Vitamin C Efficacy

How to decipher skincare products that actually absorb

The skin is the largest human organ and protects the body from physical and biological attacks. The epidermis effectively forms a barrier that is crucial to maintaining optimal internal and external health. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to protect the skin and ultimately protect the body. However, a commonly overlooked aspect of skin protection is directly correlated to skincare ingredients, products, and daily habits.

While skincare ingredients and products can help protect and maintain the skin, strong marketing often overshadows clinically significant information leaving a consumer to believe that all products are created equal. Skincare ingredients are critical to a products’ formulation and will determine the results consumers will see. These ingredients’ have different absorption properties, which play a major role in absorption and, ultimately, the desired outcome of using them.

Not All Ingredients are Created Equally

Absorption is not only dependent on penetration, but without products penetrating the skin, the effects of the ingredients are not likely to happen. It is essential to realize that skin penetration studies are extremely important yet expensive. Unfortunately, many companies do not invest the time or resources to understand if the products or ingredients will work as marketed. The most common misconception is that different forms and molecular weights of ingredients have equal or similar actions. One of the most prominent examples of this is vitamin C.