Is Vitamin C Really All That Great?

Vitamin C is one of the first and most commonly used antioxidants. It was first patented in skincare by Dr. Sheldon Pinnell in 1992, which led to the famous formulation launched by Skin Ceuticals in 1997. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning it cleans up the damaging debris that we expose our skin to daily, like sun and pollution. It can also help brighten skin and supports the production of collagen. All of these actions make Vitamin C great at preventing wrinkles and reversing sing of skin aging.

Many bloggers and beauty experts promote the benefits of vitamin C and declare that vitamin C is a “must” in your beauty routine. However, Vitamin C cannot be used by everyone – it can cause irritation in select patients. The irritation patients suffer from using vitamin C counteract its benefits – plus, who wants a rash on their face? This is because Vitamin C comes in many forms, with L-Ascorbic Acid being the most potent and also the most likely to cause stinging, burning, flushing, and a rash. Thus, at Pure Dermatology, we generally have patients avoid Vitamin C if their skin is red, irritated, itchy, or flushes easily.

Also, 1997 was a VERY LONG time ago, and while many refer to SkinCeuticals L-ascorbic acid products as the gold standard, many other antioxidants have been discovered since then. Plus, other Vitamin C molecules have been developed which are more absorbable, stable, and gentle on the skin. Because Vitamin C is an unstable molecule, unfortunately the inexpensive formulations probably do not have the technology to make them effective unless they were created by a large company (La Roche Posay and CeraVe). Vitamin C is very sensitive to sunlight while it is stored, so the best way for your vitamin C to maintain effectiveness is for it to be in dark or amber glass bottle or even better to be in an airless pump. According to the National Institutes of Health, vitamin C plays an important role in collagen production and antioxidant protection.