Vitamin C Please!

Ahhhhhhhhh alas the wondrous, ever protective vitamin C. Today I want to talk about her!

It’s one of the very first things we are recommended when we walk through any skin clinic.

For it’s antioxidant properties, effects on pigmentation and collagen synthesis. Most people can rattle off one or more of these benefits before walking in the door.

I want to break these benefits down and look a little closer at this mighty fine ingredient!

Antioxidant properties – Our body is made up of atoms, that make up molecules, that make up tissue, that make up muscle and so on. Think back to your beloved chem class, in order for a molecule to remain stable it must contain the right amount of electrons. If this molecule just so happens to lose an electron, this molecule becomes unstable and quickly turns into a free radical. Free radicals are electrically charged molecules that can react with other molecules like DNA and damage them, this is a process know as ‘Oxidative stress’. I like to think of free radicals as that naughty child your mum never wanted you to hang out with at school, but you just couldn’t stay away from them and their fancy pink flip Motorola RAZR that you didn’t have or those rainbow flavoured 100% sugar rollups that you weren’t allowed. 

Free radicals can continue to steal molecules creating more oxidative stress and dramatically altering the function of cells. This is where antioxidants step in. If a molecule is without an electron becoming a free radical (naughty child) a antioxidant such as vitamin C will actually donate an electron effectively neutralising the free radical. Because of the various stresses that our body will encounter every single day, antioxidants are extremely important to ensure vital parts of our cells like our DNA aren’t effected and damaged. Damage to our DNA can result in things like cancers. 

Pigmentation -Vitamin C is definitely beneficial in your pursuit of pigment free skin. Contrary to popular belief, vitamin C is not however a tyrosinase inhibitor. It provides protection from pigmentation by interacting with copper ions at the tyrosinase active site, having an antioxidant effect on these specific parts, which then has a carry on affect on the production of tyrosinase. So, topical vitamin c serum should be an add on when treating pigmentation specifically along with a tyrosinase inhibitor such as Alpha Arbutin, sort of like Batman & Robin – capiche!  This benefit provides a clear overall, brighter complexion. 

Collagen Synthesis -And here it is what every man and their dog have been looking for, the ultimate, the pinnacle of beauty treatments, Valhalla! Vitamin C works on creating a more youthful skin by reinforcing and stabilising collagen structures and promoting actual gene expression of collagen. And Bobs your uncle… pretty simple ain’t it (I know, that build up for something sooooo simple).

Other benefits of using Vitamin C include; A more uniform epidermis and more organised lipid barrier, its slows UV ray damage, has anti-inflammatory properties and strengthens capillary walls reducing vascularity and therefore facial redness. In order to receive all of these benefits from your topical vitamin C it must have a pH lower than 3.5 to enter the skin and have a way to keep stable. 

At Cellbone we have a couple of different percentages of Vitamin C including 2 that contain 1 other very active ingredient.

So there you have it a handful of Cellbone’s incredible products from the Vitamin C range.. Vitamin C really should be a key staple in your home care routine but it can be difficult to know what to use and why you should use it so I hope this has made things a little easier. 

Until next time xoxo