When looking for a stable vitamin C skin-care product, you should not only consider the formula, but also the packaging. Though brands are constantly innovating and finding new ways to maximize the brightening ingredient’s efficacy, instability is often still an issue. When vitamin C oxidizes, it is no longer beneficial to the skin. These skin-care products go beyond the standard bottle to deliver vitamin C in a different way. The result? Enhanced freshness and stability, and brighter, better-looking skin.
Why Vitamin C Is Notorious for Instability in Skin Care
“L-ascorbic acid is pretty unstable and breaks down into inactive dehydroascorbic acid when it’s ionized,” explains cosmetic chemist Michelle Wong, founder of Lab Muffin Beauty Science. “This happens faster in water, at a high pH—more alkaline—and when it’s exposed to light and oxygen. The decomposition reaction is also called oxidation because oxygen is usually involved. This means your product gets less effective over time, and how quickly this happens depends on the formula. When L-ascorbic acid breaks down, it turns yellow, then orange, and then brown. So, you can usually get a visual idea of how active your vitamin C is.”
To combat this issue, some beauty brands are thinking outside the box, creating new ways for us to optimize the benefits of vitamin C in our daily routines. Some of these innovative products allow the user to become the cosmetic chemist from the comfort of their own bathroom. And, several of them are first-of-their-kind innovations. Read on to see which stable vitamin C products we’ve tested and recommend.
Vitamin C Products That Prioritize Stability
