Whenever you consider vitamin C, tangy and nutritious citrus fruits would possibly come to thoughts. However its well being perks lengthen past your weight loss program: There are a ton of vitamin C advantages for pores and skin too.

This in style antioxidant and holy grail ingredient has been proven to brighten darkish spots, clean fantastic traces, and provide (some) solar safety, Mara Weinstein Velez, MD, board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor on the College of Rochester Medical Middle, tells SELF. And the cherry—er, lemon–on high? It’s appropriate for many pores and skin sorts and often doesn’t include annoying uncomfortable side effects like purging, which may occur with different sturdy actives, Dr. Weinstein provides.

However right here’s the catch: Discovering the perfect vitamin C serum, toner, or moisturizer on your particular considerations isn’t so simple as shopping for the primary delightfully orange bottle you see. As an alternative, you wish to take note of the formulation and your private wants, Dr. Weinstein says.

Advantages of vitamin C for pores and skin | What to search for in a vitamin C product | Easy methods to use vitamin C | Easy methods to inform in case your vitamin C is expired

What can vitamin C do on your pores and skin?

It has the potential to assist with rather a lot of various points, particularly when utilized topically in serum kind. That’s as a result of “serums sometimes provide the very best concentrations of energetic vitamin C and have a tendency to have higher pores and skin penetration in comparison with different merchandise, like lotions and cleansers,” Annie Chiu, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founding father of the Derm Institute in Manhattan Seaside, California tells SELF.

Whatever the method, why must you smear it throughout your face within the first place, you ask? Let’s dive into the science-backed advantages we’ve been teasing.

It may possibly reduce the looks of fantastic traces and wrinkles.

No, a cute little serum gained’t immediately make you appear like a teen once more (and evaluating your present self to a former model of your self will solely maintain you again anyway). That mentioned, there’s analysis exhibiting that vitamin C can have a smoothing impact.¹

For one, it helps your pores and skin produce collagen—a protein that provides your complexion a firmer, bouncier appear and feel, Dr. Chiu explains.¹ As you age, your physique’s collagen manufacturing naturally declines, resulting in sagging, fantastic traces, and wrinkles. Basically, vitamin C can stimulate this course of and assist pores and skin preserve its firmness and elasticity, Dr. Chiu says.²

It may possibly brighten your pores and skin and reduce darkish spots.

With constant use, your complexion would possibly even out—and change into downright glowy—as a result of vitamin C inhibits the over-production of melanin, the pigment accountable for the colour of hair, eyes, and pores and skin.³

When sure areas of the pores and skin create an excessive amount of melanin, nevertheless, you’ll be able to find yourself with hyperpigmentation—patches of discoloration which will present up after you pop a pimple, for instance, or lie on the seashore all afternoon with out slathering on sunscreen. Whereas vitamin C gained’t miraculously erase these darkish spots in a single day, it could possibly actually help in fading and stopping them by inhibiting the enzyme accountable for producing melanin (tyrosinase, to be particular), in accordance with Dr. Chiu.⁴

It may possibly defend towards solar injury and free radicals.

This isn’t to say {that a} droplet or two of serum can substitute your sunscreen, however there may be some analysis exhibiting that vitamin C helps to forestall injury brought on by environmental aggressors, like solar publicity, air pollution, stress, and smoke.⁴