It was not until I reached my 30s, when I first started to take good care of my skin. Up until then, I never paid much attention to the ingredients that my skincare products were made of. Awareness about the amount of unprotected sun exposure I put myself through every day was even further down my list of worries. My focus was mainly to find skincare products that wouldn’t irritate my sensitive skin, but I never thought of protecting my skin against premature aging. Everything changed when I started to see those first signs of the process of aging. The research I was doing at that time brought me to the beautiful discovery of one of the most researched skincare ingredients: the extremely powerful, anti-aging ingredient vitamin C.
Skincare is every-thing! It was at age 33, at a time when I had not yet started making skincare, that I began to see the first signs of skin aging. I had a lot of hyperpigmentation on my facial skin, fine lines were slowly but surely developing, and my skin wasn’t as tight as it used to be. It terrified me because I knew it was the result of me not taking proper care of my skin. It made me realize that I needed to give way more attention to my skincare routine. From then on, I was on a mission to find natural and effective skincare products against pre-mature aging.
It wasn’t an easy mission back then; there were not as many natural skincare brands as there are today. Some natural skincare brands did exist, but not many of them focused on anti-aging. Therefore, I added this topic to my focus list during my studies to become a natural skincare formulator. This quest led me to find the best natural anti-aging ingredient vitamin C, also known as ‘ascorbic acid’ in official jargon.
Why vitamin C is incredible for the skin
During my research, I kept on finding the most interesting studies and results speaking of vitamin C. In the past, I had already heard great things about it, but I was not aware that it turned out to be one of the most effective anti-aging, natural skincare ingredients existing. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is one of the most studied cosmetic ingredients and has countless advantages when you add it to your daily skincare routine. For example, it effectively stimulates collagen production [1], which firms the skin and reduces the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles. In addition, it brightens the skin [2, 3] by reducing the visibility of acne scars and pigmentation spots, and as it is a strong antioxidant, it also protects against UV damage [4]. By now, you will understand why I wanted nothing more than to formulate a product based on this ingredient.
Ascorbic acid: the most effective form of vitamin C Although ascorbic acid is the purest and most effective form of vitamin C, it has one unfortunate side to it: it is unstable. This implies that when it comes in contact with water, oxygen or light it tends to oxide quite rapidly, which is why you find a lot of vitamin C derivatives on the current market. Most of them are designed to be more stable. The downside that one should be aware of though, is that they are less effective than the purest form. For me, it was most important to use the most effective form of vitamin C without losing its potency, so I started looking into ways to stabilize ascorbic acid. During my research, I found multiple studies where ascorbic acid was stabilized with ferulic acid, which is a very powerful antioxidant. Using this knowledge, I developed a formulation that makes it possible to benefit from the most potent form of vitamin C without having to make any compromises. La Vitamine C Powder was born! In this formulation, I chose to keep ascorbic acid in its raw form. When mixed with ferulic acid to stabilize the vitamin C so we can benefit from it as long as possible.
Scientifically measured effectiveness
For ascorbic acid to be effective, its presence within a formulation must be a minimum of 4%. To find out whether there is indeed enough of the ingredient in a product, the ingredients list is your go-to: the substance must be listed at the top or must at least be listed in the first third of the ingredients list. La Vitamine C Powder is one of the highest concentrated vitamin C products out there, and it is specially formulated to make sure that every application reaches that 4% minimum to guarantee effectiveness.
How vitamin C changed my skin
Since the start of my skincare journey 5 years ago, my now 37-years-old skin has improved so much. One of the biggest issues I had back in the day was hyperpigmentation; my partner used to call me ‘panda bear’ because of the several large, dark spots on my face. La Vitamine C Powder made them completely disappear from my face. Thankfully, I have an even and beautiful skin tone now. Another issue I used to have, was feeling and seeing my skin losing its firmness. Since I started to use La Vitamine C Powder, my skin has become much firmer. It truly is a great product to help protect the skin against premature aging.
How to use La Vitamine C Powder Perhaps you are wondering how you can use a powder as skincare. Well, to make it a bit easier to understand, I made a video to show you how I like to use the powder. I invite you to watch it when you are about to use La Vitamine C Powder for the very first time. The most important thing to remember is that this powder can only be dissolved with water. Without water it stays grainy and it therefore is unable to penetrate the skin. There are a few ways to dissolve the powder. It can be dissolved by adding a couple of drops of water or by mixing it with a product that contains water, such as a cream or water-based serum. Personally, what I like to do, is to use this powder together with my favorite serum, which is of course Le Youth Sérum. This serum is oil-based, which means that I need to mix the powder with the serum and on top of that with a few (1 to 2) drops of water in order to dissolve the powder. Whichever option you choose, you first need to sprinkle the powder into the palm of your hand by shaking the bottle 2 to 3 times and mix it with a few drops of water plus your favorite moisturizer, oil or serum. Mix well by using a finger and apply it to your face and neck. C’est tout!
1. Nusgens, B. V., Colige, A. C., Lambert, C. A., Lapière, C. M., Humbert, P., Rougier, A., … Creidi, P. (2001). Topically Applied Vitamin C Enhances the mRNA Level of Collagens I and III, Their Processing Enzymes and Tissue Inhibitor of Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 in the Human Dermis11Part of this work was presented in poster form at the American Academy of Dermatology, San Francisco, CA, March 10–15, 2000. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 116(6), 853–859. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0022-202x.2001.01362.x https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11407971
2. Espinal-Perez, L. E., Moncada, B., & Castanedo-Cazares, J. P. (2004). A double-blind randomized trial of 5% ascorbic acid vs. 4% hydroquinone in melasma. International Journal of Dermatology, 43(8), 604–607. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2004.02134.x https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15304189
3. Traikovich, S. S. (1999). Use of Topical Ascorbic Acid and Its Effects on Photodamaged Skin Topography. Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 125(10), 1091. https://doi.org/10.1001/archotol.125.10.1091
4. DARR, D., COMBS, S., DUNSTON, S., MANNING, T., & PINNELL, S. (1992). Topical vitamin C protects porcine skin from ultraviolet radiation-induced damage. British Journal of Dermatology, 127(3), 247–253. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.1992.tb00122.x