Vitamin C is truly a miracle ingredient. Not only is it an amazing ingredient for healthy, glowing skin, but it’s also an essential vitamin that your body needs. Lately, the talk and rush to purchase vitamin C related supplements is more present than ever. And it’s for a good reason too. Appropriately, April 4 is national Vitamin C Day, which is perfect timing! Keep reading for Dermstore and La Roche Posay’s limited-time promotions.
What is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is a water soluble nutrient. This means that it gets absorbed from the foods we eat into our small intestines. From there, the body takes what it needs and passes excess amounts of ascorbic acid out of our bodies through our urine. When present in our bodies, vitamin C plays multiple essential functions in the body.
What does Vitamin C do for our body?
To give a brief explanation, Vitamin C is rich in antioxidants which helps to protect cells from oxidative stress or damage caused by free radicals. And for those who don’t know, free radicals are compounds present all around and inside us. Usually when we’re out and about, we’re constantly exposed to free radicals. It’s present through the air we breathe and the UV rays from the sun. For our bodies, having too many free radicals in our systems is no bueno since they can lead to premature aging and cellular damage.
Other benefits that Vitamin C can do are stimulate collagen production for wound healing, improve the absorption of iron, and even strengthen the immune system to fend off illnesses.
How can it boost the immune system?
If you’ve ever gotten sick, you’ve probably heard the saying: “drink hot tea with lemon” or “eat some vitamin C” at some point in your lives. There’s a good reason for that! Vitamin C and the immune system actually go hand in hand. For centuries, this nutrient was highly sought out to combat the cold, flu, and other illnesses. Even with COVID-19 today, this is no exception.
Vitamin C has two key components that make it a powerful nutrient: it has antiviral properties and it increases white blood cell production.
As you know, your immune system works hard to protect the body from invading bacteria and viruses by producing and sending out white blood cells. Vitamin C is a great nutrient that helps to reinforce your defense system. They work by essentially sending back-up white blood cells and even help kill virus infected cells in your body, by producing interferon. Cool, right?
Another fun fact that you probably didn’t know is that when you’re sick, it’s likely that your vitamin C levels are depleted, which then can contribute to a compromised immune system. Who knew?
How to up your intake?
It’s suggested that one daily serving of vitamin C should be between 65-90 mg. Luckily, most of the foods you eat already contain some amounts of vitamin C! But some fruits and vegetables are richer in vitamin C than others. This includes citrus fruits, bell peppers, broccoli, papaya, and ginger to name a few. Fermented foods like sauerkraut and even kimchi are found to have high levels of vitamin C as well. You can also take vitamin C chewable tablets, powders, or even supplements to increase your levels. Just make sure you talk to a medical professional before trying anything to find out what the right dosage is for you.
What about our skin?
Besides taking supplements, vitamin C is a very popular ingredient in the beauty community. Why? Vitamin C has youth-inducing, wrinkle-smoothing, and skin-plumping abilities to name a few. Remember how we touched briefly on vitamin c stimulating collagen production to heal wounds? Turns out that vitamin C can also promote collagen growth to your face to give it that youthful appearance. No wonder it’s a popular ingredient for anti-aging!
How do you incorporate Vitamin C in your routine?
When it comes to vitamin C for your skincare routine, you’ll find that many serums have a short shelf life. That’s because they’re usually made with the pure form L-Ascorbic acid that’s potent but very unstable in nature. They have a shorter shelf life and are more likely to oxidize within months. Fortunately, there are many vitamin C derivatives and powdered-forms that are stable and just as potent as the pure form.
Applying During the Night
In your skincare routine, vitamin C can be used during the day or during the night. For your nighttime routine, apply on a clean dried face after your cleansing step, and seal with a moisturizer. Applying vitamin C during the night helps to reverse skin damage from free radicals after a long day’s work.
Applying During the Day
For the mornings, apply your vitamin C serum as you would in your night routine. It’s also great to pair your vitamin C serums with vitamin E and ferulic acid serums. Afterwards, seal with a moisturizer and apply your sunscreen before heading out. You’ll find that triple combination is a power-packed shield for protecting your skin before you step foot out of the house. It’s also chock-full of antioxidants that work to restore your skin and give it that glow.
Now that you know a little more about this nutrient, why not take advantage of some promotions for top-selling products in celebration of Vitamin C Day?
Promotions
Dermstore will be gifting a free CE Ferulic 4 mL sample to ALL Dermstore customers (regardless of the product bought), a free Resveratrol B E to anyone who purchases a SkinCeuticals product, and 2x points on all SkinCeuticals purchases from 4/4 – 4/6.
On top of that, from 4/1 – 4/5, La Roche-Posay will be providing 25% off for all anti-aging products in celebration for Vitamin C Day. This will also include their best selling anti-aging set that contains three full sized bottles of La Roche-Posay’s top serums.
Recommended Products
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