Ascorbic Acid, also known as Vitamin C, is listed in many skin care products and is used in eye creams for treating discoloration of the skin associated with dark under eye circles. It helps protect against free radicals by neutralizing them. It can protect against damage from sun exposure but cannot be used as a sun screen by itself. Vitamin C must be present for collagen growth. Applied in cream form, twenty times the amount of vitamin C that is normally found can be provided to the skin. Regular use of products properly formulated with vitamin C can take 5 to 10 years off one’s appearance.

In general, Vitamin C must be ground to an extremely fine powder, then added to a base that has little or no water. Water makes its molecules break down before they can be used by the skin. There are some Vitamin C compounds that can tolerate water slightly better than others, but I believe the jury is still out on their effectiveness. Be sure to read labels closely. Look for the words “anhydrous” or “aqueous” where vitamin C is advertised as the active ingredient. Anhydrous means there is no water and aqueous indicates the presence of water. If you are like me, you want to know if what you are purchasing will actually perform as the label leads everyone to believe!

A great way to get the Vitamin C for a reasonable price is to by the powder to mix with your own creams. Philosophy Vitamin C Powder is a great way to supply the eye area with Vitamin C, and it comes with directions on how to measure and mix to give your normal eye cream more punch, and actually includes the warning not to mix it in with the rest of your cream as it will become unstable. Customer reviews are very positive.

Another function for topical vitamin C preparations is skin lightening. To this end, vitamins C is often found in creams that also have Kojic Acid, Horse chestnut, or other ingredients used to lift discoloration from the tissues. Vitamin C is listed as one of the main ingredients to look for in the article, “How to Find the Right Ingredients for Dark Circles Eye Creams?”

As always, be careful with sun exposure. Vitamin C can help with repair but it can take several weeks to see improvement. Adding Vitamin C to you compatible eye creams might be the best kept secret yet.