How to Add Vitamin C into Your Skincare Routine

iho clean beauty
Jan 16, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Jan 18, 2020

Vitamin "See" a Difference

The ingredient Vitamin C is skincare necessity. There is no age minimum or limit on who benefits from using it, and it’s one of those incredible, universally agreed upon ingredients with dermatologists and estheticians. I betcha a glass of OJ you'll be seeing positive effects within two weeks, tops!

In this post, you'll learn the benefits of Vitamin C, what products to look for, how to use powder Vitamin C, and which products to use if powder Vitamin C isn't for you. Plus, here's a cute pic of a dog to get you going.

Benefits of Vitamin C for your Skin Include:

Fights pollutants because it's an antioxidant
Gives light UV protection
Promotes collagen production
Brightening, brightening, brightening
Improves skin texture
Helps heal hyperpigmentation and dark spots
Prevents premature aging

What Skincare Products Contain Vitamin C?

As you’ve probably noticed when you walk through Sephora, a lot. Like I said, it’s a very popular ingredient! However, just like the difference between Tropicana and fresh squeezed...not all Vitamin C is the same.

Vitamin C, while pretty perfect, decreases in potency (aka how strong it is), once it touches air or is exposed to light (called oxidization). So my analogy is, we freeze food that needs to remain fresh if we can’t cook it right away, so why not our skin care products? Alas! Introducing powder Vitamin C. this is the strongest way, in the long run, you can incorporate this mega ingredient into your routine, and it’s pretty simple to use, too.

When shopping for Vitamin C, the term to look for is ascorbic acid, or, L-ascorbic acid. This is the most stable and effective form of Vitamin C in skin care. Here are my picks for a powder Vitamin C, and read on for how to apply it to your routine.

True Botanicals Vitamin C Booster. The gold, or orange, standard in Vitamin C powder. This one also contains Ferulic Acid, another powerhouse antioxidant, anti-aging ingredient that helps stabilize Vitamin C.

The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder. At $5.80, pretty tempting to try. I can't speak directly for this as I haven't tried, and have had some quality issues with The Ordinary products in the past, but hey, not a bad price to experiment.

How to Incorporate into Your Routine

Wash your face.
Vitamin C powder is activated with water, I spray my Indie Lee Coq-10 toner to soak the face, or, you can put a few drops of tap water or toner in your palm.
Shake the powder Vitamin C a few times until you get a penny size amount on your palm, you will learn to adjust the amount based on how it spreads on your face. More water = less Vitamin C needed.
Spread all over face and neck.
I like to let it sit for a about 15 seconds, then apply the rest of your routine, voila!

Extra Tips:

Vitamin C can be used morning or night, I recommend morning because it gives a glow and UV protection.
If the extra step of using the powder seems too much, just add a few shakes of the powder Vitamin C to your morning serum.
Mix powder Vitamin C with a mask if you are looking for extra brightness, trust me. Note that the mask should be exfoliating or hydrating, not a clay mask.

The Powder is Too Much, Streamline for Me Iho!

Fine, fine, fine. I get it, For some people, one product is all you want in the morning and the powder might seem like work. Like I discussed earlier, oxidization occurs when the packaging allows air and light in….this narrows options down. When a friend wants to incorporate Vitamin C in their routine but doesn’t want the powder, I recommend the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Serum. The packaging is specifically created to minimize any oxidiziation, and is completely shielded from light. Other products with Vitamin C will work, but just know after 30 days the potency decreases over time.