Hi Guys!  This blog post is about a very important topic, the role of Vitamin C in skin health and the importance of applying it topically.
Before we get into it, I want to start off with mentioning a few important things.

First, I haven’t always been consistent in applying vitamin C to my skin! Yes, its true, the girl writing a blog post about the importance of using Vitamin C spent a long time doing almost everything else consistently but never really stuck to Vitamin C applications and it’s probably because I just didn’t fully understand the importance of it. It wasn’t until my recent trip to meet the PCA SKIN team in Scottsdale, Arizona ( see that vlog here)  where I was able to learn first hand from real experts and scientists as to what the value and importance of Vitamin C is with respects to caring for your skin. Needless to say, my eyes were opened and I left there with so much great knowledge that I actually felt compelled to write this blog post!

Quick note before we get into the technical details here. I’m not a dermatologist or scientist. What I do, however is research studies and data that have been published by professionals. I think that’s very important. I don’t think someone has to be a pro themselves but where things get a bit scary is when someone isn’t one and the info they pass along is from other non professionals.

Vitamin C. You skin is basically a barrier that protects you from the environment and its structured to do just that. There’s also two layers to your skin: the epidermal outer layer and the inner dermal layer. Both of which have specific roles. When we look at vitamin C, we find that normal skin contains high concentrations of vitamin C which is needed for a lot of very important functions ranging from the stimulation of collagen synthesis to its role as an antioxidant protection, fighting UV photo damage, anti-aging (anti-glycation aka anti wrinkles)

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Let’s stop and think about that. We all know what collagen is and its basic role. In basic terms, this is what keeps your skin looking plump and supple as opposed to hollowed out and drained. Look at photos of yourself from 10 years ago and chances are you can see the difference more collagen made and how the lack of it has changed things. As we age, we lose collagen but I’m sure you know that, specially if you’re looking at older photos. Glycation is a process that results in wrinkles, so the short story there is that you want to manage that process and limit it.

Photo damage is another easy one. No matter how vigilant we are in applying sunscreen, which is super important and a discussion for another post, we’re all going to incur some sun damage aka UV photo damage. In simple terms, this is a major contributor to age spots and discoloration on your skin which is not something you want. Oh, it can also lead to something called cancer which is also on the bad side of things that can happen.

Vitamin C also plays a big role in reducing inflammation according to studies and excess inflammation breaks down your skin over time.

Finding a high quality Vitamin C product is as important as applying it. If you’re not working with a good Vitamin C, you’re just wasting time and money. You may also even irritate your skin instead of helping it.

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I recommend PCA skin’s Vitamin C Serum. That’s not to say they’re the only good brand but trust is critical. I know first hand that PCA Skin doesn’t compromise on quality in terms of what goes into their products. They also don’t compromise on the manufacturing process. This isn’t a fly by night skincare company. Its a brand that dermatologists heavily recommend. Moreover, they’re transparent with their formulations and extract from natural sources to generate a perfectly balanced blend. There’s no guesswork like you might find with a lot of random new companies. On the contrary, PCA Skin care’s team, of real scientists, researches, tests, researches more and tests more. The bottom line is you want your Vitamin C serum to come from a company that has 3 big things, a real research team, certified high quality ingredients / elements and a certified high quality manufacturing process. I’ve heard of way too many horror stories with people getting burns or breaking out because a product wasn’t what it claimed.

To summarize short, if you make sure your skin is well nourished with Vitamin C and when buying a serum you want to get it from the right company. With Vitamin C you’re taking steps towards fighting sun damage, cancer, loss of collagen, inflammation and more. As we speak, more and more research is being done on the topic and we’re also learning more about topical Vitamin C application which I believe is a very good addition to a healthy skin regiment and diet.

For those of you who want to dive deeper, I recommend the following study which was published to the New England Medical Journal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5579659/