Understanding the Role of Vitamin C in Skin Care

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A good skin care routine is essential for women of all ages.  Men can also benefit from routine skin care practices, which include keeping your skin clean, protecting it from the sun, and keeping it nourished. Proper skin care can reduce the appearance of aging and make your skin feel refreshed.  It can also help reduce symptoms of skin conditions such as psoriasis and rashes. Understanding the role of vitamin C in skin care can help you develop a regimen that keeps your skin healthy.

Vitamin C exists naturally in your body.  However, it is common for people to suffer from a vitamin C deficiency. This is why it is available as a dietary supplement.  A deficiency can negatively affect your skin’s condition and appearance.  Because Vitamin C is the primary water-soluble antioxidant, it acts as the main destroyer of free radicals.

Helps in collagen formation

It also plays a major role in the formation of collagen which is a protein that connects tissues and controls the elasticity of skin.  In fact, your skin is comprised mainly of collagen and without vitamin C your body is unable to create sufficient amounts of collagen.  It is at this point that skin becomes dull, wrinkles and begins to sag.  It is the loss of collagen that causes skin to age prematurely.  While everyone experiences some collagen loss naturally, vitamin C can reverse the effects.

Is a powerful antioxidant

As an antioxidant, vitamin C also helps keep free radicals from attacking cellular components in your skin.  It is, in effect, a stabilizing influence on the singlet oxygen radical as well as the hydroxyl radical.  Vitamin C is central to the regeneration of vitamin E which keeps your skin supple and youthful looking. Another role of vitamin C in skin care is to metabolize various amino acids which can impact the health of your skin.  When these amino acids are metabolized, a compound called carnitine is formed.  As an antioxidant, carnitine keeps skin energized through metabolic action at the skin cell level.

Your skin is living tissue and without the transfer of electrons, it would die.  This is what occurs when electron transport is interrupted due to disease or trauma.  Vitamin C is an electron transporter which is critical for the skin on the molecular level.  When it interacts with specific types of cells on the top layer of your skin, vitamin C is especially powerful.  It is believed to influence the actions of keratinocytes which are cells located on the epidermis.  Adding a small amount of vitamin C topically to an affected area can quickly cause keratinocytes to rearrange themselves so the skin appears normal once again.  This suggests that vitamin C acts as a reconstruction agent for damaged skin.

Delays signs of aging

If you want to stop signs of aging, vitamin C must play a central role in your skin care regimen. Not only does it decrease the aged appearance of skin, it effectively changes the cellular makeup of your skin so the real chronological age of your skin is reversed.  Studies show that vitamin C can repair damaged skin while improving epidermal function.

The importance of the role of vitamin C in skin care cannot be overstated.  Because it contains ascorbic acid, it is essential for the treatment of prematurely aging skin as well as the repair of damaged skin. It is useful for a variety of skin problems ranging from acne to skin discolorations. You can use vitamin C as an oral supplement or apply it topically to the affected area of your skin.