There is great deal of hype and misinformation about vitamin C. It is known to act both as an antioxidant, scavenging and quenching free radicals and also a very important factor in the production of collagen structures. Of course this is an extreme condition to which most people today are not exposed. captain James Cook, the explorer, is credited with having fed his crew vegetables and fruit such as cabbage and limes, with a high content of vitamin C, in order to prevent scurvy. This gave the British Navy advantages over the French and Spanish, although whether the British sailors had younger looking skin was never recorded!

Correctly formulated, some of the vitamin C containing creams are highly effective in quenching free radicals and also in reducing some of the immediate effects of sunlight and the number of damaged cells produced by the sunlight. However, while it is possible that they may have some mild sun protection properties, it is unknown whether the prolonged use of vitamin C-containing creams can result in skin rejuvenation and repair, and generally speaking they are extremely varied in their benefits.

Some research studies in animals suggest that a reduction in the risk of skin cancer when using vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium containing creams or oral solutions but there is no good evidence to show that this is the case in humans. Mica and men are quite different experimentally. One of the problems with topical vitamin C preparations is that they are not always stable, meaning that in many instances the vitamin C does not penetrate the skin as the active, intact substance. It is therefore essential to know that the cream in question does actually deliver the vitamin C to the skin, which is something you should check with your dermatologist.

The SkinCeuticals range, formulated by a dermatologist in the US, contains a 10 percent concentration of ascorbic acid and appears to reduce the immediate effects of sunlight as well as stimulate collagen-forming chemicals, at least experimentally. We do not as yet have proof that it actually forms enough collagen to reduce wrinkles, but given the experimental studies, it is likely that it has a good chance to do so. Look for the words ‘ stabilized vitamin C’ on the product labels. Certain products have been tested for their ability to reduce sunlight-induced skin damage and these tend to be the more thoroughly researched products.