Ascorbic Acid
INCI Name: Ascorbic Acid
Purposes: Antioxidant , Buffering , Masking , Skin-Conditioning Agent
Ascorbic Acid is the naturally occurring form of vitamin C. Its anti-aging properties come chiefly from it being an antioxidant. Studies have shown that it can reduce redness in the skin and formation of cancerous cells after exposure to harsh UV rays. This implies that using vitamin C in addition to sunscreen would be highly effective.
In addition to mediating sun-damage, vitamin C has been shown to decrease wrinkles when applied for a three month period. A later study showed that a lower concentration of vitamin C over a six month period significantly improved skin hydration, wrinkles and brown spots.
Hyperpigmentation can be a stubborn skin concern that is difficult to treat. Vitamin C has been shown to be a tyrosinase inhibitor. Tyrosinase is a copper-containing enzyme that catalyzed the chemical transformation of phenols and polyphenols to quinones, such as the formation of melanin from tyrosine.
The main issues with vitamin C include it being unstable, not highly penetrative through the skin, and being irritating. Pure Ascorbic Acid can degrade rather quickly when exposed to air, light, or other agents. For this reason formulators will often seek to implement different chemical forms of vitamin C, such as Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, which offer various differentiating solutions to the aforementioned issues (being unstable and not penetrating the skin well). Unfortunately, vitamin C can be irritating to the skin if used in too high of a concentration. So we recommend working your way up to a level that is right for you.
SKIN CARE WITH Ascorbic Acid
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