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Ask Dr. Schultz

Vitamin C antioxidants

Asked by Amy

Hi Dr. Schultz. Thanks so much for your excellent videos. I just was wondering if you could explain why you prefer vitamin c antioxidant products. Also is there something about a serum that makes it preferable for antioxidant absorption as opposed to a cream (I feel like there are SO many creams on the market that claim antioxidant benefits).

Amy answered
    Dr. Schultz 1.86K Rep.

    While Vitamin C is “brittle,” it’s the best topical antioxidant in terms of potential efficacy, stability, and bioavailability (ie, ability to be absorbed into skin.)

    By “brittle” I mean it is easily damaged (you can tell when it starts to turn brown) and not all forms of vitamin C are adequately absorbed into the skin so you need to check the ingredients to see which form of Vitamin C your antioxidant product contains. The 2 forms of Vitamin C that I like the most are tetrahexadecyl ascorbate and methyl silanol ascorbate, both of which are fat or lipid soluble which increases their absorption into the skin.

    While many Vitamin C preparations are in serums, there are many cream forms as well. Choose a formula appropriate for your skin type.

    Dr. Schultz answered

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