Skincare is an ongoing effort that requires more than just washing your face at the end of every day. You’ll also need to give your skin plenty of vitamins and minerals so it can regenerate properly and maintain a great tone and texture.
Of all the needed vitamins and minerals, vitamin C is the most important for skin care. Why? Let’s take a look at all the benefits vitamin C provides to your skin, so you know just how important it is to include vitamin C in your skincare routine or diet.
What Is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is one of the most important vitamins for bodily health, but it’s also something else: an antioxidant.
In a nutshell, an antioxidant is a special kind of molecule that can neutralize free radical molecules. Think of free radical molecules as those molecules that don’t have another to partner with, so they bounce around, potentially causing a lot of damage.
Antioxidants neutralize free radicals by attracting them and capturing them, leading to better health benefits across the board.
In addition to its antioxidant properties, vitamin C is necessary for the synthesis of certain types of proteins, needed for the proper function of various bodily systems, and more. The more vitamin C you get, the better.
4 Vitamin C Benefits for Skin
How does vitamin C specifically benefit your skin? Turns out, it does this in several ways. Let’s break them down now.
1. Preventing the Signs of Aging
Vitamin C is one of the best defenses against the signs of premature aging, such as wrinkles, dry skin, and even acne scars.
Why? Vitamin C’s antioxidant properties minimize the amount of daily wear and tear your skin suffers by capturing free radical molecules. This assists your skin’s natural regenerative abilities, boosting skin cell repair and helping your skin to look and feel a lot younger.
This even extends to stress damage your skin may accrue over time. As we become stressed or expose our skin to toxins, our skin cells may be more likely to fail to regenerate correctly, leading to wrinkling.
When used with other skin serum ingredients and vitamins, vitamin C can help your skin look and feel younger for longer, even as you get older.
2. Defends Against Sun Damage
Similarly, vitamin C can help protect against the worrying effects of sun damage. Overexposure to UV radiation can damage your skin cells and even lead to mutations, which eventually cause skin complications.
Vitamin C can help your skin cells repair themselves more quickly, minimizing the damage that UV radiation can do. But it’s important to note that vitamin C doesn’t block UVA or UVB rays the same way that sunscreen does, so you should use both vitamin C serum and sunscreen in conjunction with one another for the best effects.
3. Collagen Production
Collagen (alongside elastin) is the most important protein for your skin’s overall look and health. Collagen affects how flexible and plump your skin is. The more collagen fibers your skin cells have, the firmer and younger your skin overall will look and feel.
When we are younger, the first two layers of our skin have plenty of collagen to spare, and our cells make lots of it. But as we get older, our skin cells naturally produce less collagen, making it easier for our skin to sag, accrue wrinkles, and generally degrade.
Vitamin C is one of the proteins necessary to help produce more collagen. It’s, therefore, no surprise that vitamin C serums and vitamin C-rich foods can lead to more collagen production across the board. Getting lots of collagen and vitamin C can reduce the likelihood of premature skin aging.
4. Removes Skin Discoloration
Skin discoloration can be caused by both skin damage and the production of too much melanin. Both factors can lead to dark aging spots or hyperpigmentation.
Through its antioxidant properties, vitamin C can reduce the likelihood of age-related damage and prevent you from getting dark spots as you get older. At the same time, vitamin C inhibits melanin production and can help even out splotchy areas and uneven skin tones.
Running a little vitamin C serum or lotion on the hyperpigmentation location could lead to your skin’s tone evening out over time. Vitamin C is also a minor brightening agent, although, of course, it won’t adjust your skin’s full tone or appearance.
How To Get More Vitamin C for the Skin
With all the benefits that vitamin C can provide, it’s easy to understand why so many people want to get more of it. Fortunately, you can boost your body’s vitamin C supply in a number of ways.
1. Use Serums and Lotions
One great trick is to use vitamin C serums and lotions. Skin serums are tonics for your skin. They’ll often contain vitamin C and other helpful ingredients that your skin cells can absorb to great effect.
Furthermore, using lotions or other skincare products with vitamin C will help your skin cells use more of the vitamin over time. Add a vitamin C serum or lotion to your regular skincare routine, and you’re sure to see great results.
2. Eat Vitamin C-Rich Foods
You can also adjust your diet and consume more foods that are naturally rich in vitamin C. These foods include:
- Many types of citrus fruits, including oranges and limes. You can also drink the juice of these fruits for the same results
- Peppers of any variety
- Strawberries
- Blackcurrants
- Some types of green vegetables, such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts
There are plenty of foods to choose from, so you shouldn’t have any difficulty adjusting your diet or incorporating vitamin C into your dishes.
3. Vitamins
If you’re following a more restrictive diet or don’t want to use a skincare serum, you can also target vitamin C supplements. These provide your body with all the vitamin C it needs for a single day and can easily be taken with breakfast.
Summary
All in all, vitamin C provides a plethora of skincare benefits. It’s the best vitamin to target if you want to improve your skin’s tone or texture or if you want to limit the signs of aging.
