October 23, 2018 4 min read
Vitamin C has been solidly proven to help even out your skin tone, firm up your skin by building up collagen, (thus plumping up your skin) and lessening the effects of exposure to the elements. Ascorbic acid - Vitamin C's true name, is a powerhouse when mixed with other antioxidants. The combination can help alleviate uneven skin tone problems both before and after they occur. Although ascorbic acid is definitely an outstanding form of vitamin C, there are other forms that also have notable research demonstrating their stability (when compared to pure ascorbic acid) and efficacy such as ascorbyl palmitate and retinyl ascorbate.
First, let's distinguish between a skin lightener and a skin brightener. A skin lightener is an over-the-counter product that contains hydroquinone as its active ingredient. This ingredient is approved for reducing the look of brown spots, dark spots, and freckles that result from sun exposure without using sunscreen and from other triggers. However, hydroquinone is not without controversy and tends to be strong; if its use is not well-managed, and it can be misused. We don't offer it up but you could research it for yourself if it intrigues you. Skin brighteners are cosmetics that contain ingredients such as various forms of vitamin C, kojic acid, acetyl glucosamine, arbutin, mulberry extract, various forms of licorice, and niacinamide, also known as vitamin B3. All four of these ingredients have research showing they can visibly brighten skin and make it look more even—and they tend to work best in combination rather than alone.
This is important. Results might take 6–12 weeks to appear—but think about it, your skin's appearance didn't change from even to uneven overnight, so give your new products time to work.
You can have better skin. When skin-lightening and brightening products, and exfoliants are combined with diligent daily application of a sunscreen rated SPF 30 or greater, you can absolutely reveal a luminous and more even tone that will help your skin look younger than it has in years! Going forward - Let's teach our daughters prevention. Sunscreen now. They will thank us in years to come.