Oxidized Vitamin C serums, to use or not to use?
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Have you ever used a vitamin C serum, and noticed that it looked yellow like there were floating white things in it? If you've touched it, feels like slimy? Like runny yellow, or brown, snot. Gross, but how else would you know? Gotta invetigate these things.
My previous purchase of a vitamin C serum looked like that, hence, the necessary use of a whitening sheet mask.
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| I used the first bottle I bought, which was empty, and used the expired on the dropper. |
Before I go on, Let me explain the picure:
It was my second time purchasing their vitamin C serum, and I only use 2 drops of the vitamin C serum on my face, so my skin should be fine, right? Nope. In the next 3 days, my skin looked weird. I looked like someone splattered jaundice on me. Those few days, the yellow-brown color of the serum, stained my skin; and my skin felt irritated and I found few black heads on my skin. Uhg.
So...
What happened? It oxidized.
I had contacted the company I bought it from, which was Radha Beauty. They immediately helped me, and sent me a new bottle for free. This time the serum looked clear. I still use just 2 drops of the serum, and I am oompa-loompa-skin free. Joy! And yes, I still use their serums. :)
Vitamin c oxidizes when it's exposed to air and sunlight, which contain oxidants. This process of oxidization turns the acid to dehydroascorbic acid (DHAA). Now, I've read that this is not harmful to the skin (per se) but it may cause irritation. Yeah, I was irritated, alright. Anyway, you can use your vitamin C serum if it turned yellow, and I've read tht some people still use theirs, but I do not recommend it. Don't use it, unless you want to look like a jaundiced oompa loompa. If that's your thing, go wild.
Here's a few reasons not use it:
- Some people consider it expired
- Vitamin C is absorbed into the skin because of it's acidic pH, but the more oxidized it is, the more basic the pH will become. Our skin is acidic, so if the vitamin C serum is more basic, it will not work, or give you the best results. (less acidic = less potent)
- Think of it this way - when you buy a lemon from the store, its nice, fresh, shiny, and looks plump, but leave it out on the kitchen counter top for days and weeks, it eventually shrinks in size and the lemon skin looks old and pruny...decaying. We don't want old and pruny, and definitely not decaying. Let's stay away from the D-word.
- It smells funky.
To prevent it from oxidizing too fast, here are some tips and things to know:
- I know I said sunlight, but light isn't the catalyst here. Radicals, or oxidants, are produced by sunlight. It's the radicals, or oxidants, in sunlight that rapidly oxidizes the serum. So keep it in a dark container. (yes like the bottle in the picture)
- Wrap something dark around it till the entire bottle is covered and no sunlight comes through, like foil. Lots of foil.
- Only use a few drops of your vitamin C serum, too much can leave your skin with an off dark-yellow, jaundiced, oompa-loompa skin color.
- Keep it in the fridge. Heat speeds up the process, too.
If you have anything else I might have missed, or if you want to add about Vitamin C serums and oxidization, leave a comment down below.
Thanks for reading!
-Miss Mich
The Sheet Mask Lady
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This is where I get most of my skincare, and other cute asian things:
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Check out my social media down below.
This is where I get most of my skincare, and other cute asian things:
And when I place my order, I use Prime:
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