Sun Protection: Vitamin C and SPF: A Match Made in Heaven!

Nabbed those skincare goodies in the Black Friday sales? If you still have discounts to burn, think of skin-saving over skin spoiling. Sizzling summer weather is here, and while you may not think of SPF as a “treat” purchase, it will definitely hook you up with beautiful skin in the long term. Want to boost results and make your sunscreen work harder for you? We’ll tell you a little secret when it comes to sun protection: vitamin C and SPF make one hot power couple. But before you add five litres of fresh orange juice to your cart, hear us out… 

Skincare Match: A Serum and a Sunscreen Walk into a Bar

So why the amplified efficacy of SPF when using vitamin C? Well, let’s look at the benefit of daily use of sunscreen: it’s essential to preventing skin cancer, burning skin, lines and wrinkles, sun damage like sun spots and accelerated ageing. 

Apart from the sun’s UV rays, there’s another nasty set on ruining your complexion: a free radical. Explaining what free radicals are is a little complex – so get ready for the science bit. These are unbalanced oxygen atoms randomly looking for other atoms to steady themselves. They’ll latch onto anything – your skin cells being a target – and cause a chain event of damage that leads to premature ageing. 

Enter anti-oxidants (in other words, the antidote to oxidation) to help combat that damage directly. Vitamin C is one such anti-oxidant. Now, guess what one of the leading causes of free radicals is? UV rays from the red hot sun we experience in South Africa. So, as committed as you are to your SPF, it may be time to get on board with a fantastic vitamin C serum for turbo-charged protection. A case of it takes two? You got it. 

Vitamin C and SPF: Working Together for Sun Protection

Let’s get practical: how do you team up your vitamin C serum and SPF to get that solid skin protection you crave? Simple! Add a topical vitamin C serum (a product that goes onto your skin) into your daily daytime skincare routine. 

This should be used in the morning after cleansing and before moisturiser and SPF (your final skincare step). It’s essential to get the order right for this reason: the thinner the formula (the texture of the product), the sooner it’s applied to the skin. With smaller molecules and a more fluid texture, your serum goes on first. The product’s micro molecular structure has been formulated on purpose; it can work deeper in the skin and target treatment concerns like dark marks and other sun-related damage. 

And while your vitamin C serum is giving you those important treatment benefits, it’s also doing double duty with your sunscreen. Known to block only 55 percent of the free radicals produced by UV exposure, your SPF gets serious help from your layer of vitamin C for added sun protection. Need any further reason to invest in this type of serum? Like your other favourite duos (corn chips and avo dip, anyone?), they’re delicious alone but seriously better together. 

Oh yes! Wondering why you don’t use a vitamin C serum at night? If you’re using ingredients like retinol in nighttime treatments, it may cause skin sensitivity or irritation. Plus, you want the brightness and glow that vitamin C brings to the skincare party. Sold? This is a partnership made to last, we promise.