Skincare trends come and go fast, but vitamin C endures for good reason – many of us love the visible glow it brings, both instantly and long-term. Lovers of vitamin C (myself among them) most commonly incorporate L-ascorbic acid or another form of vitamin C via a face serum applied before moisturising.
But a new crop of face creams is aiming to maximise the glow by ladling yet more vitamin C on top. And at this time of year, when skin is often dull and dry, too much of a good thing may be wonderful.
Paula’s Choice is a typically solid bet, but its new C5 Super Boost moisturiser (£48 for 50ml) is my favourite of its launches in ages. The skin-softening cream is deceptively light, delivering stacks of tangible, comforting moisture that lasts all day (it’s marketed as a night cream, probably because it contains no SPF, but I’ve also been wearing it by day, and my makeup is as happy as I am). It doesn’t sting, even around my eyes, and thanks to the inclusion of moisturising squalene, feels more silky than sticky.
If you’ve struggled to use vitamin C serums in the past, a cream could be ideal, since it will usually use a lower dose of the active ingredient and higher levels of skin-protective ceramides and oils, thus decreasing the chance of sensitivity.
Murad’s new Essential-C duo is very expensive but does act against irritation and dullness at the start and end of your day. Its Firming Radiance Day Cream and Overnight Barrier Repair Cream (each a very hefty £83 a pop) contain potent forms of vitamin C for skin brightness and antioxidant protection, as well as the elegant moisturising and hydrating ingredients this brand offers to pacify a weather-beaten skin barrier. Your wallet, however, may respond less positively.
But vitamin C skincare isn’t the preserve of the rich. Boots’s cracking Vitamin C Brightening Moisturising Cream (50ml) overdelivers on its £5 price tag. It claims to be suitable for all skin types, but the rich texture and slight oiliness will probably please balanced or dry skin more than it will the oily (Body Shop’s Vitamin C Glow-Boosting Moisturiser, £20, is lighter and fresher).
Like very many vitamin C products, the Boots one doesn’t smell wonderful (it usually takes a hell of a lot of fragrance to mask the not universally appealing aroma of the vitamin and its derivatives), but any whiff passes quickly and for only a fiver, one can hardly grumble.
