What Can Vitamin C Do for the Skin?

There’s basically a whole alphabet of vitamins out there—but today, we’d like to talk to you about one of our particular favorites and how to incorporate it in your skin care routine. And without further ado, we’re here to give you the lowdown on vitamin C! At the moment, vitamin C is very on trend in the skin care world. Want to get in on the vitamin C action yourself? Keep reading to learn what vitamin C is, what vitamin C can do for the skin, and how to add it to your beauty routine.

What Is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C (a.k.a. ascorbic acid—the pure form of vitamin C) is a natural antioxidant. Need a quick refresh on antioxidants? According to the American Academy of Dermatology, antioxidants are popularly used in skin care products thanks to their anti-aging benefits. In fact, when applied topically, vitamin C has been shown to have antioxidant qualities. So, it makes sense that you’d be able to find quite a few skin care products formulated with vitamin C!

What Can Vitamin C Do for the Skin?

As we said earlier, when applied topically to your skin, vitamin C can have antioxidant qualities. What that means: According to the Mayo Clinic, Vitamin C can help protect your skin from free radicals. Pretty cool, right? And, as you’re probably already well aware, free radicals can lead to visible signs of aging like dark spots and wrinkles down the road.

How Can You Add Vitamin C to Your Skin Care Routine?

Ready to hop on the vitamin C bandwagon? We thought you would be interested! There are a few different ways you can incorporate vitamin C into your skin care routine. Follow our tips below to get started.

1. Pair vitamin C with products formulated with broad-spectrum SPF. You know how we told you that using vitamin C can help protect your skin from free radicals? Well, before you get to that, it’s important to understand that wearing a broad-spectrum SPF (which protects against both UVA and UVB rays) each day should be an essential step in your skin care routine. When you spend prolonged periods of time out in the sun sans protection, this can lead to sun damage on the surface of your skin, which can lead to visible signs of aging. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends wearing an SPF of 15 or higher on normal days or an SPF of 30 or higher on days when you’ll be spending an extended amount of time out in the sun. (And you can get burned even on cloudy days—so make sure to apply sunscreen with broad-spectrum SPF daily year-round!)

Now that we’ve gotten that little SPF lesson out of the way, let’s see where vitamin C can fit into your skin care routine, OK? Using a topical antioxidant like vitamin C along with your broad-spectrum SPF can help provide a line of defense against free radicals. You can find vitamin C in the formulas of a variety of different kinds of skin care products, one of our favorites being serums. (If you’re using a serum, you should apply it after cleansing but before moisturizing and applying your sunscreen with broad-spectrum SPF.)

2. Store your products formulated with vitamin C correctly. It turns out that how you store your skin care matters. According to the Mayo Clinic, you should keep your products formulated with vitamin C away from air and sunlight (think: somewhere dark).

The Recap on Vitamin C

We bet you’re pretty excited about using vitamin C in your skin care routine right now, aren’t you? To summarize, when you use topical vitamin C, it can have antioxidant qualities—and that means that it can help protect against free radicals. Try pairing a product formulated with vitamin C with your broad-spectrum SPF, and remember to store it somewhere away from air and sunlight. And now you’re officially ready to add vitamin C to your skin care routine!