Vitamin C cream? What lemons have to do with anti-aging

Of course, this is not just about lemons. But let’s be honest: If we are to name a food that contains vitamin C , we immediately think of lemon. After all, pirates also fought scurvy with it, didn’t they?

Red peppers, parsley or Brussels sprouts are just three examples that contain significantly more vitamin C than lemons.

We have already mentioned it in the title. Vitamin C should now also help with the skin ? Here we reveal the secret of how vitamin C works in the skin. Is it the new anti-aging trend? Is a serum better than a cream? When does such a vitamin C cream work really well?

But first, to the general, why this makes sense.

Acidic for supple skin: Vitamin C against pigment spots and wrinkles

In fact, there is something to it. Vitamin C works in some processes in the body that ensure healthy skin. At the same time, it becomes more beautiful.

Vitamin C is

• an antioxidant. It renders free radicals harmless.
• Helps build collagen . You need this for smooth skin and prevents wrinkles – or first wrinkles.
• It works against impurities such as acne and pigment spots.

Let’s look at that one by one.

Vitamin C and free radicals – what does this have to do with the skin?

As soon as our body “metabolizes” something – i.e. the metabolism starts and we process nutrients – free radicals are constantly formed. We cannot prevent this.

By the way, we also get free radicals into the body via other environmental influences . You probably know them, because we are talking about UV radiation, air pollution and tobacco smoke, among other things.

Free radicals are unstable and want to look for reaction partners. In the process, however, they destroy cell membranes, lipids and proteins. These are exactly the ingredients that our skin needs to be healthy. They are essential for the skin: it cannot produce it itself.

In a nutshell: If there are too many free radicals moving around in your body, it will age your skin.

However, there is something that protects our body from these free radicals: antioxidants. They can also reduce or even stop skin aging caused by free radicals.

And now comes what we mentioned earlier: vitamin C is an antioxidant and it’s world famous. There are others, but with vitamin C we know through studies that it actually works as a skin care product !

Vitamin C against wrinkles? Collagen as connecting tissue

When an advertisement for anti-aging cream runs, it is always about firm skin. In fact, that’s exactly what we want, right? No wrinkles! In fact, the protein collagen, which is mainly found in connective tissue, allows us to do this.

Advertising messages would say in a nutshell: Collagen helps the skin to be more firm. And vitamin C contributes its share in the production of collagen.

Rather, it is also vitamin C that further protects this tissue from free radicals – see above. Strictly speaking, the first part is already an “anti-aging” effect of the everywhere known nutrient.

Vitamin C for pigment spots, acne and pimples

Let’s once again highlight the effect of vitamin C as an antioxidant. This also helps with skin impurities such as acne and pimples. Namely, the antioxidant effect means that it is anti-inflammatory . The skin stays clean.

With pigment spots, we need to differentiate a little. Once they are there, even a whole can of vitamin C cream does not help. It cannot reverse pigmentation.

Rather, it has a prophylactic effect. It has been scientifically proven in studies that vitamin C counteracts the excessive formation of melanin. This reddish or brown pigment is exactly what we see visually in the “age spots”. Vitamin C can therefore remedy this – at least in advance.

UV radiation is also an accelerator for age spots. Vitamin C acts as a kind of protection here, because otherwise free radicals are also involved here.

A vitamin C cream for the skin. These ingredients work.

You probably know that. Vitamin C is not the same as vitamin C. There is ascorbic acid (or L-ascorbic acid) and “natural” vitamin C? Well, not quite, because ascorbic acid is simply the real chemical name for vitamin C in its pure form. To be precise, the name “vitamin C” is not correct at all – more on that elsewhere.

Nevertheless, there are different dosage forms, because often the nutrient is not contained “pure” in creams. There are therefore:

• Ascorbic acid as pure vitamin C
• Ascorbyl glucoside as verbinding with glucose
• Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate or sodium-ascorbyl phosphates as a salt-like ester form
• Ethyl ascorbic acid as a slightly different water-soluble ester form
• Ascorbyl palmitate or ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate as fat-soluble esters.

So does it have to be pure vitamin C ? With the skin rather not. Because L-ascorbic acid is not “active”. It must first be transformed by the organism, which causes a loss. In addition, the pure version is very susceptible to oxidation and decomposes quickly. So the cream would not be effective for long.

This is different with vitamin C serum with ethyl ascorbic acid, as it can be kept for a certain time under the following conditions. The serum is very acidic in pH and must be available in an airtight packaging – usually a pump dispenser . The pipette vials common for a serum are unfortunately useless here, because air gets into it, which quickly nullifies the effect of the serum.

Here, however, it is also important to pay attention to the concentration, because as an acid it is very corrosive and can irritate the skin. In addition, the effect decreases again from a 20 percent concentration.

It also applies to creams that the level of concentration does not necessarily stand for quality . The product as a whole (including the cream itself) must be of high quality. Important are parts that the active ingredients can transport deep into the skin – such as phosphatidylcholine. Otherwise, the skin barrier will deprive you of its effect. In addition, you must necessarily cool the cream.

Therefore, as a rule, a vitamin C cream is recommended for daily use. These usually come in magnesium ascorbyl-phosphate form. It also lasts a little longer.

Attention! Since a vitamin C cream can also be very acidic, there are special, mild products for the eye areas.

So does only one vitamin C cream work for the skin?

But it is also important that you do not have to stiffen yourself on creams with vitamin C . Rather, vitamin C also works through the food, since L-ascorbic acid is generally an antioxidant, helps to build collagen and also has a preventive effect on pigment spots through its effect against free radicals. If you have a deficiency or your doctor recommends it, dietary supplements can also help you here.

Overall, it simply means moisturizing your skin and nourishing your body. If you are nice and balanced , your skin will thank you with a normal wrinkle. We can’t stop aging completely.