What Topical Vitamin C Can Do
I remember the first time I saw a before and after photo for a Vitamin C serum - the results looked incredible, the buzz was high, and the prices (I soon discovered) were even higher. I've been using 25% Vitamin C serum daily on my face for over 10 years, and have tried every product on the market. Vitamin C serums absolutely do work. Now that I am in my forties, the results I have experienced have become very evident as compared to others in my age group who have not used Vitamin C or any other serious anti-aging treatments.
Topical Vitamin C creates an anti-inflammatory response in the skin, retaining its protective activity for up to three days. Clinical studies back up Vitamin C's ability to rebuild collagen and elastin in the skin. Vitamin C is also an alpha-hydroxy acid, helping exfoliate the skin's surface and remove dead cells. Daily application of Vitamin C increases your natural level of photoprotection by reducing free radical formation in the skin. Because UV exposure decreases the naturally occurring vitamin C levels in the skin, topical application of vitamin C restores levels of the vitamin present in healthy, younger skin.
The only form of Vitamin C that has been proven to penetrate the skin's surface is l-ascorbic acid. Other forms (phosphates, esters) have become popular because l-ascorbic acid is notoriously unstable. L-ascorbic acid immediately begins to break down (oxidize) when exposed to temperature extremes and to the air. Thus, product packaging and handling have an influence on the potency of the product you purchase.
Delivery Matters
Would you buy six months’ supply of milk for your family? Of course not – it would spoil within a short time, and you would have wasted your money. Yet many cosmetic companies advertise that their product (usually an expensive one) will last you that long in an effort to justify the price.

Next question – do you allow your family to drink milk straight from the jug? No? Would you let them dig a spoon into a jar of peanut butter, lick it off, then do it again daily for months until the jar was gone? I didn’t think so! Each time you open and dip your fingers into a skin treatment, you reduce the effectiveness of the formula. Air, light, and bacterial contamination begin to break down most products the moment you open them.

Every time you open a bottle of a Vitamin C Serum, the product loses a bit of its effectiveness. The oxidation process begins as soon as you unscrew the cap, and continues each time you do so. All Vitamin C products - including those that claim to be "stabilized" have a shelf life, after opening, of approximately two months. Exposing the product to a daily dose of air, light, and bacteria from your fingers causes it to break down more quickly until it loses almost all of its efficacy, sometimes within just a couple of weeks.

If you have tried a Vitamin C Serum, you have probably noticed that it turns deep yellow and acquires an odor within a few weeks. This is your signal that the product has oxidized and has begun to lose its effectiveness. Our Vitamin C product, the Miracle Mist, is freshness dated so that you always know how long you can expect the product to last.