Still striving for brighter, tighter skin? If you haven’t already, now is the time to consider reaping the benefits of Vitamin C’s free-radical-fighting potential.

With consistent use, you’ll see benefits including a more even skin tone, fewer lines and wrinkles and well, just a downright glowing complexion.

How does it work?

The topical use of Vitamin C inhibits the over-production of melanin, the substance in your body that produces pigmentation in your hair, eyes, and skin. It’s an antioxidant that can help your skin produce collagen—a protein that gives your complexion a firmer, bouncier feel, which in turn helps to improve the look of fine lines and wrinkles.

When should I be using it?

There’s certainly no law against using vitamin C products in the evening, but, most experts believe the most consistent benefits are gained after morning use.

What does Vitamin C do for your skin?

Vitamin C has a wide range of protective and anti-aging effects for the skin. Research over the years has proven that using topical vitamin C may help prevent skin damage that can be caused by environmental aggressors, including UV rays, pollution and smoke. But it’s the anti-inflammatory properties in vitamin C that really work the magic as they boost wound healing by helping cells migrate to the areas of broken skin. This happens both under and atop the skin surface.

What is the best form?

Serums typically offer the highest concentrations of active vitamin C and tend to have better skin penetration compared to other vitamin C products, like creams and cleansers. The percentage of vitamin C will be written on the box, usually ranging from 5% to anything up to 30%, depending on the brand and concentration. If you have dry and/or sensitive skin you’ll probably want to stick with lower concentrations, around 5% or less, since they are less likely to be irritating.

Top Tip

Something many people don’t know is that vitamin C becomes unstable when exposed to light. For this reason, it’s important to give it time to absorb into your skin before going outside. Vitamin C does oxidize, so it's crucial you keep it out of the light and use the product up within a few months, or its efficacy will degrade.

How do I know it’s any good?

The easiest way is to look at the label and make sure vitamin C is listed as one of the primary ingredients on the product packaging. You would like it to appear as one of the first five in the list ideally.

Vitamin C can come in a number of forms, but most experts say L-ascorbic acid is one of the best as it’s well studied and gets straight to work once it hits your skin. Other vitamin C derivatives you can look for on a label include sodium ascorbyl phosphate, ascorbyl palmitate, retinyl ascorbate, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate.

What’s with the tingling?

The most common side effects of using a vitamin C serum include skin irritation like tingling upon application. The tingling should stop after a few minutes and if it doesn’t perhaps try a product with a lower concentration until your skin builds some resistance.