Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid is a water soluble vitamin, and using a right Vitamin C Serum as per your skin type is one of the most important steps in skincare for everyone.
What does Vitamin C or a Vitamin C serum do?
It is a potent anti-oxidant, which reverses the oxidative damage in the skin
It prevents further damage by sun
It has a role in collagen synthesis
It helps to resurface the skin
In simple words, Vitamin C Serum will help you in doing everything from fading scars and marks, brightening and evening out your complexion, provide you a glowing skin, and work as a potent anti-ageing solution — often combined with medifacials for enhanced results. Truly a wonder ingredient.
Vitamin C in Skin
Vitamin C is a normal component of skin, and is seen in almost equal quantities in both epidermis and dermis (top layer and deeper layers of skin). However, with age, sun-exposure, smoking, pollution etc, the concentration of Vitamin C decreases, both in dermis and epidermis. The level of this decrease, and weather the decrease is in dermis or epidermis, varies from one causative agent to another. Vitamin C can be supplied to the skin, both via topical application (Vitamin C Serum) or by blood stream. However, the amount of vitamin C that can be transferred via blood is limited by several factors.
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Topical Application of Vitamin C Serum
Now that we have established that Vitamin C is a wonder ingredient for everyone, we need to figure out how to use it, when to use it, and which is the correct formulation for each individual.
Vitamin C is a very unstable molecule, and is prone to oxidise or going bad very easily. Exposure to air, water, temperature changes etc, everything can have an impact on the potency of your Vitamin C serum.
The most active form of Vitamin C is L Ascorbic Acid, which is also the most unstable one and pH dependant. It works only on pH levels below 4.0. The low pH can be irritant to many skins. Another, more stable version of Vitamin C is Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, which though a less effective form, is more stable and less irritant.
Why my Fancy Vitamin C Serum is not working?
For a Vitamin C serum to work, and show all its promised benefits, many things are required:
1. Correct pH: Without the low pH, Vitamin C serum will not be effective
2. Correct Concentration: For a Vitamin C Serum to show most efficacy and highest absorption, the L Ascorbic Acid % should be close to 20%, which is a very high concentration, and hard to come across in commercially available products.
3. Application Method: Vitamin C serum needs to be applied in a very particular way, without which its efficacy will be greatly decreased. It has to be the first product you apply on a washed and dried face, or after a pH balancing toner. It needs to be left alone on the face, till the pH neutralises, before you continue with the rest of your skincare, as the other higher pH products will render the Vitamin C Serum ineffective.
4. Correct Delivery and Preservation Techniques: how the vitamin C molecule is stored and preserved is very important, to ensure it does not oxidise before getting absorbed.
5. Other accompaniments: Other compounds, such as Vitamin E, Ferulic Acid, Resveratrol etc both make vitamin c more stable and more potent.
6. Sunscreen: it is very important to protect your skin against Sun, especially when you are using Vitamin C serum.
All this is very hard to come by in a store bought Vitamin C serum, and hence you don’t see much improvement with them.
Get in touch with our expert Doctors now, to find the best prescription strength Vitamin C serum for your skin type, and reap the maximum benefits.
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Dr Ankit Gupta
MBBS, MS, M.Ch (Plastic Surgery)
