Nowadays, vitamin C skin care is available in every form you can think of: serums, creams, oils, sunscreens, masks, etc. But if you want the most effective type of vitamin C product, there’s one clear winner, experts tell TODAY.com.
“If you’re going to make the effort to put on vitamin C, you want to make sure you’re really getting the most out of it,” Dr. Shari Lipner, associate professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical Center, told TODAY.com.
However, vitamin C can be notoriously tricky to work with, which is why it’s better suited to certain types of skin care products than others.
The Benefits of Vitamin C in Skin Care
Vitamin C has many benefits for the skin.
Its most well-known benefit “is the fact that it’s a proven antioxidant that can fight free radicals,” Victoria Hu, cosmetic chemist and co-founder of Chemist Confessions, tells TODAY.com. of “Anti-aging molecules,” she says, especially when it comes to preventing and treating sun damage, like dark spots and wrinkles.
Vitamin C is actually “the most abundant antioxidant in the skin,” Lipner adds. “In the skin, it plays a very important role in collagen synthesis and prevents collagen breakdown,” she says. Vitamin C has also been proven effective in managing certain pigmentation issues, including melasma, Lipner says.
Lipner says this antioxidant also works well in your skincare routine alongside retinol, another powerful anti-aging ingredient.
So if you’re going to spend the time, money, and effort to start using vitamin C, you want to make sure you’re using the form that’s most effective for your skin.
Should I use a Vitamin C serum or cream?
Experts generally agree that your first choice should be a water-based Vitamin C serum.
“Serums are generally lighter than creams or sunscreens, so they penetrate the skin better,” Lipner says. Lighter serums allow for better absorption of the active ingredient, vitamin C, than thicker creams.
However, there are other technical reasons to consider serum first.
Water-based serums typically contain anywhere from 10% to 15% vitamin C, Gloria Lu, a cosmetic chemist and one of the co-founders of Chemist Confessions, tells TODAY.com.
Ascorbic acid, the gold standard of vitamin C, and its well-studied derivatives are much easier to mix into water-based formulas, so “all clinical trials are done in water-based serums,” says Hu. For example, a label might list vitamin C derivatives such as magnesium ascorbyl phosphate or sodium ascorbyl phosphate.
Serums containing these ingredients usually also contain vitamin E and ferulic acid to stabilise the ingredients, she added, which is the ultimate trifecta to look for in a vitamin C product.
“Meanwhile, creams are increasingly using derivatives of vitamin C,” Lu explains, “and they’re usually just sprinkled on
If you Really I don’t like Vitamin C serum…
When looking for a vitamin C product, experts agree that you should try a water-based serum first. However, some people find vitamin C serums irritating to their skin, often due to the low pH of these products. Or, some people simply prefer a thicker texture.
If inflammation is an issue, try a serum with a lower concentration of vitamin C first. Most products on the market are in the 10% to 20% range, but the ingredient has actually been shown to be effective at as little as 5%, says Hu. So if you’re having trouble with a 15% serum, “look for a product with a lower dose of ascorbic acid,” says Hu.
Lipner agrees that people with sensitive skin may prefer creams over serums to avoid irritation, but “if you use a cream instead of a serum, you’re sacrificing efficacy. So, while I would recommend a serum for everyone, people with sensitive skin might want to limit it to 8% to 10%,” she says.
Lipner also recommends using your favorite moisturizer right after the vitamin C serum has been absorbed into the skin to reduce any burning, stinging, or irritation.
If you still decide to stick with an oil-based or creamy vitamin C product, Lu says, look for a specific oil-soluble vitamin C. One particularly popular oil-soluble form of vitamin C is tetrahexyldecyl ascorbic acid (THD), which can be found in creams and face oils. “But compared to other (oil-soluble derivatives), there’s a paucity of data,” Lu says.
