It’s been centuries since British sailors discovered the key to avoiding scurvy: vitamin C.
Those sailors and others who couldn’t get fresh fruits and vegetables suffered bleeding under the skin, ulcers and joint weakness. That’s because first and foremost vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is essential for the synthesis of collagen, a protein that aids in the growth of cells and blood vessels and gives skin its firmness and strength.
Vitamin C is also a fabulous antioxidant! This means that it will combat free radical damage. This damage breaks down your collagen, which is one of the main causes of aging! Along with the sun, free radicals deplete the collagen leaving the skin less fluffy and plump! Like an old mattress on your bed, less firm which means more wrinkles unfortunately.
Vitamin C is also a fabulous skin brightener. Like in the 80’s when people used to put citrus in their hair to lighten it naturally. Vitamin does the same on the skin so generally if you are topically using a very strong vitamin C product you’re skin will constantly look brighter, and it does not take long to take affect too!
Due to being a great skin brightener, vitamin C is great to use if you have pigmentation and especially if you are receiving IPL Rejuvenation treatment for pigmentation.
The problem with Vitamin C
First, vitamin C is relatively unstable (unless it is in a dry form). In the presence of air or other oxidizing agents, vitamin C is easily converted to oxidized forms. The oxidized vitamin C is not only incapable of boosting collagen synthesis or scavenging free radicals but may actually promote free radical formation causing damage to vital molecules such as proteins and DNA.
Second, only highly concentrated preparations (10% or more) deliver enough vitamin C to the cells to be topically effective.
