Adding Vitamin C To Your Routine

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase a product through these links, I may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). I only recommend products I have personally tried and love, and will always be upfront if I didn’t like a product. I use these funds to support my bubble tea addiction.______________________I prefer to keep my morning skincare routine as simple as possible: splash my face with water, apply moisturizer, and finish up with sunscreen before starting my makeup. But I recently introduced vitamin c into my routine in the form of Sunday Riley C.E.O and my skin has visibly benefited from this addition within a few short weeks! My skin looks bright and glowy and my hyperpigmentation has gotten lighter within the short time I've used it.

What are the benefits?

If you read my post about Skincare Mistakes, you'll remember that I recommended vitamin c as a safe alternative to using citrus on your face (which can be quite harmful to your skin).Vitamin C has so many great benefits including:

• Reduction of inflammation
• Promotion of collagen production (making your skin firmer and more youthful looking)
• Brightening of skin tone and reduced appearance of pigmentation
• There is also some evidence that it reduces the damage caused by UV light exposure. So it’s a great addition you your routine along with (but not instead of) sunscreen. Just to be incredibly clear here: you absolutely still need sunscreen. Every single day. Don't skip this step!

So What Is Vitamin C Exactly?

Vitamin C serums can come in different forms. L-ascorbic Acid is most common because the most vitamin c research has been done on it (Paula’s Choice states this as the reason they only use L-ascorbic acid).Sunday Riley, however, uses a newer form of topical vitamin C called THD Ascorbate. THD Ascorbate is supposed to be more “lipid soluble” meaning it penetrates the skin better than many other forms of vitamin c that are water soluble and can’t penetrate the lipid barrier to reach the dermis. Reaching the dermis is important because this is where collagen is made.Whether you should use L-ascorbic Acid or THD Ascorbate is totally up to you. A lot of people feel more comfortable using L-ascorbic acid because it has the most research backing it up. However, L-ascorbic acid can be irritating to some people, in which case THD Ascorbate is a great alternative.

When Do You Use Vitamin C in your routine?

After patch testing successfully, start introducing it into your morning routine every other day and slowly increase if you want to. Because Vitamin C products can have a hard time penetrating the skin, I recommend using it right after cleanser, before layering any additional products. I added it to my morning routine in the following order: Splash with water (or cleanser), Sunday Riley CEO, Moisturizer, sunscreen.

Which Vitamin C Should You Choose?

While I'm currently using Sunday Riley's CEO, there are so many different brands to choose from. However, when purchasing vitamin c, it's important to remember that it should come in an opaque or dark tinted bottle, as prolonged exposure to air and light can cause it to oxidize, making it ineffective (unless it comes as a powder, in which case it's stable enough to see sunlight).Here are some of my recommendations:

Sunday Riley CEO ($85)

Drunk Elephant C-Firma ($80)

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster ($49)

Budget-friendly pick:  The Ordinary 100% L-ascorbic Powder ($5.80)

Do you use Vitamin C in your routine already? What's your favorite?~~~~~~~Be sure to follow my skincare journey on Instagram @Levitate.Beauty!