No, it does not. It may stain your skin but it cannot darken your skin. It is important to know the difference between staining and darkening the skin. Staining is where the product reacts with your dead skin cells and leads to a change in the color of those dead cells.
The reason it can stain your skin is because vitamin C degrades into erythrulose—the EXACT ingredient you'll find in many self-tanners! DECIEM, for example, uses erythrulose in Hylamide Glow Radiance Booster and The Chemistry Brand "Glow" Oil. A tan from erythrulose can last as long as a week!
Vitamin C preparations can also discolor on the skin surface as they contact oxygen in the environment. This accounts for the orange color that may emerge on the skin in the morning after wearing a vitamin C preparation overnight.
Studies suggest vitamin A is important to melanin production and is essential to having healthy skin. You get vitamin A from the food you eat, especially vegetables that contain beta carotene, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and peas.
Vitamin C is an essential component for glowing skin. It lightens skin by managing the quantity of melanin generated by your pigmented skin cells. Taking vitamin C enriched food or applying it to the skin might help you reduce the dark spots on your skin, also known as hyperpigmentation.
Vitamin C serum can help with freckle removal, but some freckles are more persistent than others. Certainly, however, when applied in serum form Vitamin C does lighten freckles.
1. Lightens dark spots. Vitamin C helps lighten dark spots on the skin by restricting the enzyme responsible for the production of melanin.
According to a 2017 article in Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology , vitamin C can reduce tyrosinase activity, which prevents the formation of melanin.
What does seem to be the general consensus though, is that whilst it's probably unlikely that vitamin D supplements darken the skin, being exposed to sunlight helps us to manufacture vitamin D, and in this process, we may also get a tan.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) plays an important role in maintaining skin health and can promote the differentiation of keratinocytes and decrease melanin synthesis, leading to antioxidant protection against UV-induced photodamage.
This incredible antioxidant, anti-inflammatory nutrient is known to improve skin tone and texture, hydrate the skin, and reduce signs of aging. Adding vitamin C to your skin care routine can not only brighten your complexion but also protect against skin damage caused by sun exposure and harmful free radicals.
Vitamin C has been praised for its anti-aging and brightening benefits, but studies have shown that it also works as a sun-damage protectant. Kim Chang, a medical aesthetician at Baylor College of Medicine, said using L-ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, on the skin can protect you even further from the sun.
Why Vitamin C Can Stain Your Skin (and How to Avoid It!)
Those of you who are vitamin C enthusiasts may have noticed that with some vitamin C serums, you end up with slightly stained orange-brown skin after a few days of use – sort of like fake tan.
Also, we consulted with scientists who told us that if you wear vitamin C without sunscreen, your vitamin C can actually be photo-incinerated (i.e. totally burned away) by the sun.
Topically applied Vitamin C can increase the production of this protein, reducing the appearance of fine lines (1). It also lightens pigmentation spots and reduces tan by inhibiting the enzyme tyrosinase, which is responsible for the production of melanin (skin pigment).
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a nutrient your body needs to form blood vessels, cartilage, muscle and collagen in bones. Vitamin C is also vital to your body's healing process.
Discolored skin patches also commonly develop in a certain part of the body due to a difference in melanin levels. Melanin is the substance that provides color to the skin and protects it from the sun. When there is an overproduction of melanin in a given area, it can result in skin discoloration there.
No, Vitamin C stains can occur to any skin type since the cause of it is oxidation of the product before or after applying it. The color of the stain may differ. It could be brown or orange or yellowish. But, stains are not specific to a skin type or skin color.
Vitamin C applied to the skin can encourage new collagen to grow. It also helps maintain the collagen you do have and protects the precious protein from damage.
As far as your skin is concerned, vitamin C is "a potent antioxidant that can neutralize free radicals," explains board-certified dermatologist Patricia Wexler, M.D. "Because of its antioxidant properties, vitamin C aids in your skin's natural regeneration process, which helps your body repair damaged skin cells."
Results. Expect that your skin tone or dark spots will lighten over time. How long this takes will vary with each person but in general, you should notice a visible difference after 2-3 weeks, and a significant difference after 8-12 weeks.
Layer It Under SPF
Unlike hydroxyacids or retinol, vitamin C does not make the skin more vulnerable to sunburn. That being said, the most potent forms of vitamin C are vulnerable to light exposure, and therefore the use of vitamin C must be in conjunction with broad-spectrum UVA/UVB coverage.
"Products with niacinamide and vitamin C will help lighten dark underarms," Dr. Jaliman points out. "You don't want to use strong ingredients since the skin under your arms is a sensitive area." "This cream is gentle and contains vitamin C (which lightens) and vitamin E (which is moisturizing)," Dr.