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Face saving ingredients:
Vitamin C
By Emma Hill
Vitamin C - The ultimate skin brightener
About it
This vitamin has many benefits, it's an antioxidant, a skin brightener, a collagen booster and a treatment for pigmentation. But before you get too excited, it's a complex vitamin that needs careful handling. Expose it to the elements for a moment, and you render it useless. Which is why your daily shot of orange juice should be freshly squeezed. And so with skincare, it'll only benefit you if it's fresh.
What it does for your skin Brightens and tightens: I recently had a Murad Vitamin C 'Infusion' facial at the Harrods' Urban Retreat (£95, 020 7893 8333) and was impressed by how smooth, bright and firm my skin looked afterwards. My skin is sensitive, in that it is fine and reddens easily, so I was a little nervous; this is a potent treatment and vitamin C needs to be administered at the correct strength for your skin type. My facialist duly gave me a shorter, weaker dose of the vitamin C mask because she could see my skin was reacting a little. However, my skin looked fabulous afterwards, and without any redness. Its results seemed to last for a couple of days.
Boosts collagen: There is some controversy over its collagen-boosting powers. Here are some expert comments for you to mull over: 'While vitamin C is vital for collagen production, topical Vitamin C probably has no meaningful effect on collagen production, unless someone is severely Vitamin C deficient,' says Dr Neal Schultz, one of New York's leading dermatologists. The eminent London dermatologist, Dr Nick Lowe of the Cranley Clinic, isn't convinced by its collagen boosting powers either: 'I still don't think there's been enough research,' he says. However, Wendy Lewis, the independent beauty consultant who advises on skincare and cosmetic surgery says: 'Clinical research demonstrated that Vitamin C stimulates collagen growth [...]. Incorporating vitamin C into skincare made perfect sense in retrospect since it had been known for decades to be important for collagen production.' She adds: 'It's effectiveness depends on the percentage and how it is delivered into the skin. If it's a small percentage (5-10%) it may not be able to work to boost collagen.' The point here perhaps is not (as with all skincare) to expect miracles. What's for sure is the need for further conclusive studies to clarify.
Protects: Vitamin C is an effective antioxidant - and this is a dead cert. Once absorbed, it can't be rubbed off, so you get a lasting antioxidant benefit. As such it also helps reduce the look of lines and wrinkles and protects from UVA damage.
Fades pigmentation: Clinique's Executive Director of Biological Research explains that it works, 'by acting like an 'eraser' in breaking up large, visible clusters of melanin into smaller particles that are less visible to the eye. This excess melanin gets dispersed throughout the skin, creating a more even looking skin tone.' However, there is still some doubt as to how effective it really is; hyper pigmentation and brown spots take a long time to treat.
How do you know it's fresh?
Hot vitamin C brands such as Skinceuticals use L-Ascorbic acid because it's a stabilised form of the vitamin. Skincare technologies have thrown up new ways to keep the vitamin fresh while in the bottle - they use microcapsules, and micro powders to encase the vitamin until you apply it. They melt into the skin and deliver the Vitamin C, fresh. You can also buy vitamin C treatments where you mix the dose freshly, to be used up over a few days.
Best Vitamin C Skincare
Murad Essential C Daily Renewal Complex, £65.50, gives the skin an antioxidant dose and boosts brightness - all in a daily moisturiser
Skinceuticals C + AHA, £58 for 15ml, potent sun damage repairing, skin renewing treatment, do ask a Skinceuticals consultant for advice before buying: 020 8997 8541
Dr Sebag Pure Vitamin C Powder Cream, £72, this powder turns to cream on impact and uses a patented micro-encapsulating powder to keep the vitamin C fresh
Shu Uemura Whitening Lipo FD/C, £43, FD Water, £2.50, freeze-dried vitamin C with a 10.5% concentration helps slow down melanin production. Liposomes take fresh vitamin C to deeper layers of the epidermis to act on the melanocytes
Suki Exfoliating Lemongrass Cleanser, £24.50 (www.touchmyface.co.uk), an all-natural, brightening and refreshing cleanser with Vitamin C - I love the way it foams as you apply it
Copyright © 2006 handbag.com
Vitamin C
By Emma Hill
Vitamin C - The ultimate skin brightener
About it
This vitamin has many benefits, it's an antioxidant, a skin brightener, a collagen booster and a treatment for pigmentation. But before you get too excited, it's a complex vitamin that needs careful handling. Expose it to the elements for a moment, and you render it useless. Which is why your daily shot of orange juice should be freshly squeezed. And so with skincare, it'll only benefit you if it's fresh.
What it does for your skin Brightens and tightens: I recently had a Murad Vitamin C 'Infusion' facial at the Harrods' Urban Retreat (£95, 020 7893 8333) and was impressed by how smooth, bright and firm my skin looked afterwards. My skin is sensitive, in that it is fine and reddens easily, so I was a little nervous; this is a potent treatment and vitamin C needs to be administered at the correct strength for your skin type. My facialist duly gave me a shorter, weaker dose of the vitamin C mask because she could see my skin was reacting a little. However, my skin looked fabulous afterwards, and without any redness. Its results seemed to last for a couple of days.
Boosts collagen: There is some controversy over its collagen-boosting powers. Here are some expert comments for you to mull over: 'While vitamin C is vital for collagen production, topical Vitamin C probably has no meaningful effect on collagen production, unless someone is severely Vitamin C deficient,' says Dr Neal Schultz, one of New York's leading dermatologists. The eminent London dermatologist, Dr Nick Lowe of the Cranley Clinic, isn't convinced by its collagen boosting powers either: 'I still don't think there's been enough research,' he says. However, Wendy Lewis, the independent beauty consultant who advises on skincare and cosmetic surgery says: 'Clinical research demonstrated that Vitamin C stimulates collagen growth [...]. Incorporating vitamin C into skincare made perfect sense in retrospect since it had been known for decades to be important for collagen production.' She adds: 'It's effectiveness depends on the percentage and how it is delivered into the skin. If it's a small percentage (5-10%) it may not be able to work to boost collagen.' The point here perhaps is not (as with all skincare) to expect miracles. What's for sure is the need for further conclusive studies to clarify.
Protects: Vitamin C is an effective antioxidant - and this is a dead cert. Once absorbed, it can't be rubbed off, so you get a lasting antioxidant benefit. As such it also helps reduce the look of lines and wrinkles and protects from UVA damage.
Fades pigmentation: Clinique's Executive Director of Biological Research explains that it works, 'by acting like an 'eraser' in breaking up large, visible clusters of melanin into smaller particles that are less visible to the eye. This excess melanin gets dispersed throughout the skin, creating a more even looking skin tone.' However, there is still some doubt as to how effective it really is; hyper pigmentation and brown spots take a long time to treat.
How do you know it's fresh?
Hot vitamin C brands such as Skinceuticals use L-Ascorbic acid because it's a stabilised form of the vitamin. Skincare technologies have thrown up new ways to keep the vitamin fresh while in the bottle - they use microcapsules, and micro powders to encase the vitamin until you apply it. They melt into the skin and deliver the Vitamin C, fresh. You can also buy vitamin C treatments where you mix the dose freshly, to be used up over a few days.
Best Vitamin C Skincare
Murad Essential C Daily Renewal Complex, £65.50, gives the skin an antioxidant dose and boosts brightness - all in a daily moisturiser
Skinceuticals C + AHA, £58 for 15ml, potent sun damage repairing, skin renewing treatment, do ask a Skinceuticals consultant for advice before buying: 020 8997 8541
Dr Sebag Pure Vitamin C Powder Cream, £72, this powder turns to cream on impact and uses a patented micro-encapsulating powder to keep the vitamin C fresh
Shu Uemura Whitening Lipo FD/C, £43, FD Water, £2.50, freeze-dried vitamin C with a 10.5% concentration helps slow down melanin production. Liposomes take fresh vitamin C to deeper layers of the epidermis to act on the melanocytes
Suki Exfoliating Lemongrass Cleanser, £24.50 (www.touchmyface.co.uk), an all-natural, brightening and refreshing cleanser with Vitamin C - I love the way it foams as you apply it
Copyright © 2006 handbag.com
