Whether you are just dabbling in beauty care or are the go-to friend for beauty care advice, you must have heard of this super-beneficial ingredient – Vitamin C.
Vitamin C irons out all your skin’s imperfections, wrinkles, fine lines, dullness and hyperpigmentation marks, revealing flawless, glowing skin.
If you have been using this ingredient or are yet to incorporate it into your daily skincare regime, let us convince you of its immense benefits. We will back our claims with science instead of giving you generic reasons for using this dermatologist-best-loved ingredient. After all, skincare shouldn’t be taken lightly.
What is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is an important nutrient our body needs to repair and grow tissues, including our skin. However, our body can’t produce it on its own. This ingredient is naturally found in fruits and veggies such as guavas, oranges, bell peppers, broccoli, tomato, kale, etc. Although most animals can synthesise Vitamin C on their own, human beings need to get it from dietary sources or supplements.
As a powerful water soluble vitamin, Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is essential for collagen production, the functioning of certain enzymes, and the human immunity system.
So, this is the basic ‘get-to-know’ vitamin C part – let’s now understand how this ingredient is God-sent for your skin?
Where is Vitamin C Present in the Skin?
We said we’d talk about science, and here’s it.
Vitamin C is available in high concentrations in the skin compared with other body parts. In the skin, they are present in intracellular compartments. It has also been reported that the levels of Vitamin C in the epidermal layer of skin are lower as people age or are constantly exposed to environmental stresses. Moreover, the Vitamin C is not distributed evenly in the skin, with more concentration levels found in the epidermal layer than in the dermal layer.
What does Vitamin C have that works wonders for your skin?
To completely comprehend how vitamin C works for your skin, you need first to grasp free radicals and how these damages your skin.
Our skin gets exposed to free radicals from pollutants, smoke, stress, UV light and smog. The effects of free radicals on your skin are extensive and damaging. They penetrate deep into the top layer of the skin – the epidermis – and even change our DNA, alter the skin’s colour, texture, moisture retention and barrier and damage cellular functioning.
Vitamin C, being a powerful antioxidant, can reverse the impact of free radicals on our skin.
Vitamin C is loaded with depigmenting agents that reduce melanogenesis, which prevents melanin production.
Our body has a structural protein called collagen responsible for maintaining youthful, strong skin. However, as we age, the collagen in our bodies begins to deplete, making our skin wrinkle and sag.
For our bodies to synthesise collagen, amino acids glycine and proline are required to form procollagen, which acts as a precursor. Here is where Vitamin C comes into the picture. It helps with the production of procollagen.
How Does Vitamin C Specifically Help in Skin Brightening?
Before we answer that, let’s see why your skin could look dull, pigmented, tanned and damaged.
1. Dry & Dull Skin
Your skin could look dull and lifeless because of dehydration. Earlier it was thought that skin dryness was due to decreased water retention or sebum production as we grew older.
However, it is now believed to be because of changes in the lipid content and keratinization process. In addition, the reduction in skin barrier lipids and a fall in something called the natural moisturising factor or the MNF are also thought to increase skin dryness.
So, how does Vitamin C help?
Vitamin C has proven hydrating qualities that reduce transepidermal loss of water. By building a stronger skin barrier, Vitamin C helps lock the moisture in and prevent much-needed moisture from escaping from the skin’s outer layer. This hydrating quality helps keep the skin plump and healthy, thereby increasing your skin’s inherent glow.
The topical application of Vitamin C products – either as a lotion or a serum – can reduce roughness and unevenness of the skin.
2. Hyperpigmentation Spots
Hyperpigmentation is commonly called dark spots, and these are caused by exposure to harmful UV rays and environmental pollutants. Although not typically harmful, exposure to these rays can cause your skin to look older.
When combined with other potential ingredients, Vitamin C has shown to have a dramatic effect on melanin synthesis. When melanin production is reduced, tanning, dark spots and dark circles around the eyes can also be cleared.
3. Skin Protection
Your skin is exposed to various pollutants and stresses and is constantly bombarded with harmful UVA rays from the skin. So, no matter how much sunscreen you might splash on, it would help if you had something to give you the much-needed protection from within. And that’s what Vitamin C is going to achieve.
When abused by environmental stresses like UV rays, pollution, and harmful chemicals, your normal skin reacts and creates free radicals. These free radicals, being unstable molecules, damage the skin cells from within, causing wrinkles, dullness and photoaging.
Vitamin C comes with impressive antioxidant properties that can reduce and reverse the impact of free radicals. At the same time, Vit C is not the only weapon fighting free radicals’ arsenal. Combining Vit E along with Vit C is said to be more effective. Vit C scavenges free radicals and keeps it protected, healthy and bright.
4. Skin Ageing
Skin ageing is a natural process occurring in the skin, just like it does in many body parts. The signs of ageing are visible in all layers of the skin – including the surface, which is perhaps the first place the unmistakable signs of ageing are seen.
Ageing can happen in two steps- intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic ageing happens due to the natural passage of time, but extrinsic ageing could result from exposure to pollution, stress, UV radiation, and general health.
There isn’t a way (yet) to distinguish between the two forms of aging; environmental ageing doesn’t become apparent until considerable damage has been done.
Wrinkles, dullness, sagging, fine lines, and patchy skin tone resulting from skin damage. It could also be attributed to the reduction in a structural protein called collagen in the skin, thinning of the dermal layer, flattening of the dermal-epidermal junction, loss of water barrier and loss of repair function.
Although it is impossible to pinpoint the effects of Vitamin C in preventing signs of ageing, it is generally understood that a deficiency in Vit C causes several skin ailments, dullness and fragility.
On the other hand, since Vit C provides ample protection against environmental stresses, topical application of Vit C is believed to affect the skin’s appearance positively.
5. Fine Lines and Wrinkles
To know how Vit C helps ease out wrinkles and fine lines and help brighten your skin, you need to know a little about collagen and skin structure.
The skin has two layers mainly – the outer epidermal and inner dermal layer. Of course, the outermost layer acts as the barrier layer and is responsible for keeping harmful pollutants away from the skin with its lipid-rich water-impermeable barrier.
But now, we are more interested in the dermal layer that provides innate elasticity and strength to your skin. You can find collagen fibres, blood vessels and other extracellular components in this layer.
But why is collagen important?
Collagen, as a natural protein, provides structure and firmness to your skin. But, as we age, the collagen concentration in our skin starts depleting over time, leading to wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging.
Vit C is an exceptional collagen boosting agent, without which collagen synthesis doesn’t happen. Since Vit C helps increase collagen levels in the skin, your skin will appear firm, even-toned, younger and bright.
6. Skin Brightening
Vitamin C fights hyperpigmentation and dullness, boosts moisture retention, eases wrinkles, and promotes an even-toned complexion. It also helps in reducing hyperpigmentation spots by working on the skin’s melanin production.
Your skin naturally takes some time to heal and repair, and if the skin doesn’t heal well, it develops scars. Removing these scars can be a challenge as they could result from the loss of collagen and skin tissue.
However, topical application of Vitamin C to the affected area is believed to increase collagen synthesis, which helps rebuild the skin’s cellular structure and cell turnover.
What are the Vitamin C Products that help your skin?
There are hundreds of products containing various concentrations of Vitamin C.
Choosing the right one is nothing short of a challenge. Moreover, several skincare products contain Vitamin C, such as cleansers and serums. Since you’ll be applying this potent ingredient to your skin, you need to make sure the product you buy is reliable, quality and effective.
We suggest Body Tales Vitamin C Serum be one of the most effective serums on the market. Moreover, when used with Vitamin C Foaming Face Wash, you can achieve effective results quickly.
We believe that when it’s about skincare, you should not take chances and just go for the best.
