Considering the powerful benefits of vitamin C in the body, it’s natural to think that these positive effects would extend to the skin. Using this logic, Dr. Perricone began studying the effects of using vitamin C as a topical ointment on
Considering the powerful benefits of vitamin C in the body, it’s natural to think that these positive effects would extend to the skin. Using this logic, Dr. Perricone began studying the effects of using vitamin C as a topical ointment on the skin.
Through his studies, he realized he needed to make a change in order to create a truly effective skin care ingredient. This ingredient is vitamin C ester, a compound that provides all of the positive benefits of vitamin C and adds more because of its unique structure.
This article will discuss:
- Dr. Perricone’s interest in vitamin C on skin
- Studies of vitamin C on the skin
- The switch to vitamin C ester
During Dr. Perricone’s pediatric training at Yale, scientists were researching the effects of vitamin C intake on asthma. Their hypothesis was that vitamin C had anti-inflammatory properties that would calm inflamed lung tissues which often lead to asthma attacks.
Just as they suspected, administering a high dosage of vitamin C decreased the number of acute asthma attacks that patients suffered.
How did Vitamin C reduce lung tissue inflammation?
Vitamin C’s anti-inflammatory effects come from its ability to decrease the body’s production of arachidonic acid, a chemical that plays a role in causing:
- Micro-scarring that leads to wrinkles
Vitamin C is doubly useful in this sense because it also converts existing arachidonic acid into a harmless group of substances.
The first study Dr. Perricone performed was to test the effects of vitamin C on reducing sunburn and psoriasis. He asked patients to apply a solution of water and vitamin C to the affected areas. This solution seemed to reduce the redness and pain, but not as much as he thought it would.
The problem was that vitamin C is only water-soluble. It can gain entry to the inside of the cell, which is composed primarily of water, but not the outside of the cell. Because of this property, vitamin C in its natural state, l-ascorbic acid, can only protect against free radicals inside the cell but not in the cell membrane. The cell membrane is a critical defense mechanism of the cell and an effective skin care solution would have to target this area, too.
Why else didn’t the vitamin C solution work as well as Dr. Perricone hoped it would?
- L-ascorbic acid is very acidic, which can cause irritation to the skin.
- It breaks down rapidly and loses its effect within 24 hours.
- It causes a fenton reaction, which occurs when acid combines with iron.
Iron is abundant in the skin, so every time vitamin C is applied the fenton reaction occurs. This causes the production of a dangerous free radical, hydroxl. The fenton reaction is what Dr. Perricone thinks was responsible for the redness and