Skin is exposed to environmental stressors every day, from UV light to pollution and changing temperatures. Supporting the skin’s natural resilience helps it maintain balance and recover from daily exposure. Alongside a consistent sunscreen routine, ingredients like vitamin C and vitamin E are known for their antioxidant properties and can help protect the skin from environmental damage.
What are Vitamin C and Vitamin E?
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that occurs naturally in many foods.2 These sources include citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, strawberries, papaya, and broccoli.2 In skincare, vitamin C is valued for its antioxidant properties and its ability to help protect the skin from environmental stress.
Vitamin E is another naturally occurring antioxidant that is fat-soluble and essential for maintaining healthy skin. Foods that contain Vitamin E include almond, raw seeds, and many types of greens.Topical application can also provide the skin with forms of vitamin E that are not typically obtained through diet alone.1
How do they Interact?
When combined, Vitamins C and E can improve the appearance of uneven skin tone, brighten a dull complexion, and strengthen skin’s defenses against environmental factors. Supporting these natural defenses can help maintain the skin’s resilience when exposed to daily environmental stressors. These antioxidants work well together because vitamin C works optimally on the surface level, whereas vitamin E is oil-soluble so it goes deeper into the epidermis (Keen & Hassan 2016). Research has shown that the combination of these two ingredients in skincare provides appreciable levels of photoprotection to the skin, helping to defend it from skin cancer and signs of aging (Lin et al 2003).
How to Incorporate Vitamins C and E Into Your Skincare Routine?
Antioxidants like vitamins C and E play an important role in helping the skin defend itself from daily environmental stressors. Incorporating these ingredients into a consistent skincare routine can help support the skin’s natural resilience and maintain a healthy-looking complexion over time.
Vitamin C is commonly used in serums and moisturizers to help brighten the appearance of skin and protect against environmental damage. Products such as Riversol’s Anti-Aging Serum, which contains antioxidant ingredients, can be used as part of a daily routine to support smoother, more radiant-looking skin.
Vitamin E is often included in moisturizers because of its ability to support the skin barrier and help maintain hydration. When used together, vitamins C and E complement each other and help reinforce the skin’s natural defenses against environmental stress.
For best results, antioxidants are typically applied after cleansing and before moisturizing. Pairing antioxidant products with a daily sunscreen can help provide additional protection against UV exposure and environmental damage.
What are the benefits of using Vitamin C on your skin?
Vitamin C offers several benefits for the skin and is commonly recommended by dermatologists because of its antioxidant and skin-supporting properties.
Collagen Activation
Clinical studies have shown that topical vitamin C can help support collagen production in both young and aging skin.² Vitamin C also functions as a depigmenting agent, helping improve the appearance of uneven skin tone. Antioxidant-rich products, such as Riversol’s Anti-Aging Serum, can help support smoother-looking skin as part of a consistent skincare routine.
Anti-inflammatory action
Vitamin C also has anti-inflammatory properties when applied to the skin. Its anti-inflammatory properties include the ability to heal wounds and prevention of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.2 Vitamin C is known for its excellent safety profile and is becoming increasingly popular for its use in photo ageing, hyper pigmentation, tissue inflammation, and promotion of tissue healing.2
Other Benefits
Vitamin C has a variety of other benefits that can help protect your skin. Even though vitamin C cannot protect skin like an SPF can, it can minimize the damage caused by sun exposure.2 IIt performs this function by neutralizing free radicals created in the skin after sun damage. By helping reduce oxidative stress, antioxidants like vitamin C can also support the skin’s ability to maintain balance when exposed to daily environmental stressors.
Other benefits include evening out skin tone, increasing hydration, minimizing the impact of pollution on your skin, and giving skin a healthy, younger glow.3 It also reduces red and brown spots because of its powerful ability to assist in healing the skin.3 In addition, vitamin C is a convenient source to use because it can be used alongside other skin treatments such as sunscreens, tretinoin, other antioxidants and alfa hydroxy acids such as glycol acid.2
What are the benefits of using Vitamin E on your skin?
Vitamin E serves an important function in preserving the skin. Here are some of the top reasons to choose vitamin E in your skincare routine.
Minimizes Sun Damage
Along with vitamin C, vitamin E can help support the skin’s defense against UV damage.1 Together, these antioxidants have been shown to help reduce sunburned cells, DNA damage, and visible pigmentation following UV exposure.1 Applying vitamin E topically also increases photo protection of the skin.1
Anti-inflammatory effects
Vitamin E is also known for its anti-inflammatory properties in the skin.1 It has the ability to reduce skin swelling, skin thickness, and various types of inflammation in the skin.1 There have also been many reports that have shown that Vitamin E has been successful in treating inflammatory skin conditions, either alone or alongside vitamin C or vitamin D.1
By helping calm visible irritation and reduce inflammation, vitamin E can also support the skin’s ability to maintain balance when exposed to environmental stress.Vitamins C and E are often used together in skincare formulations because their antioxidant properties complement each other. Moisturizers formulated with antioxidant ingredients, such as those found in the Riversol moisturizers, can help support hydration while reinforcing the skin’s defenses against daily environmental stress.
References
- Michels, A.J. (2012). Vitamin E and Skin Health. Retrieved from http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/health-disease/skin-health/vitamin-E.
- Telang, P.S. (2013). Vitamin C in dermatology. Indian Dermatol Online 4(2), 143-46. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673383/.
- Keen, M.A. Hassan, I. (2016) Indian Dermatol Online J. 2016 Jul-Aug; 7(4): 311–315. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4976416/
- Lin et al (2003) UV Photoprotection by Combination Topical Antioixidants Vitamin C and Vitamin E Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 48 (6) 866-874. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12789176/
- What are Vitamin C’s Benefits For Skin? (n.d.). Into the Gloss. Retrieved from https://intothegloss.com/2016/03/vitamin-c-benefits-for-skin/
- What are Vitamin C and Vitamin E?
- What are the different kinds of Vitamin C and Vitamin E in skincare?
- What are the benefits of using Vitamin C on your skin?
- What are the benefits of using Vitamin E on your skin?
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