Vitamin C: Is it worth the hype?

Well, my dear friends, the answer to this question (unsurprisingly) is complicated. Although the facts are simple- Vitamin C does contribute to collagen production, the rest is not so cut and dry.

Cosmetic formulators make calculated decisions to ensure the Vitamin C in those cute packages on the shelves of Target can make it past production through shipping, sorted, distributed, shelved, and gently applied to your skin after a night of debauchery. “Why?” you ask. You can chalk it up to a simple oxidation-reduction reaction. It sounds complex, but it’s quite a basic principle concerning electron exchange.

This fundamental principle of electron exchange has eschewed Vitamin C as a hero of skincare; unfortunately, that is also its detriment. Maybe you’ve heard of free radicals? They’re highly reactive molecules made unstable by an unpaired electron. A free radical will steal an electron from cell structures like cellular membranes, proteins, and DNA in a frantic attempt to complete the electron pair. Enter Vitamin C— our free radical scavenging bestie. In an act of pure generosity, Vitamin C donates an electron to a rampaging free radical, inhibiting it from inflicting further damage.

Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, the form of Vitamin C in most cosmetic products (L-ascorbic acid) is prone to oxidizing— it loses electrons. This is especially true when exposed to light or oxygen. What this means for avid skincare users like you and me is that our serum doesn’t work how we want it to. And something I won’t do is let your money go to waste on a defunct, overpriced serum! The good news is that chemists can improve our precious serums' stability and, therefore, shelf-life. Ferulic Acid, for example, is a well-known antioxidant that can improve the stability and performance of Vitamin C serums. You can find it in almost every Vitamin C serum, certainly in the SkinCeuticals cream, but for that price? I’ll let you decide if it’s worth it! Yes, it seems that ever since SkinCeuticals cracked the code, every brand in the industry has tried to replicate the magic from Paula’s Choice to the soft luxury of brands like Typology.

If the biggest challenge with Vitamin C serums is oxidation, how do we prevent that to maximize its benefits? Innovation! Small tweaks to the chemical structure of ascorbic acid can impart big stability improvements. Normally, a highly acidic pH can prevent ascorbic acid oxidation, which makes for a potentially sensitizing serum. The chemists behind Glossier’s Vitamin C serum tacked magnesium and phosphate onto the back of ascorbic acid to create magnesium ascorbyl phosphate— a form of Vitamin C that is more stable at a neutral pH (about 7) [1]. Since this one doesn’t need to be kept at a low pH (<3.5) to maintain its integrity, you get the added bonus of a more tolerable serum [2]. How does it work? This form of Vitamin C needs to be converted to ascorbic acid in your skin before you can reap any benefits of Vitamin C [3]. I’ll spare you the details, but the quick story is this Vitamin C derivative is water soluble, and needs help overcoming our fatty skin barrier. If Glossier is not your style, you can try Pillowtalk Derm’s Vitamin C serum. This brand has a similar approach but uses tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate (THDA), another version of Vitamin C that is also more stable and more tolerable than the original.

While I’m not endorsing you replacing your Vitamin C serums, I do want you to have all the information you need to make the best choice for yourself. That’s what besties do! New versions of Vitamin C are more stable and less irritating, but they also have to be bioconverted before they can be fully utilized by your skin. Like everything in life, there is a tradeoff— in this case, you might take longer to see the same results you’d see for ascorbic acid (assuming it didn’t oxidize first). Personally, I'll choose the peace of mind given by an unspoiled product any day. Ultimately, the choice is yours, baby!

Sources

  1. Al-Niaimi F, Chiang NYZ. Topical Vitamin C and the Skin: Mechanisms of Action and Clinical Applications. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2017 Jul;10(7):14-17. Epub 2017 Jul 1. PMID: 29104718; PMCID: PMC5605218.

  2. Pinnell SR, Yang H, Omar M, Monteiro-Riviere N, DeBuys HV, Walker LC, Wang Y, Levine M. Topical L-ascorbic acid: percutaneous absorption studies. Dermatol Surg. 2001 Feb;27(2):137-42. doi: 10.1046/j.1524-4725.2001.00264.x. PMID: 11207686.

  3. Lee WJ, Kim SL, Lee KC, Sohn MY, Jang YH, Lee SJ, Kim DW. Effects of Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate on the Expression of Inflammatory Biomarkers after Treatment of Cultured Sebocytes with Propionibacterium acnes or Ultraviolet B Radiation. Ann Dermatol. 2016 Feb;28(1):129-32. doi: 10.5021/ad.2016.28.1.129. Epub 2016 Jan 28. PMID: 26848238; PMCID: PMC4737824.

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