Is vitamin C serum causing dry skin or something else?

Vitamin C serum is seen as this magical product, but is vitamin C serum causing your dry skin? Lets look into it.

Vitamin C serums hydrate and moisturize the skin, they generally don’t leave your skin dry. If your skin is dry this may be the result of over washing, over-exfoliating, a damaged skin barrier or your other products drying your skin out. To combat this take a closer look at your other products or your skin health

If you know about the innovations of modern skincare then you’ll know about serums, eye serums, face serums, hair serums and vitamin c serums.

Serums are a great way to give your skin a boost of nutrients, hydration and minerals. This is because A: They have a lightweight formula so they can really get deep into your skin and deliver the ingredients. B: The ingredients in serums and highly potent.

They are much more potent and concentrated than the ingredients that you’ll find in creams and lotions.

With all these amazing benefits you’d be surprised that your serum is drying you out. So is vitamin C serum causing dry skin?

Is vitamin c serum causing dry skin or something else?

Vitamin c serum is usually used by people who need to bring moisture back into the skin. It helps to retain the skins moisture levels among other things (I’ll go over this later).

Serums are also used to hydrate the skin and provide nutrients to the skin. So there might be some other reason why your face is feeling dry:

Over-washing/exfoliating: If you are experiencing dry skin then you might be over-washing or, over-exfoliating your face, both of these activities have the potential to cause the drying on the face.  

Damaged skin barrier: If you do have a damaged moisture barrier and you wash your face anything you add on top of it might seem like it isn’t moisturising and is drying your face.

You will need to heal your skins moisture barrier, use moisturizing products and products that contain ceramides, ceramides help to strengthen the skins moisture barrier.

Drying products: If your face wash is drying then applying a vitamin C serum will not give you the best hydration possible.

Drying products might be the reason behind your dry skin. Moisturising products need to be added to damp skin in order for them to absorb the best.

Environment: This can include using central heating. The causes dry skin without you even knowing it.

What does vitamin C do to your face?

Vitamin c is an ingredient that has a variety of benefits:

Hydration: It’s a great hydrator to the skin, giving you a dewy finish

It brightens the skin: It gives you an amazing glow which makes your skin look rejuvenated

Reduce redness: Vitamin C is known to be a great anti-inflammatory agent, it soothes redness on the skin.

Goodbye racoon eyes: Your under-eye circles will disappear with consistent use of vitamin C  

Hello collagen: Vitamin C (especially in the form of sebum) boosts the production of collagen in your skin. Collagen production is decreased as we age

Protects against sun damage: Vitamin C is chocked full of antioxidants, these will help with the fight against dangerous free radicals.

Prevents ageing: If your skin is sagging you can treat it by using a vitamin C serum. Vitamin C promotes collagen production and this promotes firmness and elasticity.

At-home LED face masks (like this one) can also help with this. This article looks at the best at-home LED face mask that fight the early signs of ageing.

Corrects hyperpigmentation: If you have hyperpigmentation from the sun or from acne scarring vitamin c serum will get rid of it.

At-home LED face masks (like this one) can also help with this. This article looks at the best at-home LED face mask for hyperpigmentation

This vitamin C serum is well-loved and widely used.

How to you know if vitamin C serum is bad?

Color: The serum should maintain the color it had when you first purchased the product.

Some serums have a white or champagne white color. If you find that your serum has turned another color for example yellow, brown or orange then it has oxidised.

Smell: The serum when first purchased should shell fresh. If it begins to small off, weird or any different than how it came when purchased then the serum has been compromised. You need to discard the product.

When it has expired: I added this in because some products like sunscreen can be used for a little while after the expiration date (read more here) but not this one.

We sometimes don’t notice it but skincare products have expiration dates that we need to pay attention to. It will prevent you from dealing with many skin issues later

Vitamin C serum has to be kept in a dark sealed container to avoid air contamination, air oxidises vitamin C serum. When vitamin C oxidises it becomes unsafe to use and it can cause a variety of skin irritations.

Can I use vitamin C serum every day?

Yes, vitamin C serum is a product you can use every day. It is not a hash product that will irritate your skin if used daily.

Note: because vitamin C is a photosensitive ingredient sunlight might change the way the serum works.

If you decide to use it during the day make sure you use a sunscreen with it. As a bonus, it boosts the sunscreens sun protection abilities.

You can decide to apply this product as one of the first products after you wash your face.

This makes sure that the product penetrates the skin without being blocked by any other product.

In skincare, it is advised to use the lightest product first and move on to heavier products.

Is vitamin C serum causing dry skin

Does vitamin C cause skin peeling?

Yes, vitamin C can cause skin irritation and peeling. The more potent the vitamin C the more of an effect it will have on your skin, it may be a good or a not so great effect.

Using a vitamin C product with a concentration of 3-10 percent is recommended, if you use a vitamin c product with 10-15 percent concentration then your skin can become irritated and start peeling.

Does vitamin C hydrate skin?

Yes, vitamin C does hydrate the skin, one derivative of vitamin C is called magnesium phosphate.

This compound is great at helping to hydrate the skin, it not only hydrates the skin but it also helps to prevent water loss from the skin. This way your skin gets hydrated and stays hydrated

Does vitamin C serum whiten skin?

Vitamin C can lighten but not whiten the skin. This vitamin can do a number of things. Vitamins C is able to exfoliate the skin.

When you exfoliate your skin the top layer of sun-damaged skin cells is removed and the skin that comes to the surface is lighter.

Vitamin C can also be used to decrease melanin production on the skin, by doing this it is able to even out your skin and correct hyperpigmentation.

The less melanin your skin produces the lighter your skin will look. 

Vitamin c also causes the body to produce glutathione and vitamin e, these two compounds come together to create pheomelanin, this pheomelanin will keep your skin bright

Do serums clog pores?

Serums do not clog pores, well they shouldn’t. Serums are lightweight products that are thin enough to enter the skin without blocking the pores.

There are serums for everyone, even serums for people who have oily or acne-prone skin.

If your serum feels heavy or greasy then it simply isn’t the one for you.

If you use the correct serum for your skin it will unclog your pores, hydrate without clogging the pores, mattify your skin absorb the excess oil on your skin, treat your breakouts and give you better skin overall.

How often should you use vitamin C serum?

You can use vitamin C serums daily, if you choose to use it in the morning you’ll reap the benefits of your sunscreen working better.

Vitamin C helps to boost the sunscreen’s sun protection abilities. If you use it at this time your skin will be protected from dangerous free radicals that can damage your skin.

Alternatively, you can use it only at night. This is a good time to use the product if you have sensitive skin.

As you sleep the skin rejuvenates itself replacing old dead skin cells with new fresh ones. Using vitamin C at night will have a great impact on this rejuvenation process.

If you exfoliate your skin at night before you use the serum your skin will absorb the vitamin C very well.

What should you not take with vitamin C?

Retinol: You shouldn’t be using vitamin C serum with retinol. Vitamin C serum and retinol work very well as individual products when used in different routines but they don’t work well when used together.

The optimum ph for these products differ and if used together they will clash. Vitamin C serums are formulated to works at a ph of 3.5, retinol work best at a ph of 5.5-6.

Benzoyl peroxide: If you use this and vitamin C serum together they can counter each other and cancel each other out to a certain extent.

When used together the benzoyl peroxide can oxidise the vitamin C. If the vitamin C serum becomes oxidised it can damage the skin, the vitamin C will become unstable and cause the skin to become irritated.

AHA’s, BHA’s: AHA’s, BHA’s and vitamin C should be combined with cation.

They can work well together because they both work in acidic environments but this can be the reason they can cause irritation.

Because they are both acidic they can irritate the skin.

How long does vitamin C take to work on skin?

There are very few skincare products that give you an instant dramatic change of the skin.

Some may change your skin momentarily but most skin products need to be used over some weeks or months to see the effects.

Depending on what results you’re looking to see the changes in your skin can take 2 to 16 weeks to be visible.

Smaller changes such as more hydrated skin will take a shorter amount of time to show up than a big change like a decrease in the wrinkles on your skin.

Is vitamin C serum causing dry skin

Is vitamin C or E better for skin?

There is no answer to the question “is vitamin C or E” better for the skin. These two vitamins do different things, the best one for you will be the one that addresses your skin issues.

Vitamin c contains antioxidants which help to protect the cells against damage, this way they help to prevent cancer.

Vitamin c will also help your skin look and feel younger because it helps with collagen production. If you need something that can help boost the potency of your sunscreen then vitamin C is a great option.

It is used in antiaging products because it decreases cell damage, helps fights the signs of ageing, helps with the production of collagen, repairs dry skin, and reduces the severity and appearance of wrinkles.

Vitamin e helps to create new fresh healthy cells in your body. This vitamin is taken by your liver and through the liver and kidneys, it forms the new healthy cells. When you use vitamin E your skin tone will improve as well.

This vitamin E is well-loved and widely used.

What age should you start using vitamin C serum?

The best time to start using a vitamin C serum is around the age of 18.

When you’ve finally gotten rid of your teenage acne you need to now start protecting your skin from any environmental damage that can and will occur on your skin.

One way of doing this is by using a good screen and an additional way is by using a good vitamin C serum.

Start off with a gentle serum that won’t irritate or sting your face.

Layering sunscreen and vitamin C serum is a good idea, vitamin C boosts your sunscreens sun protection abilities  

How do I apply Vitamin C serum to my face?

  1. Start off by washing your hands before you touch your skin. The hands carry a lot of bacteria and this can be transferred onto your face if you don’t wash your hands before washing your face 
  2. Go ahead and clean your face. If you’re using the serum at night you can exfoliate to help the product really penetrate the skin
  3. Use a toner if you normally use a toner
  4. Use the dropper to apply the serum into your hands, do not let the dropper touch your skin, this will help avoid contamination.
  5. Apply the sebum onto our face by patting the product into your skin
  6. If there is excess serum pat it into your neck, hands and décolletage
  7. Apply the rest of your products from thinnest to thickest
  8. Apply your sunscreen right on top.  

NB: when using vitamin C serum or any new product for that matter you should do a patch test. This entails applying the serum on a small patch of your skin to see how it reacts.

Apply the product on the skin and let it sit for 24 hours. If your skin does not react badly then you can use it on your whole face.

This article looks at why vitamin C serum can irritate to your skin.

Can you use too much vitamin C on your face?

If you use too much vitamin C serum on your face it won’t fully absorb and your skin will wind up feeling wet.

This is not what you want, you want to apply enough to allow your face to get damp, your damp skin will better absorb whatever products you use after the serum.

In addition, if you apply too much vitamin C onto your skin the skin can’t absorb all of it, there is a limit to how much vitamin c your skin can absorb in a day. So yes you can use too much vitamin C on your face.

Can you use hyaluronic acid and vitamin C serum together?

Yes, you can use hyaluronic acid and vitamin C serum together.

If you use both these products in your skincare routine you’ll not only get superior hydration but you’ll also benefit from the anti-ageing properties of both.

Vitamin C will help rejuvenate your skin and hyaluronic acid will bring water deep into your skin thus helping to make your skin look younger and fresher.

These products won’t clash when used together but they work at slightly different ph levels, you can use one and allow it to absorb into and dry on your skin for a couple of minutes then apply the other.

This hyaluronic acid is well-loved and widely used.

I hope you enjoyed this article looking at if vitamin C serum can cause dry skin. Remember to look at your other products or skin health to figure out what is really drying your skin. If you did please share it.

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