I hope you are sitting down, have a wine or cuppa at your side and you are feeling relaxed. I promised you a little story about your skin, summer, ageing and Vitamin C – I hope you can enjoy and have 5 minutes of chill-out time amidst the chaos of life!
Get ready for sunshine, outdoors and FUN!
Ok – so you are looking forward to a few days on the beach, out on the yacht, playing in the park with family and friends, bush walking, camping, glamping, or still working… you’ll be packing the sunblock (I hope so anyway!), the water, the hats for everyone, long sleeves for Grandma, rashies for the little ones, mozzie repellent, umbrella and of course, the food!
Even if you are still tied to the office, you are out and about just that little bit more, staying outside and enjoying the effects of light and warmth on your body.
And it’s all sooooo good for us, physically, emotionally and psychologically. As humans we can’t hide away from the sun – we would get sick and eventually die, and I doubt most of us would like that much.
In today’s world, especially in hot old Australia we are constantly told to “cover up, use your block-out and don’t get burnt; you’ll grow skin cancers and regret it all in 20-40 years’ time when you are under the surgeon’s knife.
That is one side of the message, the other side is that the media has convinced us that we need to look young for as long as possible!! This is essentially a good message because it has made us so much more aware of what we have to do to care for our largest organ – cover up in every way possible to avoid the sun’s UV’s, especially UVA.
The Basics – creating a healthier, younger skin:
- Avoid UVA – single most damaging factor in skin cell and collagen breakdown.
- Avoid nasties/chemicals in all your skin products as they inflame the skin, damaging the cells and creating abnormal cells (free radicals).
- Choose products which have proven delivery systems to get ingredients deep into your skin; and these are only really the medical grade cosmeceuticals.
- Use antioxidants to nourish, strengthen and deal with those free radicals.
And the most important Antioxidant to combat UV damage in your skin is – you guessed it…
Vitamin C
This amazing, well proven ingredient is an essential part of anyone’s routine who is truly creating a healthier, better looking skin ready to take them into their more mature years.
Some Facts about C and your Skin:
- It doesn’t matter how much we eat of it, only a small amount will reach our skin. Oral vitamin C has an inadequate gut/skin transport system and as the body cannot make its own we do need to eat it, but also means that we MUST apply it topically in the form of a serum to our skin – if we want it working in our skin.
- The body doesn’t store Vitamin C very effectively which means every day we need to eat more; a great excuse to fill up on yummy blueberries!
- Vitamin C is water soluble and so finds it very difficult to penetrate the skin.
It is also quite unstable and loses its “goodness” very quickly when exposed to air and light. To overcome these problems Vitamin C serums need to be either in dark bottles or in a crystalline form (Cosmedix Pure C) and then manufacturers formulate it in various ways. What you should read on packaging are words such as: L-ascorbic acid, esterified Vitamin C; ascorbyl-6-palmitate, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate. Although there are more, these ones should all be stable for you as well as able to penetrate so smile if they are in your cupboard, but also check yours contain no SLS’s, parabens or other nasties. That way you know you have a perfect product! - The % of Vitamin C is not so important; it is more relevant that you apply it to your skin at least once a day. Differing % of C actually work differently in your skin so you benefit either way.
The action of C in our skin:
- It slows the redness from too long exposure to the sun, slows the formation of pigment (brown spots) and slows sun-burn cell formation.
- It stimulates collagen production – slows wrinkle formation,
It is easy to see why topical Vitamin C is an essential part of your skin care regime, not just so you look great, but so your skin is healthier! A healthier, thicker skin which shows fewer capillaries, is smoother, more even toned and simply feels and looks younger.
Biopsies on older skins show significantly lower amounts of Vitamin C and other anti-oxidants.
So if you are going out in the sun this Summer – and you will – apply your Vitamin C serum every day, after cleansing, and before your sunblock and then apply it again when you get home.
SO…which of our serums contain Vitamin C?
- Aspect Dr Redless
- Aspect Dr Active C Serum
- Cosmedix Affirm
- Cosmedix Pure C Mixing Crystals
- Osmosis MD Replenish
- Osmosis MD Catalyst AC11
Our most popular Vitamin C is Aspect Dr Active C Serum and one of our Faves is Osmosis MD Catalyst AC11!
Each product has it’s time & place, so just send me an email to
check which one is best for you!
Enjoy your Summer, enjoy the Sun, stay smart – use your physical blockout and your C serum!
Gaye Barlow
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