Vitamin C is the absolute cosmetic darling and many women swear by it. And I think that this is mainly because it is such a  powerful skin brightener that makes you look fresh, radiant and healthy. This simple yet highly effective vitamin evens out skin tone, brightens the skin and improves dark spots and pigmentation. On top of that, it is simple and cheap.

But have you ever wondered how comes that there are so many different Vitamin C creams out there? There are the ones that advertise bright oranges on their labels and, on the other hand, there are the rather plain looking ones that look all scientific and tend to be very! expensive.

Which one of these products should you actually choose to give you the best benefit for your skin?

I personally think that you should keep it simple and straight forward. Generally speaking, the more expensive does not mean the better.

For example, The Ordinary skin care brand have taken things to the extreme and developed the most simple Vitamin C product you can think of- Pure Vitamin C powder! You could potentially buy it at the supermarket and apply it to your skin. That is how simple high quality skin care can be. And on top of everything, this purest and most potent form of Vitamin C can be mixed with your daily moisturiser, making your daily skin care even more simple. Just beware, the powder does tingle because it is so pure, but, at the same time it also the most potent and stable form of Vitamin C.

So, if the Vitamin C powder is so good, why do you need so many more forms of vitamin C?

The main reason for that is, that Vitamin C is unstable. Once you take it out of the bottle or cream pot, it is exposed to air. And air makes Vitamin C degrade. And when it is exposed to sun, it degrades even faster. For that reason, I would always recommend you to apply a sunscreen after your Vitamin C serum.

Furthermore, Vitamin C is most stable in acid with a pH of 3.5, and that can feel quite harsh when you apply it to your skin.

Please make sure you choose the right concentration

No matter what vitamin C product you choose, it is important that it contains the right concentration of Vitamin C. And the ideal concentration appears to be 20%. If you choose a higher concentration, it is unlikely to make a big difference to your skin but, at the same time, it will not cause you any harm. Please bear in mind, that if you have very sensitive skin or do not like the tingling, it is best to start off with a very small amount of cream. You can then gradually increase it until your skin is used to the tingling. Most people will not even notice the tingling anymore once they are used to it. This can take a few days up to a few weeks.

Fat soluble Vitamin C

For all these reasons, the cosmetic industry is trying to find lots of ways to make Vitamin C more potent, stable and less tingly. One of their favourite methods is to make it more fat soluble, so that it is absorbed into your skin quickly and not exposed to air for too long. Because fat soluble vitamin C is able to penetrate skin, it can start to work in the deeper layers of skin. In theory, this could make it more effective and it probably does- but at this stage there is only very limited scientific evidence to support this theory.

Water Soluble Vitamin C

On the other hand, the more water soluble forms are better for oily or acne prone skin as they do not add extra oil. The water soluble forms tend to be more potent, but, they also degrade faster. But the cosmetic industry has managed to develop water soluble forms of Vitamin C that do not degrade quite so quickly. And this means that the serum has got a nice texture and feels very pleasant on your skin.

Water Free Vitamin C

To make vitamin C more stable, scientists have also developed water free (anhydrous) vitamin C. This means that the Vitamin C needs to be diluted with a different carrier than water. Most times, cosmetic companies use silicone as a carrier. Silicone can cover up blemishes and spots on your skin, and it has become popular as a make up primer. But do keep in mind that, when you use it for a long time, it can clog up pores and cause outbreaks. Some companies have therefore developed a lighter and softer form of silicone as a carrier for vitamin C.