties, one of its greatest benefits is protection from environmental damage. Where does environmental damage come from? The main culprits are air pollution and UV rays. Depending on where you live, you may encounter more environmental pollution or UV rays, but everyone faces them to some extent. Thankfully, a vitamin C serum can help protect your skin from the damage they cause and promote healthy-looking skin.
This protection is also one of the major ways vitamin C helps defend against premature signs of aging, considering UV rays cause hyperpigmentation, which can lead to fine lines, sagging, and leathering.
How to Incorporate Vitamin C into Your Routine
As we mentioned at the start, the research around the benefits of vitamin C for the skin is far from over. These are just a few of the potential positive effects you can experience when incorporating a vitamin C skincare product into your routine. Thankfully, vitamin C is safe and beneficial to use. The only disclaimer is that in its most potent forms, pure vitamin C may be too harsh for sensitive skin. Most topical vitamin C formulations on the market are safe for even sensitive skin. Still, it’s always a good idea to patch test any product you use and discontinue using it if your skin becomes irritated.
If you’re eager to incorporate this super skincare ingredient into your routine, we encourage it! Here’s the easiest way to start benefiting from vitamin C today.
Use a Serum
The best and most popular way to get the most out of vitamin C is to use a vitamin C-containing serum. For those unfamiliar with this skincare product, you may be thinking, “what is serum?” Serums are lightweight and water, or lipid-based. Serums also contain a higher concentration of active ingredients, or more potent active ingredients, so you get more bang for your buck. Ultimately, using a serum is the most effective way to get any active ingredient into your skin, in this case, vitamin C.
Now you may be wondering, “what serum should I use?” There are plenty of serums out there for specific skin concerns, but if you’re looking for a face serum that will address all of your skin concerns, the chances are good that a vitamin C serum will rise to the challenge.
Our Radiance Perfection Serum is a perfect introduction to the world of vitamin C skincare and serums in general. This multi-active serum is safe even for sensitive skin and delivers many of the benefits of vitamin C discussed above. It tackles dullness and uneven skin tone and texture, leaving skin brighter, smoother, and more even.
For the best results, apply the serum morning and night onto freshly cleansed skin, massaging it in until it’s absorbed. It’s that simple.
Follow with a Moisturizer
To seal in all the benefits of the serum, follow it up with a moisturizer. Better yet, benefit from even more vitamin C by adding our Glow Daily Vitamin C Gel Cream Moisturizer to your routine. This moisturizer delivers an instant glow and visibly brighter, firmer, and plumper skin and is now available in a Vegan version and with a new Zero Waste* packaging. Apply it right after serum to your face and neck both morning and night.
With both of these products in your vanity, your skin will be able to combat environmental damage and ward off UV damage that comes its way. Plus, they can help visibly reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation and revive dull-looking skin for a complexion that appears brighter and more radiant.
Always Use Sunscreen
Keep that healthy-looking glow intact by following up your moisturizer with sunscreen every morning. When used in tandem, a vitamin C serum and a mineral sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays will help protect your skin from its worst enemy—the sun. We recommend our Clean Screen Mineral SPF 30 Mattifying Face Sunscreen. It will not only help prevent sun damage to your skin that causes visible signs of aging, but also help to protect your skin from environmental pollution, soothe irritation, and control shine.
Be Patient
While the benefits of vitamin C for your skin are many, and the results can be dramatic, they won’t happen overnight. With continued use of this powerful antioxidant, though, you’ll begin to see a transformation in your skin. Follow this skincare routine to a T, and you won’t be sorry. Say it with us: Serum. Moisturizer. Sunscreen. That’s the perfect way to start your day. Repeating it every day is the best way to see results.
When you look in the mirror a few weeks from now, it will all be aglow.
*Packaging designed to be recyclable, containing recycled materials or being reusable.
Sources:
- The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health
- The Skincare Edit
- Why Vitamin C is one of the Most Effective Skincare Ingredients
- The Benefits of Vitamin C
- How to Achieve an Even Skin Tone
About the Author
Camille Poggi is a doctor in Pharmacy (PharmD.) and is passionate about skincare and how the skin works in general. She specializes in the cosmetic industry and worked for renowned companies in France like L’Oréal and Chanel before moving to London. After being a training manager for 4 years, Camille is at ease with explaining how products work in the skin and how to adapt her speech according to the audience.
She joined REN in January 2020 as International Training Manager and moved to the Research & Development team earlier this year to be the new Scientific Education Manager. A tailored-made role where she assesses and leads all technical communication and ensures scientific compliance is always met. She’s also involved in new product development from the earliest stages. Finding a way to create sustainable skincare products and making sure the message is properly delivered and understood is definitely a big challenge but also her favourite part working for REN.
