What Vitamin C Does to Your Skin

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid has antioxidant properties that help synthesise of collagen, which becomes a dominant contributor to healthy skin. Studies have shown that Vitamin C can help prevent and treat photodamage caused by ultraviolet rays. Likewise, topical and dietary ascorbic acid is beneficial to skin cells. Ascorbic acid also combines well with other skin-friendly ingredients.

Vitamin C for skin

Naturally occurring

Did you know that vitamin C is a natural constituent of your skin? High levels of the vitamin are in your epidermis and dermis, with the epidermis level more elevated than in the inner layer. Aside from vitamin C, your skin also has other antioxidants such as glutathione and uric acid.

Proteins in the bloodstream transport the ascorbic acid to your skin; however, the level of vitamin C in your skin becomes lower due to aging, exposure to pollutants, and UV light.

Topical application

You can increase the level of the vitamin with topical application. But the absorption of ascorbic acid is not as efficient due to the horny layer of the epidermis or the stratum corneum. The horny layer is the topmost layer of the skin, made up of four other internal layers. The first layer needs to be tougher, since it protects the different layers of the epidermis from the environment. The cells on the top layer of the epidermis continually shed. The skin’s thickness depends on the location in the body. The skin on your eyelids and under your eyes is thinner. The epidermis on the hands and feet are thicker.

For the absorption of the topical lotion, serum or cream by the epidermis, a few individual antioxidant compounds are mixed with vitamin C to penetrate the tough outer layer. Moreover, the blend of these ingredients ensures the stability of vitamin C in topical solutions, since the vitamin is sensitive to light, heat, and air.

Ascorbic acid deficiency

Scurvy or deficiency in vitamin C manifests once the ascorbic acid concentrations in the plasma drop. On the skin, scurvy appears like bluish/reddish spots similar to bruises around hair follicles. The brittle hairs appear corkscrew-like. Some thickening of the epidermis, as well as small subcutaneous bleeding in spots, may likewise occur.

Benefits to healthy skin

Vitamin C provides photoprotection or protecting the skin from overexposure to ultraviolet light. Its antioxidant properties shield the skin from damage due to free radicals, by delivering more vitamin C to the exposed surface.

The topical application of vitamin C combined with ferulic acids, such asĀ SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF, is better than taking an oral ascorbic acid supplement because the administration is direct to the skin.

Ascorbic acid helps prevent wrinkling and photodamage. Aside from being an antioxidant, the vitamin stabilizes collagen and increases its protein synthesis to quickly repair damaged skin and lower the risk of developing dry skin.

The topical application of vitamin C mixed with other antioxidants promotes wound healing. It also improves the appearance of your skin, prevents the formation of premature wrinkles, increases the production of collagen, and makes your skin smoother.

Make sure that you choose a vitamin C-enriched topical skin formulation that combines it with other antioxidants for dewy, smooth, and fresh-looking skin.

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.