Is the antioxidant vitamin C good for skincare?

The antioxidant vitamin C is commonly included in anti-aging skincare with the belief that it lowers Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in skin cells. However, experimental data shows this antioxidant can increase ROS in human skin cells exposed to UVA (present in sunlight), meaning it may be pro-aging rather than anti-aging when applied to sun-exposed skin.

Is the antioxidant vitamin E good for skincare?

The same phenomenon observed with vitamin C is also observed with a different antioxidant, vitamin E: under UVA exposure, it can increase Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in skin cells rather than reduce them. Both antioxidants are common ingredients in anti-aging skincare that IF1 deliberately minimizes.

Why does the antioxidant vitamin C increase ROS in sunlight?

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an antioxidant that tries to neutralize ROS, but under UVA exposure the underlying chemistry can flip and generate additional ROS instead. This was predicted from chemistry expertise before the experiment was run.

What is the safer alternative to antioxidant vitamin C skincare?

IF1 skincare deliberately keeps the antioxidant vitamin C content low and instead uses IF1 protein, which greatly decreases ROS generation at its source rather than trying to neutralize ROS after they have already formed the way antioxidants do.

What is ROS and why does it matter for skin aging?

ROS stands for Reactive Oxygen Species — highly reactive molecules that damage proteins, lipids, and DNA in skin cells. Elevated ROS is a well-established driver of wrinkles, loss of elasticity, pigmentation changes, and other visible signs of aging.

Vitamin C can make aging worse

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are damaging byproducts of metabolism that accelerate aging. The antioxidant vitamin C is commonly included in anti-aging skincare with the belief that it lowers ROS concentration in skin cells.

But we’ve found that actually vitamin C increases ROS concentration in human skin cells when they are exposed to Ultraviolet A, which is in sunlight. This suggests vitamin C is pro-aging, not anti-aging, when applied to skin exposed to sunlight. So, your present skincare might be doing the exact opposite of what it claims.

By contrast, our IF1 skincare’s vitamin C content is deliberately low (rather than high), making it the safe option. It has a different active ingredient, our IF1 protein, which greatly decreases Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation and thereby ROS concentration, whereas vitamin C tries to neutralize ROS, which can flip and increase ROS.

Bar chart comparing Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) concentration in human skin cells under UVA exposure with and without vitamin C — ROS is higher with vitamin C, indicating a pro-aging effect in sunlight

In the figure above, [ROS] is Reactive Oxygen Species concentration. UVA is Ultraviolet A at a typical intensity in sunlight. This figure shows that with vitamin C and UVA, ROS concentration is higher (not lower) than when vitamin C is absent. The same phenomenon is observed with a different antioxidant, vitamin E, which is another common ingredient of anti-aging skincare that we (by contrast) minimize. Incidentally, from our chemistry expertise, we predicted this result before we observed it, which is why we looked for it.

Buy IF1

Back to Library Home