Veggie Blog

Vitamin C skin care: the challenge

Vitamin C is widely regarded as a skin protector and an anti-aging agent. In technical terms, the main aim of Vitamin C skin care is to support the production of collagen (a structural protein found in skin). A further benefit of Vitamin C skin care is its ability to counter free radicals, which damage the skin.

Vitamin C skin care, however, faces a real challenge: Vitamin C is unstable. On contact with an oxidising agent (e.g. air or light), the Vitamin C in a skin care product oxidises, which makes the product much less effective. Oxidised Vitamin C turns the product a yellowish-brown colour. Check for this before buying a Vitamin C skin care product. After you buy one, store it properly and keep checking that it is still good to use (i.e. that it has not turned yellowish-brown).

Manufacturers have tried to deal with this oxidation problem in various ways, and research on Vitamin C skin care products is high on their list. One way of keeping the products effective for longer is to use a high concentration of Vitamin C. However, this makes the products more expensive, and they are already fairly expensive. Another way is to use Vitamin C derivatives (like ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate). These are more stable and cheaper. There is less evidence that the derivatives work as well as pure Vitamin C, but their stability is a very attractive feature. They are also known to be less irritating.

Talking of the effects of Vitamin C skin care products, it is important to note that not everyone responds to Vitamin C treatments. So it is not a magic potion in any way. If you do not see a noticeable difference in your skin, it may be because your skin does not respond to Vitamin C (and the product may not be at fault at all).

As research goes on, we can only keep our fingers crossed and wait for a complete solution to the challenges faced by Vitamin C skin care today.