5 Reasons You Need A Vitamin C Cream

By now, you’re well aware of the plethora of skin benefits topical vitamin C delivers. But choosing between serums, masks, mists, and moisturizers can be challenging – each has its unique benefits. Today, we are going to dive into the benefits of using a vitamin C cream. 

Reason #1 — It’s hydrating as heck

A lot of factors make skin dry: Age, pollution, and winter weather are just a few. A cream formula is inherently more moisturizing than a lotion one, so that’s always a good start. But selecting a cream rich in vitamin C provides a hydration boost above and beyond the cream because vitamin C has been shown to improve skin’s barrier function. When skin barrier function is firing on all cylinders, less moisture escapes. (This is also known as transepidermal water loss or TEWL.) The more moisture you keep locked down, the more hydrated your skin will be from the get, which means your vitamin C cream is working extra hard for your skin.

Reason #2 — Free radicals tremble in fear

Antioxidant vitamin C’s free radical scavenging ability is almost unmatched. It neutralizes oxidative stress in skin that can lead to collagen breakdown and dark spot formation. There’s literally no escaping free radicals (even the act of respiration produces them), so a potent topical antioxidant is a smart part of a comprehensive skin-protection plan.

Reason #3 — And collagen gets growing

However, even with the best laid plans, some free radicals will still squeeze through your antioxidant defenses to reach collagen fibers and chip away at them. Plus, it’s just a fact of life that you make less collagen as you get older. Good news, then, is that vitamin C also helps stimulate collagen synthesis.

Reason #4 — Brightening is its business

When vitamin C isn’t busy protecting and producing collagen, it’s also helping inhibit tyrosinase. That’s an enzyme involved in making melanin (the substance responsible for the pigment in your hair, eyes, and skin). Less tyrosinase means less excess pigmentation and fewer dark spots and patches.

Reason #5 — Sensitive skin loves the comfort of cream

We often think that the more powerful an ingredient is, the better it is for our skin. But this isn’t always the case. One good example of this is with retinoids. A common misconception is that prescription retinoids produce better results than over the counter retinols because the doctor-dispensed versions are stronger. However, this thinking can often backfire because potent Rx retinoids may end up irritating skin and doing more harm than good. 

A similar situation can unfold with vitamin C. While we love a super concentrated serum, we also know that they’re not for everyone — especially those with sensitive skin. But even though a vitamin C cream may not contain as high of a concentration of vitamin C as a serum, that doesn’t mean that vitamin C creams don’t deliver the skin-boosting benefits that make vitamin C so beloved. You’ll still get awesome results, but without the risk of upsetting your delicate complexion. 

One vitamin C cream to try

We’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you that our Dr. Dennis Gross Vitamin C Lactic Dewy Deep Cream is the best vitamin C cream on the market, if we do say so ourselves. Obviously, it’s chock-full of vitamin C in a stabilized form that easily penetrates skin. That’s a given. But our Dr. Dennis Gross Vitamin C Lactic Dewy Deep Cream also contains lactic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid that encourages ceramide production. Ceramides are lipids that reinforce skin’s moisture barrier. More ceramides equal less TEWL. For added reinforcement, Dr. Dennis Gross Vitamin C Lactic Dewy Deep Cream is formulated with squalene, a plant-derived lipid that functions similarly to ceramides.

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