Ask a dozen dermatologists about their favorite skin care ingredient, and you’ll likely get a dozen love letters about vitamin C. “It’s one of the few ingredients that both protects and repairs skin, but is also tolerated by a vast majority of patients,” says Dr. Titilola Sode, a board-certified dermatologist in Dallas. But not all vitamin C serums are equally effective, and the wrong formula, packaging or even application can render it useless. So before you stock up on serums, make sure you’ve got these seven vitamin C facts straight.
It’s one of the few ingredients that can actually smooth fine lines.
A lot of products boast about their anti-aging powers, but unless they contain ingredients known to trigger the production of collagen (a very short list that includes retinoids, growth factors and—ding, ding—vitamin C), they won’t make a huge dent in slowing down your skin’s natural aging process.
