Skincare Twitter, let’s talk about the skincare ingredient- Vitamin C.

Vitamin C is a very powerful antioxidant. What’s an antioxidant? An antioxidant is something that neutralizes free radicals and free radicals are unstable molecules that damage living cells. #skincarewithlola

Free radicals cause premature aging, fine lines, wrinkles, dull skin, etc. Antioxidants fight against this & Vitamin C is commonly used in serums for its antioxidant, skin brightening benefits. However, there are different forms of Vitamin C:

•Ascorbic Acid
•L ascorbic Acid

•Sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP)
•Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (MAP)
•Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate etc

The most powerful form of vitamin C is L ascorbic acid. You get most of the benefits of vitamin c from it but it’s very unstable. It oxidizes easily & breaks down when

it’s exposed to light plus It has an acidic pH. It’s also unstable in water so it starts to oxidize immediately in water/air (you’ll notice this when the color starts to change to orange, brown). Once it oxidizes, it becomes less effective

To make it stable, it’s formulated

with ferulic acid and vitamin E which are other antioxidants that help reduce the rate at which it breakdowns or it’s formulated in a base that doesn’t contain water. This is also why vitamin c serums are stored in an amber (dark colored) bottle so it won’t be exposed to light.

Other forms of vitamin C which are stable are Sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP), magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (MAP) but honestly they are not as effective as L ascorbic acid but they are milder & gentler than L ascorbic acid & can be combined with other actives unlike L ascorbic

Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate tho is one form of vitamin C that is really promising. It’s similar to ascorbic acid because a part of it is derived from ascorbic acid but it’s stable which also makes it a powerful form of vitamin C. It’s very expensive but it’s effective in lower conc

To get the best out of a vitamin C serum, this is my own personal tip.

If your brand uses L ascorbic acid, make sure the product also contains vitamin E and ferulic acid or better still let it be in a silicon or anhydrous base (anhydrous is something that contains no water)

Or look out for a vitamin c serum that has atleast two different forms of vitamin C eg Sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP) and tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate.

One other concern, some people have with L ascorbic acid is it can be very harsh on the skin especially if it’s in a high conc

Like 15% but that’s mainly because it’s acidic in nature. If your skin is too sensitive to it, start out with vitamin c serums that contain SAP, MAP & co.

PS: many brands use L ascorbic acid in their vitamin C serum

Other antioxidants in skincare are Vitamin A (retinol), Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide ), Vitamin E (tocopherol) , Green tea etc.

I hope you’ve learnt something today. If you have any questions about this thread, you can always ask me.