You can use a vitamin C serum up to 7 days per week. Studies show that using vitamin C serums at this frequency can:
Stimulate collagen and elastin production
Reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
Reduce hyperpigmentation and even out skin tone
That being said, vitamin C can be too harsh for sensitive skin types. You can reduce frequency to 4-6 days per week and still get great results.
This article will explain everything you need to know about vitamin C serums, when to apply them, and how to apply them.
How often should I use vitamin C serum?
You should use vitamin C serum up to 6-7 days per week. At this frequency, a good vitamin C serum can boost collagen production and provide antioxidant benefits to protect you from premature aging.
However, if you use a vitamin C serum too frequently for your skin type, you may end up irritating your skin and causing damage to your barrier. This is because vitamin C serums are often formulated with irritating derivatives, such as l ascorbic acid.
To avoid causing irritation, try starting out with a vitamin C serum 3 mornings per week and work your way up to 6-7 days. Personally, I like to take one day off all actives every week to give my skin a break.
Can I use vitamin C serum daily?
As long as your skin can tolerate it, you can use vitamin C serum in your daily skin care routine.
In fact, thanks to its potent antioxidant properties, vitamin C is protective ingredient that works synergistically with your daily SPF. Therefore, it’s a good idea to layer them together as often as your skin can tolerate for maximum protection against photo-aging.
Personally, I like to take one day off all actives to give my skin a break, so I would use topical vitamin C a maximum of 6 days per week.
Can I use vitamin C serum too much?
Because vitamin C serums can be unstable and irritating to the skin, it is possible to use them too much. Signs that you’re overdoing it with vitamin C include:
Itchiness
Flakiness
Redness
Dryness
Burning
If you experience any of these symptoms, I suggest stopping all active ingredients and going back to a gentle cleanser and thick moisturizer.
Once your skin barrier returns to its normal, healthy state, then you can slowly try adding active ingredients back into your skin care routine. You can also experiment with frequency to see what works best for your skin type.
How many times a week can I use vitamin C serum?
You can use vitamin C serum up to daily as long as it doesn’t cause your skin any irritation.
If you do experience symptoms of irritation or barrier disruption such as redness, itchiness, or flaking, then reduce the frequency to 3-6 times per wek.
Can I use vitamin C serum every night?
Yes, you can use vitamin C serum every night as long as it doesn’t cause your skin any irritation.
That being said, vitamin C serum is generally recommended to be used in the morning instead of at night. This is because vitamin C serums have antioxidant properties that can protect you from excess sun exposure throughout the day.
Can I use vitamin C twice day?
To avoid irritation, I would advise using vitamin C serum once per day at most.
Also, if you keep vitamin C to just your morning skincare routine, you can try adding in other great anti aging ingredients like retinol to your nighttime routine.
Vitamin C Serum Benefits
Vitamin C is one of the best anti aging tools that we have in the skincare world.
Adding vitamin C products into your morning routine can have a number of benefits, including to:
Even out skin tone
Reduce acne scars
Fight free radicals
Prevent skin aging
Build collagen
Fight fine lines and wrinkles
Protect against sun damage
Even Out Skin Tone
Topical vitamin C functions as a tyrosinase inhibitor. This means that vitamin C serums help to reduce the uneven melanin production in your skin.
If you have dark spots and are prone to hyperpigmentation, adding a vitamin C serum to your skin care routine can help reduce the look of blemishes.
Prevent Skin Aging
Skin health as you age is largely determined by the preventative measures you took growing up. For example, we know that exposure to UV rays degrades collagen production over time.
A good vitamin C product can provide extra sun protection and neutralize free radicals to reduce the amount of environmental damage caused to your skin over time.
Sun Damage
Any board certified dermatologist will tell you that vitamin C serum is one of the best tools we have to protect your skin from premature aging and sun damage.
Sun damage is typically characterized by the penetration of UVA rays deep into the skin which later cause the formation of liver spots.
Skincare products with SPF and applying vitamin C can protect you from this.
When to Use Vitamin C Serum
Because it doesn’t degrade under sun exposure, Vitamin C serum can be used as part of your morning routine or nighttime routine.
When is the best time to use vitamin c serum?
That being said, topical vitamin C products are most effective when used as part of your morning routine so they can work synergistically with your morning SPF to protect you from premature aging.
How to Tell if Vitamin C Serum is Bad
If your vitamin C has turned orange or has a bad smell to it, these are signs that it has oxidized or been contaminated with bacteria.
In these cases, it’s a good idea to throw out your product and get a new one. You don’t want to risk causing yourself any irritation or infection by using a bad product!
How to Increase the Shelf Life of Your Vitamin C
To prevent your vitamin C serum from oxidizing, consider storing it in a cool, dark place.
Since vitamin C serums are inactived by water, UV, and air, you can keep your skin care products good for longer this way!
How to Use Vitamin C Serum
First, make sure your skin can tolerate a new vitamin C serum before adding it to your morning or night routine.
Patch Test
Before starting any new skin care products, you should patch test them first to see how your skin reacts.
It is possible that you may be allergic to an ingredient you weren’t aware of before, and you’ll want to see how your skin responds before applying it all over your face!
If you do experience skin irritation when patch testing, it’s a good idea to reconsider adding it into your skincare routine.
Morning Skincare Routine
If you want to add vit C serum to your morning routine, follow these steps:
Cleanse your face with a gentle cleanser or water
Wait for your skin to air dry or gentle pat dry
Apply 4-5 drops of vitamin C serum to your face
Gently rub and pat the serum vitamin in until absorbs
Follow up with a moisturizer and SPF
Nighttime Skincare Routine
To add vitamin C serums to your night routine, follow these steps:
Cleanse your face with a gentle cleanser
Wait for your skin to air dry or gentle pat dry
Apply 4-5 drops of vitamin C serum to your face
Gently rub and pat the serum vitamin in until absorbs
Follow up with a moisturizer
Apply a facial oil on top if you have dry skin
What ingredients can you combine with a vitamin C serum?
Since vitamin C serums can be particularly irritating, I generally suggest against layering any harsh ingredients with them if you have sensitive skin.
Instead, I suggest using regenerative ingredients or moisturizing ingredients with vitamin C, such as:
Peptides: for mature skin
Hyaluronic acid: for dry skin type
Niacinamide: for oily skin or an acne prone skin type
I suggest avoiding layering exfoliating acids with vitamin C because they can be very irritating together:
Alpha hydroxy acids such as glycolic acid
Beta hydroxy acids such as salicylic acid
What makes a good vitamin C serum?
Characteristics of good vitamin C skincare products that I look for include:
10-20% concentration
Stabilizing ingredients like ferulic acid and vitamin E
Airless packaging or a dark glass bottle
Types of Vitamin C Serums
Vitamin C serums typically use one of the following vitamin C derivatives:
L ascorbic acid
Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate
Sodium ascorbyl phosphate
Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate
L Ascorbic acid
L ascorbic acid is a water soluble form of vitamin C, and it’s the version that your skin actually uses. However, these are unstable molecules and react poorly to water, air, and sun exposure.
Magnesium and sodium ascorbyl phosphate
These derivatives work best for oily skin and acne prone skin types. In fact, both of them are clinically proven to have anti inflammatory properties and fight acne.
Is L-ascorbic acid the same as vitamin C?
L-ascorbic acid is the most common derivative of vitamin C. However, it is not the only effective derivative of vitamin C that you’ll find. In fact, there are other types of vitamin C that may be just as effective while also being less irritating on the skin.
Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate
Also known as THD, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate is an oil soluble form of vitamin C. Although not as much is known about its activity as l ascorbic acid, it is less irritating and should provide most of the same benefits!
Vitamin C Serum Recommendations
SkinCeuticals
CE Ferulic
Stratia
C+C Serum
MaeLove
The Glow Maker
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it is okay to use vitamin C serum everyday as long as it doesn’t cause any signs of irritation. Signals that you need to reduce your frequency include redness, flaking skin, and itchiness or tightness.
You can use vitamin C serum up to 7 days per week. However, for most people, this frequency will be too much. You can start with 3-4 mornings per week and change up your routine to see what works for you.
Yes, it’s possible you can use too much vitamin C serum. Signals that you’re using too much include redness, flaking skin, and itchiness or tightness.
Topical vitamin C products are most effective when used as part of your morning routine so they can work synergistically with your morning SPF to protect you from premature aging.
You should avoid combining exfoliating acids with vitamin C. The combination of glycolic acids, vitamin C, and salicylic acids can irritate your skin too much and leave you with a disrupted skin barrier.
As long as it doesn’t cause you any irritation, you can use vitamin C serums under your eyes. In fact, vitamin C serums are great for brightening and may help reduce the appearance of darkness and dullness around the eyes.
4-5 drops of vitamin C should be sufficient to cover your entire face and neck. However, you can use more as necessary.
Side effects of vitamin C include redness, itchiness, and a disrupted skin barrier. There are some great benefits too though, including anti-aging and evening out your skin tone.
Every person is different, but it should take 1-3 months for your vitamin C serum to work. Remember that you need to use it consistently to see results!
Yes, vitamin C can remove dark spots. Since it functions as a tyrosinase inhibitor, vitamin C regulates excess melanin production. In turn, this can help fight hyperpigmentation and unwanted dark spots.
Yes, you can put vitamin C on dark circles. That being said, retinol is typically a more common treatment for these types of skin concerns.
You should avoid putting vitamin C serum on your lips. Your lips are very sensitive, and they do not have an outer layer (stratum corneum) to protect them like the rest of your skin does.
It is not advisable to skip moisturizer after applying vitamin C serum. Because vitamin C can be irritating, add oils and water back into your skin after applying it can reduce your chances of developing redness or flaking skin.
To use vitamin C serum for best results, apply it 4-5 drops in the mornings in between your cleanser and moisturizer. Then, follow up with a sunscreen.
Yes, you should use moisturizer after vitamin C serum. Because vitamin C can be irritating, add oils and water back into your skin after applying it can reduce your chances of developing redness or flaking skin.
You can wait 1-2 minutes for vitamin C to fully absorb before applying your moisturizer on top.
You should avoid using exfoliating acids with vitamin C. The combination of glycolic acids, vitamin C, and salicylic acids can irritate your skin too much and leave you with a disrupted skin barrier.
You should avoid applying exfoliating acids after applying vitamin C. The combination of glycolic acids, vitamin C, and salicylic acids can irritate your skin too much and leave you with a disrupted skin barrier.
