Yes.
There are a couple reasons why your vitamin C doesn’t work or is giving you an irritation.
I mean it could be that you’re expecting a miracle after one day of slathering it on your face which if it worked, would literally be what I said; A miracle.
Vitamin C, which is Ascorbic Acid in the form of L-Ascorbic Acid, is an asset in skincare. Everyone wants to have one in their cabinet.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which basically means it neutralizes the oxidative stress caused by free radicals (Free radicals are toxic, unstable molecules that contribute to aging by depleting the natural antioxidants in our skin and causing cellular and DNA damage), it protects against UV-induced skin damage and aids in skin repair.
For the sake of this article we would call Ascorbic Acid, AA and Dehydroascorbic Acid, DHA.
AA is the most unstable form of Vitamin C and the most potent of all the derivatives. It works optimally on the skin at a PH of about 3.0. Its unstable nature would mean that it can change to another form (which would be less potent or basically useless on the skin) really easily.
Now that we know what Vitamin C is, let’s see reasons why it’s not doing its job.
- It’s no longer Vitamin C
Due to the unstable nature of AA it can be oxidized to another compound – DHA (which would be useless on your skin, may even cause some browning on your skin and can also cause aging, which is what we are trying to avoid in the first place right?)
There are a couple of factors that can cause AA to oxidize; Light, Air, Heat and reaction with other compounds.
A little Chemistry:
C6H8O6 <——————–> C6H6O6
Ascorbic Acid <——————–> Dehydroascorbic Acid
The double ended arrow signifies a reversible reaction, where AA can be oxidized (-2H+) and/or reduced (+2H+) in the presence of air, heat, light or another compound as we mentioned earlier.
Exposing your vitamin C serum to air by leaving it open can cause oxidation, exposing it to light can also cause oxidation.
Now because there are a lot of active agents in skincare, let’s not forget that these are chemicals which undergo certain reactions and have products, some of which aren’t as useful or potent as the primary compound.
A good example would be using Benzoyl peroxide with Vitamin C.
If you are still serving your time in acne jail, Benzoyl peroxide wouldn’t sound strange to you and because you might have hyperpigmentation you’ve been told to use vitamin C. If you noticed that it doesn’t work that’s because they basically cancel out each other. The reaction between both compounds give a completely different product; which is useless.
- You are mixing the wrong products together
AA functions optimally at a very low PH of around 3.0, mixing another product which has a different PH would destabilize the action of AA on your skin.
Look at a few examples:
Retinol + Vitamin C
Bad combo, you would be wasting your money because, these two ingredients function optimally at different PH ranges. You would see no effect on your skin.
Niacinamide + Vitamin C
Again, Bad combo. Niacinamide functions optimally at a neutral PH, adding AA to it would render both useless.
Vitamin C + AHAs/BHAs
If you’re new to skincare, AHA means Alpha Hydroxy Acid and BHA means Beta Hydroxy Acid, they’re really hot in the market now. This isn’t a really bad combo because they function in the same PH range but the only downside to this is too many acids on your face would give you a skin irritation even before you know it.
2/10- I do not recommend.
- It’s just expired
Check the best before date on your serum, if it has expired, throw it away.
So how can you get Vitamin C to function optimally on your skin?
- Use up your serum once you open it. It’s advisable to use it up in 3 months, more stable derivatives may last up to 6 months or more.
- Keep it away from light and heat. You also want to keep the lid tightly closed to avoid exposure to air.
- Avoid using it with ingredients mentioned above, you can use these ingredients together but at different times of the day, i.e. use Vitamin C in the morning and Retinol in the night.
- Always use a Sunscreen
- You can get more stable forms of AA but note that they are not as potent as AA and it would take a long time to see visible changes on your skin.
A few of them are: Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (MAP), Sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP), Ascorbyl glucoside, Ethyl ascorbic acid, Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate.
So, in essence, the brand may not be bad, you might just be using your vitamin C serum wrongly.
Kindly fix up.
Love x Light
Your friendly neighborhood Cosmetic Chemist,
Mae
