Vitamin C is an MVP active ingredient, with the ability to visibly brighten skin, fade dark spots and defend against free-radical damage. But it can also be a game-changer in your skin-care routine if you get in-office procedures like laser skin resurfacing and cryotherapy. Not only can vitamin C complement the effects of these modalities, therefore yielding better results, but it can also help with your recovery, thus speeding up your downtime.
That said, not all vitamin C serums are created equal. You can often find the antioxidant paired with other actives, with which it has synergistic effects—and they can also lend it unique properties. Not sure which vitamin C is quite right for you? This quiz can help narrow down the best choice for your unique skin needs. With that, scroll ahead to learn which vitamin C works best for the procedure you want.
Fractional Ablative Laser
Fractional ablative lasers work by ablating skin, or destroying skin tissue, by dispensing light energy in small columns, rather than the entire surface area of your face and neck. That light energy creates controlled injuries, which trigger the body’s healing response and encourage new collagen and elastin formation. And by doing this in small fractions (hence fractional), most of the skin is spared. The result is visibly smoother, firmer skin texture.
A topical vitamin C serum, like SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic, can complement fractional ablative laser “by adding a brightening effect to the skin, as well as potentially helping to improve the results of the treatment,” says New York dermatologist Dr. Nkem Ugonabo. “Additionally, fractionated lasers create micro-channels in the skin, which can increase the uptake of topical agents. Personally, I like to use C E Ferulic.” In other words, the serum can better absorb, and theoretically help deliver better results.
The formula contains a blend of vitamins C and E plus ferulic acid, a combination that has a synergistic effect and keeps the ingredients stable. A 2015 study in Lasers in Surgery & Medicine found that this combination actually helps to speed up wound healing, with decreased visible redness, after treatment with a fractional ablative laser. For that reason, Dr. Ugonabo typically applies the C E Ferulic serum after the laser procedure.
Non-Ablative Laser
Unlike an ablative laser, a non-ablative laser “won’t ablate or remove the top layer of the skin, in contrast to more aggressive ablative lasers that do,” says Dr. Ugonabo. For that reason, the downtime tends to be shorter, with a faster recovery—but you do reap some of the same benefits, such as brighter- and smoother-looking skin, just to a lesser degree.
“Non-ablative, fractionated lasers lend themselves best to use of topical vitamin C,” says Dr. Ugonabo. The results get even better with the addition of a vitamin C serum that contains silymarin, an antioxidant derived from milk thistle. A study found that pairing a non-ablative laser treatment with SkinCeuticals Silymarin CF led to a decrease in inflammation.
By dialing down inflammation in the skin, this particular vitamin C serum can target both blemishes and the discoloration that usually appears once that acne has resolved. Worth keeping in mind: The exact laser in the study depended on the study, with patients with red marks (who typically have fairer skin tones) receiving a pulsed-dye laser and those with post-inflammatory discoloration being treated with a thulium laser.
Cryotherapy
For removing skin tags, dark spots, sun spots and other marks, few procedures can beat the convenience or ease of cryotherapy, a procedure that uses cryogens—super-cold materials, like liquid nitrogen—to freeze the targets without harming the surrounding skin. The frozen spot or skin tag then falls off, and skin heals without it. But not all cryotherapy treatments are equal; SkinCeuticals CryoCorrect Treatment uses a concentrated flow of carbon dioxide, which has a milder temperature than the usual cryogens and can therefore make the process more comfortable.
SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF pairs vitamin C with phloretin, an antioxidant found in apple tree leaves that’s especially effective for addressing discoloration and uneven skin tone. The addition of vitamin C and ferulic acid complements its benefits, too—which might explain why the trio makes such a good match for cryotherapy. In fact, one study in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that a daily application of the serum following cryotherapy significantly improved skin smoothness and the general appearance of the treated area after one week (compared to cryotherapy alone).
