Vitamin C has attained near legendary status when it comes to skincare. How come?

Simply put, it's a powerful, research-proven antioxidant that offers our skin a long list of anti-aging benefits. A good Vitamin C serum will address many of the most common skin concerns with its brightening, tightening effects.

Here's a quick overview from our Director of Product Development, Monika:

Want to know if a Vitamin C serum is for you? Here's what you need to know about using Vitamin C for your skin.

Top Skin Benefits of Vitamin C

1. It reduces redness and evens out skin tone

Vitamin C helps treat inflammation in the skin, which is often the culprit behind unwanted redness, blotchiness and generally uneven or irregular skin tone.

2. It fades dark spots and hyperpigmentation

As we age, many of us develop darker spots on our skin. If you want to lighten dark spots, age spots, sun spots or other forms of hyperpigmentation, Vitamin C can help. 

3. It reduces the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines

Collagen is the most essential structural element in our skin. It keeps it bouncy and youthful. Over time, it gets weaker due to damage from UV rays and pollution.

By promoting collagen production and plumping the skin through hydration, Vitamin C fills out and tightens the skin. This makes fine lines and wrinkles less visible. 

4. It fights free radicals from UV and pollution exposure 

Aging is unavoidable, but protecting your skin against environmental stressors that accelerate the aging process is totally in your control. Vitamin C helps fight free radicals from exposure to UV rays and pollution. By doing so, it accelerates skin cell turnover and keeps skin cells healthy.

What To Look for in a Vitamin C Serum

If you've read this far, you'll likely agree that Vitamin C has some incredible benefits for our skin. But not all Vitamin C serums are the same. Here's what you should consider before you buy a Vitamin C serum.

How much Vitamin C should be in a serum?

To get the best results, your serum needs to have at least 15% Vitamin C content. Serums with lower content won’t effectively penetrate skin. If a brand doesn’t list the percentage of Vitamin C — be skeptical! It means they can use 0.001% and still claim it in the ingredients. 

Are some types of Vitamin C more effective?

Indeed. In our Wake Up Face Serum we use 15% encapsulated L-Ascorbic Acid. L-Ascorbic Acid is the most active form of Vitamin C and is water soluble, which makes it more effective than other forms of Vitamin C. It's been widely shown through research to have brightening and tightening skin benefits.

We also encapsulate our Vitamin C in a thin “Smart Bio-Shell” made with volcanic soil. This shell releases the Vitamin C when it makes contact with your skin will allow the skin to absorb it better. 

In case you've been wondering, drinking orange juice or taking a vitamin in pill form that has Vitamin C doesn't have the same effects for your skin as applying it directly in a serum.

Does Vitamin C work better with other ingredients?

It sure does. Active skincare ingredients like Vitamin C work better when applied to hydrated skin. Ideally you want to find a serum that hydrates as it delivers Vitamin C.

Our Wake Up Face Serum includes Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin E partly for this reason.

• Hyaluronic Acid Hyaluronic Acid is a naturally occurring molecule in our skin that is able to hold 1000 times its weight in water. It can pull moisture from the environment as well as deeper layers of the skin to help plump and moisturize skin.
• Vitamin E is also highly moisturizing and has been shown in clinical studies to make Vitamin C more effective. Vitamin E is oil soluble and can penetrate the deeper level of the skin while helping to stabilize Vitamin C to work optimally at the surface level.

Hydrated skin has its own anti-aging benefits on top of Vitamin C. Moisture plumps your skin which helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Just think of a raisin compared to a grape.