How To Select The Correct Vitamin C Product

Vitamin C will help brighten and protect your skin while having the ability to prevent and correct free radical damage. A topical vitamin C product is an essential component to your morning skincare routine.

Benefits of Topical Vitamin C

Whilst it is important to have Vitamin C in our diet, which can be good for our vital organs, the reality is that only a small percentage of the nutrients go to the skin. Therefore, using a topical Vitamin C product can be highly beneficial for the following reasons:

• promote Collagen and Elastin production
• enhances tissue repair and is, therefore, excellent as scar therapy
• as an anti-oxidant, provides protection to skin cells from free radical damage including harmful UV rays.
• active anti-inflammatory effects
• creates a skin lightening effect by suppressing excess melanin production.
• applying topical vitamin C to the skin is 20 times more effective than oral ingestion.

Choosing the Right Vitamin C Formulation

With so much choice of Vitamin C products on the market, it is important to choose the right one for your skin type, otherwise, you may experience reactive and problematic skin if the product is too active or unsuitable for your skin type.

L-ascorbic acid

Also known as Pure C by many skincare brands, this is one of the most effective and strongest forms of Vitamin C. 

Best for:

• robust skin
• oily skin
• thickened sun-damaged skin

As L-ascorbic acid is an unstable product, to make it stable, it needs to be in the form of a dry crystal powder, which must be mixed with a water-based serum and used immediately.

L-ascorbic acid works from the top layer of your skin and travels down the deeper layers, therefore some skin types experience redness or irritation if the skin is sensitive or problematic.

Examples of L-Ascorbic Acid products:

• Synergie Pure C
• SpaCeuticals Pure C + Peptides
• Cosmedix Pure C

Ethyl-ascorbic acid

This is one of the most stable forms of Vitamin C that is gentler on the skin, whilst being effective. Ethyl-ascorbic acid converts 86.3% into ascorbic acid once it has penetrated into the skin and has very similar benefits to L-ascorbic acid.

Best for:

• pigmented or sun-damaged skin
• mature or premature ageing skin

In some product formulations Ethyl-ascorbic acid is combined with plant-based Ferulic Acid to boost its effectiveness of the Vitamin C.

Examples of Vitamin C products that contain Ferulic Acid

• Medik8 Super C Ferulic
• Synergie SupremaC+

Tetra-Hexyldeyl Ascorbate

This is a super-stable vitamin C derivative. It is oil soluble and is able to penetrate deeply into the skin’s protective lipid barrier, to stimulate collagen production, give antioxidant protection against free radicals and brighten the complexion.

Best for:

• sensitive skin
• dry skin
• first time users of Vitamin C products

Example products with Tetra-Hexyldeyl Acorbate:

• Aspect Extreme C 20
• Medik8 C-Tetra
• Medik8 C-Tetra Luxe

Kakadu plum

One of the richest and natural sources of Vitamin C, containing a 3000mg per 100g of Vitamin C. This is an essential nutrient to assist in slowing down the ageing process.

Best for:

• all skin types
• those seeking a natural source of Vitamin C.

Products containing Kakadu Plum:

• SpaCeuticals Hydra-C Mist

Vitamin C for the Eye Area.

Let’s not forget that the skin around our eyes could also be in need of repairing, brightening and protecting.

Facial Vitamin C products are likely to be too intense for the eye area. Therefore there are specific formulations for the skin around the eyes, containing the correct dose of Vitamin C, that will avoid irritation.

Example Products:

• Medik8 C-Tetra Eye
• SpaCeuticals Ferulic+C Eye Repair

Vitamin C is your corrective serum, and with a wide choice of products available, you can start each day with brighter and well protected skin.

Related Blogs:

• Understanding Free Radical Damage
• The Goodness of the Kakadu Plum