In this article, we'll explore your pressing questions about this crucial antioxidant – including what topical vitamin C does, which type should you choose, and how often should you use vitamin C serum. Used well, vitamin C is a real multitasker – defending skin against environmental stressors, boosting radiance, evening out the look of skin tone, and softening visible signs of ageing.
Below, we explain the benefits of a vitamin C face serum, the different forms of vitamin C you can use, the best ingredients to pair it with, and even how to store it – your complete guide to getting the most from this hardworking antioxidant.
What is vitamin C?
Vitamin C – or L-ascorbic acid – is a powerful antioxidant, which means it helps protect your body's cells from damage. That protective role is exactly why it plays a part in so many of the body's essential processes – from producing the collagen that keeps skin firm and strong, to supporting your immune system.
But while vitamin C is essential to your wellbeing, your body can't produce it on its own – and it doesn't store it, either. That's why you need to top it up regularly: through your diet, where it occurs naturally in foods like citrus fruits, spinach, and kiwifruit, and by applying it topically through skincare.
How does vitamin C work on the skin?
When you apply vitamin C on the skin, it acts as an antioxidant, neutralising the free radicals generated by UV and environmental stressors. This helps stop that damage accumulating and showing up on your skin – and with your skin better shielded, it can get on with producing collagen without that constant interruption.
That stable collagen production is what helps with concerns you're already seeing. As collagen builds back up, skin looks firmer and smoother – which is why vitamin C is so valued for helping fade the look of dark spots and soften the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
What are the benefits of vitamin C for skin?
From a brighter, more even complexion to firmer-looking skin, the benefits of vitamin C for skin are hard to ignore.
Read on for five of the biggest reasons to make pure vitamin C part of your routine.
1. Provides antioxidant protection
Because it's an antioxidant, vitamin C helps protect your skin from environmental aggressors that settle on the surface and into pores, where they can cause oxidative damage – pollution particles are a common culprit, building up over a day in the city and generating the free radicals that dull and age skin.
That's what makes vitamin C serums for mornings so valuable – because, when applied early, they help defend your skin right as daytime exposure begins. Our Liftactiv 16% Vitamin C Serum combines a 16% concentration with pure vitamin C to help neutralise free radicals, offering up to 83% antioxidant skin defence.1
1Clinical study, results on sebum photo-peroxidation test in vivo, 21 women
2. Helps reduce the appearance of dark spots
When it comes to vitamin C and dark spots, it works right at the source. Dark spots form when skin produces excess melanin in patches, often from sun exposure. Vitamin C helps slow tyrosinase – the enzyme skin needs to make melanin – so less pigment forms in the first place. Paired with its ability to defend your skin against the daily aggressors that deepen spots, vitamin C helps existing marks look softer and less noticeable.
3. Brightens dull-looking skin
In many ways, vitamin C skin brightening is the payoff of everything else it does – fading the look of dark spots and defending against the daily aggressors that leave skin looking tired and grey. And because vitamin C is an active, it also gently encourages surface skin cell turnover, helping to clear away the dull, dead skin sitting on top.
The result is smoother, fresher-looking skin that allows your natural radiance to shine through. In fact, women using our Liftactiv 16% Vitamin C Serum reported 40% more brightness2 in their complexion after just one month of consistent use.
2Clinical study, 52 women, 1 month
4. Supports collagen production and firmer-looking skin
Collagen provides the underlying structure that keeps skin feeling firm and supple – but the body's natural production begins to slow from your mid-twenties. Vitamin C plays a key role in how skin forms and stabilises new collagen, helping to maintain its strength and elasticity. This is what makes vitamin C for ageing skin so valuable: it supports a plumper, firmer-looking complexion just as natural collagen levels start to decline.
Want to learn more about collagen? Explore our guide to what hydrolysed collagen is – and how it works – next.
5. Helps soften the appearance of fine lines
By protecting against collagen-damaging oxidative stress and supporting the skin's underlying structure, vitamin C can help early lines and creases appear smoother. In clinical studies, our Liftactiv 16% Vitamin C Serum reduced the appearance of fine lines by 17%2 and improved the look of skin evenness by 51%.2
2Clinical study, 52 women, 1 month
Pure vitamin C vs vitamin C derivatives
Vitamin C is an umbrella term covering pure vitamin C and a family of derivatives. Pure vitamin C is usually listed as ascorbic acid or L-ascorbic acid, while derivatives are modified forms designed to improve stability or tolerability in different formulas.
It's easy to focus on percentage, but a higher concentration doesn't automatically deliver better results. A formula's stability, pH, supporting ingredients, and suitability for your skin all matter just as much. Below, we explain the differences between pure vitamin C and its most common derivatives – and where each one fits in a routine.
What is pure vitamin C?
Pure vitamin C generally refers to L-ascorbic acid – the most direct and potent form of the ingredient. Because it's so active, it's also the form best suited to targeting specific concerns like dark spots, dullness, and early signs of ageing – but it needs to be carefully formulated to stay stable and skin-friendly at a high strength. You'll find pure vitamin C in our Liftactiv 16% Vitamin C Serum, which pairs a 16% concentration with a stabilising formula – so you get the full potency of vitamin C on the skin.
What is Vitamin Cg?
Vitamin Cg refers to ascorbyl glucoside, a stabilised vitamin C derivative often better suited to gentler, everyday formulations. You'll find it across several of our products, including our:
- Liftactiv Hyaluronic Acid Serum for Wrinkles
- Liftactiv Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream for Anti-Wrinkles
- Liftactiv Hyaluronic Acid Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream for Normal to Combination Skin
In these formulas, Vitamin Cg still offers antioxidant defence, luminosity, and skin clarity – just in a gentler, slow-release form. Because ascorbyl glucoside converts to vitamin C gradually once it's on the skin, it tends to be more stable and better tolerated, making it a good fit for daily use, more delicate areas like the eye contour, and skin that experiences sensitivity.
Why use a vitamin C serum?
A serum is one of the most targeted ways to bring vitamin C into your routine. The benefits of a vitamin C face serum come from its lightweight, concentrated format, which delivers the active straight to the skin without a heavy texture – making it easy to layer into both your morning and evening routines.
That doesn't make a serum better than a face cream; the two simply do different jobs. Apply your vitamin C serum first to target specific concerns, then follow with a moisturiser to lock in hydration and support the skin's moisture barrier. Used together, they cover both targeted care and everyday hydration.
Can you use vitamin C on sensitive skin?
Yes, you can use vitamin C on sensitive skin – it just pays to choose your formula and go at the right pace. If your skin experiences sensitivity easily, a gentler derivative like Vitamin Cg is usually more comfortable than a high concentration of pure vitamin C.
If you do want to incorporate a serum into your routine, simple precautions can make all the difference. Try:
- Patch testing first: Apply a small amount to a discreet spot – like the inner arm or behind the ear – and wait 24 hours to check your skin is happy with it before applying to your face.
- Starting slowly: Use it every second or third day at first, then build up gradually as your skin adjusts.
- Introducing one active at a time: Adding just one new product to your routine makes it easier to see how your skin responds – and to pinpoint the cause if something doesn't agree with it.
What ingredients can you use with vitamin C?
Vitamin C pairs well with plenty of other actives – and two of the most rewarding pairings are hyaluronic acid and niacinamide. Read on to find out how to use vitamin C on the skin alongside other ingredients.
Vitamin C and hyaluronic acid
Vitamin C and hyaluronic acid are a natural match. Vitamin C provides antioxidant defence and visible brightening, while hyaluronic acid supports hydration and a plumper, more cushioned look. You'll find the two combined in our Liftactiv 16% Vitamin C Serum.
Vitamin C and niacinamide
When it comes to vitamin C and dark spots, pairing it with niacinamide makes for an especially effective duo. Vitamin C brings antioxidant defence and brightness; niacinamide helps soften the appearance of dark spots and hyperpigmentation while hydrating the skin. Together, they're a powerful combination for anyone focused on clarity and radiance.
How to store pure vitamin C
To keep your vitamin C serum at its best, store it away from sunlight, air, and heat. Pure vitamin C is naturally unstable, and all three trigger oxidation (the same reaction that turns a cut apple brown) which gradually weakens the vitamin C, meaning it can't work as well on your skin. It's easy to prevent, though: just close the bottle securely after each use and keep it somewhere cool and dark, like a bathroom cupboard or drawer.
Now you know the benefits of a vitamin C face serum, learn about the benefits of combining collagen and vitamin C next.