The 4 best Vitamin C serums

Vitamin C is the most viral active ingredient and the most recommended thanks to its many properties and benefits. Do you know the best Vitamin C serums for radiant skin?

Vitamin C: everything you need to know

Vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid. It is a vitamin with multiple benefits for our body and is widely used on the skin, making it one of the most valued and loved ingredients in the world of dermocosmetics.

What are the properties and benefits of Vitamin C?

Vitamin C stands out for its antioxidant power. This gives vitamin C the ability to fight and neutralise free radicals (molecules formed by sun exposure) that try to damage our skin by destroying collagen and elastin fibres, causing the skin to lose firmness and elasticity. By neutralising them, we prevent this from happening, so it helps prevent photoageing.

Sun exposure not only triggers photoageing, it also stimulates the action of the skin's melanocytes. These cells become our worst enemy when activated, as they begin to produce the pigment (called melanin) that forms dark spots. Vitamin C is able to stop this activation and production process, so it has depigmenting properties, helping to even out skin tone. That is why it is highly recommended for treating localised, diffuse or post-inflammatory blemishes associated with acne.

In itspure form, vitamin C helps stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis, so it prevents and treats cellular ageing. Skin looks firmer and plumper.

Vitamin C boosts radiance, helping the skin look well-rested and youthful.

When should I use Vitamin C?

Vitamin C can be used both in the morning and at night.

We recommend using it in the morning to get the maximum antioxidant benefits and protect the skin. At night, we use active ingredients that help transform and optimise the skin. With this combination, you can build a top-tier skincare routine.

Using it before an event or special occasion can make your skin and make-up look even better, while also helping your make-up last longer.

What should I keep in mind if I use Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is an active ingredient with wide-ranging proven benefits, but there is one thing we need to address during use. When vitamin C comes into contact with oxygen, it can oxidise. This can make pores look darker. That is why we should follow a good daily cleansing routine morning and night.

For this reason, your vitamin C product will begin to oxidise once opened, so you should follow the stability information provided by the manufacturer.

All skin types can use it. Sensitive skin should pay attention to the product formula, how it is introduced into the skincare routine, whether there is any flare-up and whether the skin usually remains stable. For this reason, if you have sensitive skin, it is best to consult an expert.

Vitamin C cannot be combined with just any active ingredient at the same point in your skincare routine, as this may cause irritation and damage to the skin barrier. This is the case, for example, when mixing vitamin C and retinol in the morning routine or in the evening routine. These actives should be separated within the routine, applying one in the morning and the other at night.

If vitamin C is paired with other actives in a formula or product, that formula will be stable and designed so they work together to boost the performance of your routine.

Which actives should I combine with Vitamin C in my routine?

Depending on the different goals you want to achieve with your skincare routine, we recommend combining and alternating vitamin C in the following ways:

• Vitamin C in the morning and Retinol at night: The perfect active combination for the best anti-ageing and depigmenting routine.
• Vitamin C in the morning and AHAs at night: Helps even out skin tone and boost radiance. Ideal for getting skin event-ready.
• Vitamin C in the morning and Peptides at night: Together they improve skin firmness and texture.
• Vitamin C in the morning and Hyaluronic acid at night; or alternating both actives on different mornings: The perfect combination to repair the skin.

The 4 best Vitamin C serums

There are thousands of vitamin C products on the market. Choosing just one is not easy, which is why we recommend 4 serums that stand out for their stable, effective and well-balanced formulas. In them, vitamin C is paired with other actives that not only enhance the benefits of this vitamin, but also provide additional ones, helping take your skincare routine to the highest level.

Avène Vitamin Cg Sérum

It contains 1.8% provitamin C, a stable form of vitamin C recognised for its antioxidant effectiveness equivalent to 20% pure vitamin C.

Working synergistically in the formula, we find niacinamide and Bakuchiol. Niacinamide is an antioxidant active that repairs the skin barrier, hydrates the skin, improves the appearance of pores, is anti-inflammatory and depigmenting (so it may be beneficial for acne-prone skin). Bakuchiol is an alternative active to retinol because of the similar benefits it offers, as it treats and prevents wrinkles and dark spots, improves skin texture and has depigmenting properties; it becomes an alternative for skin that cannot use retinol.

La Roche-Posay Vitamina C12

With pure vitamin C, reformulated and even more concentrated, at 12%. It treats and helps prevent photoageing, cellular ageing and dark spots.

It is paired with salicylic acid, which increases the absorption of vitamin C by improving skin texture and, as a result, also evens out skin tone. This active is a BHA, so it unclogs pores and reduces sebum build-up. This makes it a serum loved by oily skin, although it has been clinically tested on all skin types, including the most sensitive, so they can use it too.

The formula is completed by neurosensine, an active that soothes and softens the skin.

Vichy Lifactiv Vitamina C Sérum

With 16% pure vitamin C, it helps guarantee collagen and elastin synthesis, so it not only prevents and treats photoageing, but also prevents and treats cellular ageing.

In the formula, vitamin C is combined with an antioxidant complex of polyphenols and vitamin E. This synergy increases the product's antioxidant benefits as well as its ability to hydrate and regenerate the skin barrier.

You will achieve radiant skin with a more even complexion.

Endocare Radiance C Ferulic Sérum

An all-round serum thanks to its formula. Vitamin C is paired with ferulic acid, an antioxidant active that further enhances the action of vitamin C, increasing its benefits.

The formula includes two patents from Laboratorios Cantabria: EDAFANCE Powerful Anti-Pollution Defence and SCA Growth Factor Technology. The first offers proven anti-pollution action against heavy metals, tobacco smoke, blue light and other urban pollutants. The second provides anti-ageing benefits, making this serum a great ally for fighting wrinkles, as these growth factors stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis, bringing firmness and elasticity to the skin.

Vitamin E completes the serum's antioxidant and anti-wrinkle properties, while also restoring the skin barrier.

Vitamin C: why should it not be missing from my routine?

Vitamin C is an essential active ingredient. It is a highly versatile and cross-functional cosmetic ingredient that has become the star of any routine: it offers multiple benefits and helps your skin look its best at any time.

It is important to know which type of vitamin C is best suited to your skin. To do this, you need to consider its form, the products included in the rest of your routine and the actives that accompany it in the product. This way, you can achieve the result you are looking for.

Now you know everything you need to know about vitamin C and what it can do for your skin.