What are the benefits of using a Vitamin C serum?

Oh my gosh I love Vitamin C! Obviously the sort I get from my fresh squeezed orange juice every morning (okay, maybe not every morning) but also absolutely the sort we can apply directly to our skin in serum form.

Why do I love vitamin C serum? Because it’s a skincare superhero with a whole list of amazing benefits that can make a real, visible difference to your skin and skin health.

What are the benefits of a vitamin C serum?

A good vitamin C serum will help prevent sun damage, reduce the look of existing sun damage - hyperpigmentation, or sun spots - reduce wrinkles, and increase collagen production.

How? Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which means it goes into battle with free radicals. To understand what free radicals are, we’d need to get quite deep into cell science. Suffice to say, free radicals are unstable atoms in your body that bond with other unstable atoms and, as these atoms continue to link with other unstable atoms, can create a process called oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can damage the body’s cells, leading to a range of diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and other dementias; rheumatoid arthritis and cancer; and age-related vision decline and those pesky age-related changes in our appearance: loss of skin elasticity; fine lines and wrinkles; sun spots and pigmentation. To top it all, as we age our ability to fight the effects of free radicals lessens, meaning it’s especially important to feed our bodies and our skin what it needs to take the fight on.

Our lifestyle choices can play a major part in the fight against free radicals and yes, you know what I am going to say next! Although free radicals are produced naturally in the body, the obvious lifestyle factors can accelerate their production. These include: smoking; alcohol; and over consumption of fried foods and heavily processed foods.

How does Vitamin C serum fade sun spots?

Call them what you will - sun spots or age spots - they are the direct results of over-exposure to sunshine, and the UVA and UVB rays that are so bad for us. Vitamin C impedes the production of melanin, the substance in your body that produces hair, eye and skin pigmentation, meaning that when applied topically to sun spots, melasma and those darker areas where acne has healed, vitamin C can actually fade hyperpigmentation.

Not all Vitamin C serums are created equal

It’s really important we understand that not all Vitamin C serums are as effective as they claim to be. Vitamin C is notoriously hard to stabilise and preserve in skincare, and doesn’t love being mixed with other skincare ingredients. Aspects such as the type and concentration of vitamin C in the serum, the other ingredients in the serum, and even the kind of dispenser it's in can affect your serum’s benefits, making some a waste of your time and money.

What to look for in a Vitamin C serum

First, you need to seek out a serum that is all about the Vitamin C - it needs to have either L-ascorbic acid or Sodium ascorbyl phosphate right up front in its ingredients list. You also need to look for the inclusion of Tocopherol, or Vitamin E. Vitamin C isn’t fond of sharing a space with other active skin ingredients - as an acid and an active ingredient in its own right, its efficacy can be easily damaged - but it’s very fond of Tocopherol. Tocopherol can help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles in its own right. It also helps stabilise Vitamin C in a serum, and is an antioxidant, too, so it also helps battle free radicals and oxidative stress.

I have chosen to use Sodium ascorbyl phosphate in my Serum C. It’s a stable, water-soluble form of vitamin C made from combining ascorbic acid with a phosphate and a salt, compounds which work with enzymes in skin to split Sodium ascorbyl phosphate and release pure ascorbic acid, which is the most researched form of vitamin C.

Finally, the packaging is important. Vitamin C, even in Sodium ascorbyl phosphate form, becomes increasingly unstable over time and with exposure to light and heat, so the bottle or pump should be solid, preventing light from penetrating the packaging. Time will have a detrimental effect on the serum, too, and that can’t be prevented - if your vitamin C serum starts to turn yellow, orange or brown, it’s gone off and won’t deliver any benefit. Use it or lose it!

When and how to use a Vitamin C serum

You should apply your vitamin C serum twice a day, both morning and night. If you’re going to be out and about in the sunshine all day, either at home or abroad, apply it every eight hours - when you get up, late afternoon and again at bedtime.

Vitamin C has photoprotective properties, meaning it can help your skin fight the molecular damage caused by exposure to sunlight, but studies have shown that as the day goes on, it becomes less effective, so on really sunny days when you’re outside, this extra dose is a good plan.

The best way to apply it is after your cleanse, underneath your moisturiser and SPF cream. Vitamin C is a line of defence, it is not a replacement for, or alternative to, a really good SPF - minimum SPF 30, but ideally for your face an SPF 50.

At the end of the day, cleanse again, apply your Vitamin C serum and then your night cream.

I never fail to apply my Vitamin C at the end of the day too. While a really good SPF will keep those nasty UVA and UVB rays at bay, even a factor 50 is never going to be 100 per cent effective, so applying my Serum C gives me confidence I have not only taken steps to protect my skin, but am also feeding it what it needs to take the battle to the free radicals,

It’s also great to apply to the back of your hands, lightening sun spots and promoting healthier skin. The same as with your face and neck, make sure you apply an SPF over the top, though.

Be aware: you should always patch test any serum with an active ingredient

Vitamin C in a serum at a really effective level can irritate very sensitive skins. When you first apply it, do a small patch test and leave it overnight. If you don’t see a visible reaction, you can then apply it to face, neck and backs of hands, but start gently - a couple of times a week, at bedtime, before increasing usage till you are using it every day, morning and night.

My Serum C was one of the first products I developed in my SkinGoal range, and is I believe one of the most important serums we can apply to our skin every day. As above, super-sensitive skins may struggle a little, but if you think this may be the case for you, make an appointment for a free skin consultation and we can assess your options. If you know your skin it quite robust - and if you’re a regular user of other active ingredients such as GHAs and retinol, it probably is - invest now, before another summer wreaks its havoc on your skin.

Love, Penny xxx