Is it necessary to use a Vitamin C serum even if your sunscreen contains Vitamin C and antioxidants?

Question

Is is necessary to use a Vitamin C serum even if your sunscreen contains Vitamin C and other antioxidants packed into its formulation? Won't the vitamin C already in these products do the work of a vitamin C serum? Dermatologists seems to want to sell a Vitamin C serum to everyone.

Reuel Aspacio, MD, FAAD - Account Suspended · Answer

Hi there,

Some Vitamin C Serums are much better than others and truly is one of the most beneficial to your skin.
So the short answer is what is in your sunscreen isn't enough.

Love Obagi vitamin C serum.

Best of luck!

Robert T. Buchanan, MD (retired) · Answer

Unfortunately, the Vitamin-C in a 5-20% serum is the only one that will actually help your skin. All of the others are a complete waste. Vitamin-C in inherently unstable and only works is specific formulations. Even going from 10 to 15% the product has to be formulated differently. There is good objective proof of this, but the cosmetic industry has put it in just about everything to get you to buy their products. Your sunblock may also be ineffective as everything but zinc oxide needs to be reapplied every 1-2 hours and I know of no zinc containing sunblock containing Vitamin-C.

Is it necessary to use a Vitamin C serum even if your sunscreen contains Vitamin C and antioxidants?

Answers (2)