When it comes to skin care, there are so many ingredients out there that can do just about anything from making your skin smooth all the way to treating any skin issues that you may have.
No, combining Vitamin C and Glycolic Acid is not advised. You should not use Vitamin C and Glycolic Acid together or layering them as most skincare enthusiasts prefer to refer to the use of two different skincare products simultaneously.
The use of vitamin C in the morning and glycolic acid at night is widely recommended by a section of dermatologists who make the case of the use of vitamin C serums in the morning benefits you more than using it at night. According to reports, BHAs photoprotective properties make them the best skincare products for morning uses, while AHAs are good for evening use as they make your skin more susceptible to sun-sensitive, so they work well when you put them to use at bedtime.
Here we are looking at the most common ingredients in skin care products and these are Vitamin C and glycolic acid.
Just as a brief, Vitamin C is loved for its benefits of blurring out dark spots or redness while glycolic acid keeps the skin looking more vibrant, to give you an enhanced look and soft skin.
Many people that know the use of Vitamin C as well as glycolic acid seem to ask “Why can’t I just combine them so that I can benefit from both at the same time?”
In this article, we will be answering this question and many more. Also, we will look at each of these ingredients, giving you a full description on each. Without any further A-do, let’s get into it.
Before we answer your most waited question, let us first look at these two ingredients individually and see just how beneficial they are. In the end, we will look at their differences and, of course, if it is recommended to use them at the same time or not.
To begin with,
Benefits Of Vitamin C
Vitamin C has been one of the most included ingredients in skin care products such as facial cleansers, scrubs and even face and body lotions. It is the legendary ingredient.
The most common way of using Vitamin C is through serums. They fix uneven skin tone, fine lines and it is responsible for decreasing and removing the aftereffects of acne, scars.
The best part about it is that it works on any people with different types of skin complexions. As such, Vitamin C is available in almost every skin care product. To those that don’t really know what it is, scroll below.
What Is Vitamin C?
Dermatologists define vitamin C as being a powerful antioxidant that is responsible for neutralizing free radicals.
It is mainly called an antioxidant because its properties. As such, Vitamin C assists the skin to generate new skin cells naturally, while helping in repairing damaged parts.
So, How Does It Benefit The Skin?
I’m sure you have been told at some point either by your doctor or pharmacist, that eating foods that are rich in antioxidants aid the body in fighting off free radicals. This is also how Vitamin C works on the skin.
This mineral provides a natural shield for your skin, thereby protecting it from daily aggressors like sun damage or other things like pollution.
Besides containing a lot of antioxidants, Vitamin C also comes with quite a few healing properties. “What kind of healing properties?” you may ask. Well, this is quite interesting actually.
As we know, Vitamin C is highly acidic. Once it is applied on the skin, especially the skin that has suffered a huge toll like sun damage or other skin conditions, it automatically causes the skin cells to heal themselves.
It does this by speeding up the production of collagen. In case, you don’t know what collagen is, it is a natural protein fiber that helps to keep the skin healthy and fleshy.
Also, Vitamin C is one of the best ingredients that help prevent wrinkles as well as fine lines on your skin, keeping you looking younger for longer.
Now that we have covered the benefits of Vitamin C, let’s take a look at the other ingredient, Glycolic acid.
Glycolic Acid
This is by far, one of the popular as well as the most beneficial ingredients that you can find in a lot of products today. Oh and did I mention that it is also the most talked about ingredient?
Glycolic acid belongs to the Alpha Hydroxyl Acids (also called AHA), along with other ingredients like glycolic, lactic and citric among many others, of course)
So, What Exactly Is Glycolic Acid?
Glycolic Acid is a naturally occurring substance that offers a lot of benefits to the skin, particularly when it is used in skin care products.
For those that don’t know, it occurs in powder form- a powder that is said to be made up of crystals that have no scent and are colorless in nature.
Benefits Of Glycolic Acid To The Skin
The benefits of applying this ingredients are numerous. We will look at the main ones
First of all, because glycolic acid is, as its name states, very acidic, it can be a great way to treat many types of skin conditions. This is why you are likely to see this ingredient listed on bottles of skin care medications.
Despite the fact that it is highly acidic, it is a very safe ingredient to use, even on the most sensitive skin types.
Another benefit of using this ingredient is that it brings rejuvenation benefits to the skin. As such, it is mostly used in products such as cleansers because it goes deep into the skin pores and stimulates the regeneration of skin cells, just as the way vitamin C does.
Just as we said before, it is a natural occurring substance, but did you know how it is made? Glycolic acid is made from sugar cane, pine apple and sugar beets. These three substances are renowned for being able to treat various skin conditions, from psoriasis all the way to melasma.
Another factor that makes this ingredient a little similar to Vitamin C is the anti-ageing factor. Recent studies have proved that if you include Glycolic acid into your skin care routine, it will rapidly improve the plumpness of your skin.
This is because glycolic acid assists in the boosting of the skin collagen production, which is one of the main minerals, besides elastin, that keeps the skin plump and healthy, thus the glycolic acid will prevent things like fine lines and wrinkles, which will not only make you look young, but feel young too.
Using Vitamin C and glycolic Acid together
The first thing we can do before answering this question would be to look at the pH levels that are contained in each of these ingredients.
So, What Is pH?
As most of us have studied, pH is simply defines as the level of acidity of a particular substance, which generally ranges from 0 to 14- in this case, at the point of 0 is where the acidity has reached is highest and the lowest is at 14.
Where the acidity is low, the alkalinity of the substance is high. Where there is a balanced pH level like at point 6, the levels of acidity and alkalinity are neutral. For instance, water has a neutral ph.
Note: To maintain healthy skin, it is ideal to use skin care products that have a pH level that ranges from 4.0 up to as high as 5.5. Anything below or above this range can have some unwanted effects to your skin.
Would It Make A Difference Between Mixing Them And Separating Them?
Nowadays, most lotions, moisturizers or creams that are manufactured by various brands, particularly those containing Vitamin C are said to have a relatively low pH of about 3 while those containing glycolic acid usually have a pH level of about 5, which is almost neutral.
This means that Vitamin C in this case seems to be very acidic as compared to the glycolic acid. Nevertheless, this would also depend on the product you have chosen, now wouldn’t it?
Certainly, there must be a couple of reasons why this is so. However, when you attempt to mix the Vitamin C with the glycolic acid, you may alter the pH levels in some way.
Despite mentioning this, I must say that some products do contain both of these ingredients. Such products are actually very safe for your because they are pre-mixed, meaning that you won’t have to worry about skin irritations or things of that nature.
That being said, if you decide to be taking them separately, it is really up to you, but I personally think that you should apply them separately.
If you go with my suggestion and take them differently, it is recommended that you use the Vitamin C in your morning skin care routine and take the glycolic acid in the evening right before you go to bed.
So, let’s get back to the question at hand- the question that, I’m sure made you interested in this article.
Can you use Vitamin C And Glycolic Acid together?
The final answer is yes. It is very safe for you to use them together, as long as they are formulated from your favorite brand and not mixed yourself.
However, you are likely not to get very little benefits from such products because, as I said, the pH levels get altered. So, in conclusion, will get the maximum benefits from these ingredients if you use them separately. Just as long as you use the proper routine.