It is common knowledge that vitamins are good for us. Regardless of whether we understand vitamins and their effects, we will often take vitamin supplements or eat vitamin-rich foods for the sake of our body's health. Well, what about our skin? 

Certain vitamins can improve the quality of your complexion when incorporated into your holistic skin care regimen. Today, we at WOW Skin Science will focus specifically on vitamin C. 

Table of contents:

• The Science Behind Vitamin C and Acne: Understanding How it Works
• How Vitamin C Can Benefit Acne-Prone Skin: Fighting Inflammation and Promoting Healing
• Using Vitamin C for Acne: Incorporating it into Your Skincare Routine
• Serum
• Masks
• Signs of Vitamin C Deficiency: The Importance of Meeting Your Daily Needs

The Science Behind Vitamin C and Acne: Understanding How it Works

Let's start by defining what vitamin C is. Vitamin C, chemically known as ascorbic acid, is an essential nutrient necessary for forming collagen, cartilage, muscle, and blood vessels in your body. 

The creation of vitamin C does not occur naturally in the body, but it can be found in various sources. One of the best sources of ascorbic acid is the red bell pepper. Believe it or not, it contains five times as much vitamin C as oranges. Other sources of vitamin C include:

• Lemon
• Orange
• Guava
• Kiwi
• Cauliflower
• Brussel sprouts

Vitamin C is water soluble and temperature resistant. This means that when you cook food that contains vitamin C, it can be degraded. For example, if you are cooking bell pepper, vitamin C will likely get degraded. For this reason, if you are trying to increase your intake, it is advisable to consume vitamin C-containing foods in raw form so that the ascorbic acid is kept intact and more available to your body.

How Vitamin C Can Benefit Acne-Prone Skin: Fighting Inflammation and Promoting Healing

In addition to all the benefits above, vitamin C has several benefits specific to your skin. 

For example, oral vitamin C also offers major antioxidant protection, essential for maintaining healthy cells throughout your body. 

Vitamin C can also help support healthy collagen synthesis when taken orally. Collagen production is important in maintaining your skin's strength, hydration, and elasticity.

Finally, vitamin C can help you address blemishes. Environmental stressors like pollution, stress, diet, and sleep habits sometimes trigger blemishes. Vitamin C may help with the swelling and irritation that comes with blemishes and breakouts. 

Topical vitamin C may be useful for brightening the appearance of dark spots in the aftermath of your breakout.

Using Vitamin C for Acne: Incorporating it into Your Skincare Routine

As previously explained, several foods act as good sources of vitamin C. Since your body does not naturally produce vitamin C, it is common for your diet to carry most of the weight in the vitamin department. People will often turn to supplements when struggling to keep their vitamin C levels up.

If you suspect that you may have a vitamin C deficiency, consult your healthcare provider to confirm whether supplementation is needed.

If you want to support a healthy complexion, you may want to try something a little more direct. We at WOW Skin Science have our own share of vitamin C-based skin care products holistically designed to make your skin look and feel better than before.

Serum

For example, we have the WOW Skin Science Vitamin C Serum. This glowing skin serum is formulated with natural ingredients that revive dull complexions to provide you with radiance.

The main ingredient is active vitamin C. Topical vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can help support your skin cell health. Other major ingredients include hyaluronic acid, witch hazel extract, and glycerin. 

Hyaluronic acid helps your skin to draw and retain hydration for firm, supple, moisturized skin. Witch hazel extract contains skin-clarifying tannin and nutrients that repair skin, reduce redness and irritations, and refine skin. Glycerin is a humectant that allows the skin to retain moisture and increase skin hydration.

Our oil-free vitamin C powder is designed to improve several areas of your skin by helping clarify skin tone and pores, give skin a smooth appearance and minimize the look of premature signs of aging.

To properly reap these benefits, apply a pea-sized amount of serum onto your cleansed face and neck with your fingers. Dab it into your skin, and use this serum twice daily.

Masks

Another one of our popular and effective vitamin C products is WOW Skin Science Vitamin C Clay Face Mask. If you are looking for fast results, our 100% vegan face mask may be the solution you are looking for.

Our product is infused with skin-brightening botanicals that give you a healthy glow in just 15 minutes. Some top ingredients include active vitamin C, bentonite clay, lemon & orange essential oils, and Kakadu plum. Similar to the Vitamin C Serum, the primary role of vitamin C in this product is to support the health of your skin.

Bentonite clay is volcanic ash rich in minerals like calcium, magnesium, and iron that draw out impurities and boost blood circulation in the skin. 

Lemon & orange essential oils are rich in vitamin C, fatty acids, and minerals that help reduce excess sebum levels and purify the skin. Kakadu plum is a rich source of vitamin C and antioxidant gallic acid that helps fade scars and spots, even out your complexion, and defend against ultraviolet damage.

Use the mask after you have showered or washed your face. Scoop out a dollop of the mask and apply a thin layer all over your cleansed face using a mask brush or your fingertips. Avoid the eye area during application. Once you have finished, let the product dry for 10-15 minutes. Then, rinse the mask off thoroughly with lukewarm water and gently pat your skin dry with a towel.

Signs of Vitamin C Deficiency: The Importance of Meeting Your Daily Needs.

How do you know if you need more vitamin C? Here are some signs of deficiencies to look out for.

Rough Skin

As previously discussed, vitamin C is largely responsible for collagen production. When you do not have vitamin C in your body, it hampers your skin. 

A lack of vitamin C in your body for more than three months can cause a condition called keratosis pilaris. This condition causes the keratin protein to accumulate inside the pores of your skin. Therefore, having unusually rough skin could be a sign that you are lacking in vitamin C.

Extensive Bruising

Your skin's collagen behaves as a protective barrier that defends your body from injuries. When there is not enough supply of vitamin C, collagen production in your skin slows down. This, in turn, can cause you to bruise more easily. 

This means that even a small injury can end up leaving you with severe scars. If you notice your body bruising easily, consider getting checked for a vitamin C deficiency. Otherwise, your deficiency may leave your body in a vulnerable state for injury and bruising.

Joint Pain

Though there can be many reasons for experiencing joint pain, one is a vitamin C deficiency. This is because vitamin C plays a crucial role in strengthening your joints. Joints contain a lot of the collagen that vitamin C helps to produce, so when you do not have enough of this nutrient in your body, your joints swell very easily. 

A lack of vitamin C can weaken your joints to the point that it creates discomfort when walking or running. In severe cases, your vitamin C deficiency may even contribute to joint bleeding.

Trouble Healing

The collagen in your skin assists your body with healing. Your metabolism also plays an important role in providing a much-needed helping hand. For wounds to heal properly, you need to have adequate vitamin C in your body. 

Studies have shown a connection between people with slow healing and vitamin C deficiencies. 

Fatigue

Fatigue is a common symptom to experience in the later stages of a vitamin C deficiency. Once you have had a vitamin C deficiency for a few months, you will likely feel tired and weak. Besides the production of collagen and increasing your metabolism, vitamin C is also responsible for replenishing your energy.

This absence of vitamin C will likely make you feel tired. Most forms of fatigue can be taken care of by proper food intake and enough hours of rest. However, fatigue caused by low levels of vitamin C is often accompanied by scurvy, making it more and more difficult to treat as time goes by.

Weak Bones

Though the most common reason for having weak bones is a lack of calcium, vitamin C deficiency may also be the cause. Lacking this nutrient in your diet is linked to fractures and osteoporosis. Vitamin C is involved in the formation of your bones. 

While calcium strengthens and toughens your bones, vitamin C lays the groundwork for it. 

Rapid Weight Gain

Vitamin C plays a role in releasing fat from fat cells, thus helping to support a healthy weight. 

A low vitamin C intake has been linked to obesity and higher amounts of belly fat. It is for this reason that popular fruit recommendations for people dealing with obesity are lemons, oranges, and strawberries since all of these are rich sources of vitamin C. 

Colored Hair Follicles

Hair follicles contain tiny blood vessels that supply nutrients. When there is not enough supply of vitamin C, these blood vessels can become weak and may break easily. As a result, your hair follicles will sometimes turn reddish brown. This common problem is known as perifollicular hemorrhage. It occurs because of a severe vitamin C deficiency and has been documented many times. 

Coil Shaped Hair

Vitamin C helps in the structure of your hair. When you do not have enough of this nutrient in your body, your hair tends to be bent or coiled. While this can happen naturally, it is different with a deficiency. If your hair is coil-shaped and likely to break easily, you may have a deficiency. 

Additionally, collagen is also responsible here by helping to keep the hair on our bodies. Without this nutrient, your body cannot help produce collagen. As a result, you can end up with weak, coiled hair. On the positive side, this problem can be fixed if you keep yourself on a good diet.

In short, vitamin C is an extremely versatile nutrient important to your health for several different reasons. As far as skincare goes, vitamin C's role in producing collagen cements its position as a skincare remedy. Taking vitamin C can support your overall health and wellness, but topical vitamin C may have targeted benefits for your skin. 

Sources:

Ascorbic acid | PubChem

Collagen | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Vitamin C Deficiency | StatPearls | NCBI Bookshelf.

Vitamin C: a wound healing perspective | NCBI