Vitamin C Adjustment Protocol

Vitamin C vs. Retinoids:

Vitamin C in its pure form (L-Ascorbic Acid) is one of the gold standard skin rejuvenating ingredients with numerous studies showing its effectiveness.

But effective levels of pure vitamin C of between 10% to 20% can irritate some people.

The other gold standard skin rejuvenating ingredient are Retinoids which are notorious for causing irritation.

But most skincare professionals recommend that consumers slowly acclimate to Retinoids.

But why is there no protocol to acclimate to vitamin C?

We asked a couple of notable dermatologists whether they ask their patients to acclimate to vitamin C:

Dermatologist Dhaval G. Bhanausali, MD, FAAD, says “anecdotally, I have tried before but most simply can’t.  That said, I think there is such a broad spectrum of Vitamin C’s (forms as well as percentages and how formulated (ex- with anti-inflammatories, etc) and so the formulation and specifics really do matter”.

Dermatologist Rosemarie Ingleton, MD, FAAD and founder of Rose Ingleton MK Skincare, says that she is not sure why some skincare professionals have stopped recommending vitamin C, but continues to say “my personal preference is to recommend that patients start with lower concentration vitamin C products and build up to the higher strengths.”

Ron Robinson, cosmetic chemist and founder of the skincare brand, BeautyStat has developed a protocol to help consumers with the most sensitive skin to acclimate to vitamin C without stinging and irritation.  So now, just as consumers can build up a tolerance to Retinoids, they can now build up to using active levels of pure vitamin C so they can finally realize it’s brightening and hyper-pigmentation-treatment benefits.

He calls it the Vitamin C Adjustment Protocol.

Why does vitamin C irritate some people?

All cells in our body including our skin cells require vitamin C to function, so vitamin C is well tolerated.  But vitamin C may sting and irritate if your skin barrier is compromised (ex. Those with sensitive skin or Rosacea).  So the key here is to re-build your barrier first before introducing vitamin C.

Here’s the Vitamin C Adjustment Protocol:

Use a barrier repair serum or moisturizer for 2-4 weeks AM and PM to re-build your barrier.

Ex. BeautyStat Universal Pro-Bio Moisture Boost Cream moisturizer

Then introduce a vitamin C serum applying a small amount over your barrier repair product PM only for a couple of weeks.  Use every night. 

Ex. BeautyStat Universal C Skin Refiner vitamin C serum

Then you can begin doing the above both AM and PM daily.

After a few more weeks, you can begin applying your vitamin C serum on clean skin then follow immediately with your barrier repair moisturizer. Both AM and PM.

Now you are fully adjusted to vitamin C and you can begin seeing it’s tremendous skin benefits.

      -  BeautyStat editorial team