Vitamin C is a popular skin care ingredient and is used extensively in skin care products and skin treatments. This is because it offers a full range of benefits to the skin. In fact, it is often touted as the "all-rounder" when it comes to skin care.
Benefits of Vitamin C
It is a potent antioxidant that fights against free radicals and prevents premature aging of the skin. In addition, it boosts the immune system and accelerates the skin recovery process. However, the most important characteristic of Vitamin C is perhaps its ability to synthesize collagen. It stimulates the production of collagen within the skin cells and helps the skin remain healthy and younger looking!
Types of Vitamin C
There are a various types of Vitamin C that are used in skin care products. Here are some popular ones:
L-Ascorbic Acid
This is perhaps the most common form of Vitamin C that is used in skin care products and treatments. L-Ascorbic acid is a water soluble ingredient that gets readily absorbed by the skin and delivers benefits. Being a potent antioxidant, it stimulates the production of collagen within skin cells and promotes a healthier and younger looking complexion. However, it is highly unstable and oxidizes very fast on exposure to air, light or heat.
Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate
Popularly called MAP, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate is a water soluble derivative of Vitamin C. Even this accelerates the production of collagen within skin cells but is more effective in low concentrations. And unlike L-Ascorbic acid, it is stable and doesn't irritate the skin. However, make sure you store it properly in order to prevent any degradation.
Ascorbyl Palmitate
A combination of L-ascorbic Acid combined with palmitic acid, Ascorbyl Palmitate is a non-acidic form of Vitamin C. Though it is a potent antioxidant, the concentrations of Ascorbyl Palmitate used in skin care products are generally so low that it fails to deliver any noticeable results. However it is still more stable that L-Ascorbic acid.
Ascorbic Acid
Just like all other forms of Vitamin C, Ascorbic acid also has potent antioxidant properties. However, it is not very stable and therefore may cause irritations on the skin.
Ascorbic Acid Polypeptide
This form of Vitamin C is water-soluble form and is also very stable. Moreover, when applied to the skin, it can readily convert into Vitamin C and deliver instant benefits.
Ascorbyl Methyl Silanol
This derivative of Vitamin C is more stable than L-Ascorbic acid but does not get readily absorbed by the skin. That's why even though it may be added to skin care products, it doesn't provide any benefits to the skin.
Other forms of Vitamin C are Ascorbyl Glucosamine, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Sodium Ascorbyl Palmitate and Ester-C to name a few.
Tips to Use Vitamin C Skin Care Products
The effectiveness of Vitamin C based skin care products depends on its formulation and the concentration of Vitamin C in it. Products that claim to contain Vitamin C but only have very small concentrations of it would not have any significant benefits on the skin.
Antioxidants get degraded when exposed to air, heat and sunlight. And when they get oxidized they cease to deliver any visible benefits to the skin, therefore, make sure you store Vitamin C based skin acre products in a cool dark place with the lid tightly fastened.
Vitamin C increases the skin's sensitivity towards sunlight. So make sure you wear a broad spectrum sunscreen that protects your skin against any sun damage.
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