SAY GOODBYE TO PIGMENTATION AND FINE LINES, AND HELLO TO BRIGHT, GLOWING SKIN!
When it comes to skincare superstars, vitamin C shines bright – quite literally! Adding this antioxidant to your daily routine has myriad benefits for the skin including promoting a brighter, more glowing complexion and reducing visible signs of ageing. And while that’s certainly a factor keeping this ingredient in the spotlight, there are plenty more reasons why vitamin C deserves to play a starring role in your skincare regimen. So before you go in search of your perfect serum, here are a few things you need to know about this potent antioxidant.
IT’S A GREAT ALTERNATIVE TO VITAMIN A (RETINOL) FOR PREGNANT WOMEN
You might be a fan of vitamin A for its wrinkle and pigmentation-fighting powers, but unfortunately for pregnant women, topical application of retinol is not recommended as not enough research has been done to determine whether it’s safe for unborn babies. Vitamin C however is the perfect safe alternative as it helps to brighten dull skin, reduce pigmentation caused by pregnancy hormones or sun damage, and give you a more even skin tone due to its ability to speed up cell turnover and boost collagen production.
If you’re looking to start using both vitamin A and vitamin C serums, don’t mix the two as they serve opposite functions. Vitamin A is best used at night because it aids in the rebuilding and repair of skin cells, while vitamin C protects the skin from environmental damage in the first instance – meaning you want to use them at opposite times of the day when they’ll be the most effective in performing their unique duties.
IT HELPS PROTECT SKIN FROM ENVIRONMENTAL AND INTERNAL DAMAGE
While we would never recommend spending long periods of time in the sun without wearing an SPF, sometimes accidents happen. As an antioxidant, vitamin C offers its own skin-protection benefits so, as we’ve already mentioned, it works best when applied in the morning under your sunscreen to really fight free radical damage. Free radicals are compounds that damage your body’s cells over time and can affect the skin through exposure not only to UV rays and pollution, but also poor diet, stress and smoking.
Exposure to UV light has also been shown to decrease the naturally occurring vitamin C levels in the skin’s epidermis (top layer), so applying vitamin C directly onto skin can help restore some of those photoprotective levels and encourage healing.
MOST VITAMIN C PRODUCTS ARE VERY UNSTABLE
If you’ve been using a vitamin C product with a lid that comes right off exposing it to light and air, it probably lost all of its superpowers a long time ago. Why? Vitamin C is an incredibly unstable ingredient, meaning exposure to light, heat and air causes it to degrade, and fast. Once the vitamin C has degraded it’s no longer bioavailable to the skin, meaning you’ll get none of the benefits.
Look for products that have either opaque packaging or come with an airless pump and store them in a cool, dark place. Single-use vitamin C products and boosting powders, which don’t degrade as quickly and can be mixed with your other skincare, have become popular for this reason.
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF VITAMIN C
Ascorbic acid, L-ascorbic acid, ascorbyl palmitate and sodium ascorbate are just a few of the many types of synthetic vitamin C found in skincare. Because vitamin C that’s naturally derived is more likely to degrade quickly, most products on the market contain a synthetic derivative to create a more stable product.
However, if you’re looking for a natural alternative, Australian company Biologi has successfully developed an extraction method that takes pure vitamin C direct from fruit including kakadu plum, finger lime and Davidson plum to deliver a 100% active and stable serum. This world-first method delivers bioavailable vitamin C in its natural form directly to the skin in the highest potency available on the market.
To view the range of Biologi products available on MARGOT, click here.
