Vitamin C is an MVP lively ingredient, with the flexibility to visibly brighten pores and skin, fade darkish spots and defend towards free-radical harm. But it surely will also be a game-changer in your skin-care routine when you get in-office procedures like laser pores and skin resurfacing and cryotherapy. Not solely can vitamin C complement the results of those modalities, subsequently yielding higher outcomes, however it may possibly additionally assist together with your restoration, thus rushing up your downtime.
That mentioned, not all vitamin C serums are created equal. You may usually discover the antioxidant paired with different actives, with which it has synergistic results—and so they may lend it distinctive properties. Unsure which vitamin C is sort of best for you? This quiz can assist slender down the only option in your distinctive pores and skin wants. With that, scroll forward to study which vitamin C works finest for the process you need.
Fractional Ablative Laser
Fractional ablative lasers work by ablating pores and skin, or destroying pores and skin tissue, by meting out gentle power in small columns, moderately than your entire floor space of your face and neck. That gentle power creates managed accidents, which set off the physique’s therapeutic response and encourage new collagen and elastin formation. And by doing this in small fractions (therefore fractional), a lot of the pores and skin is spared. The result’s visibly smoother, firmer pores and skin texture.
A topical vitamin C serum, like SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic, can complement fractional ablative laser “by including a brightening impact to the pores and skin, in addition to probably serving to to enhance the outcomes of the remedy,” says New York dermatologist Dr. Nkem Ugonabo. “Moreover, fractionated lasers create micro-channels within the pores and skin, which might enhance the uptake of topical brokers. Personally, I like to make use of C E Ferulic.” In different phrases, the serum can higher soak up, and theoretically assist ship higher outcomes.
The formulation accommodates a mix of nutritional vitamins C and E plus ferulic acid, a mixture that has a synergistic impact and retains the elements steady. A 2015 examine in Lasers in Surgical procedure & Drugs discovered that this mixture really helps to hurry up wound therapeutic, with decreased seen redness, after remedy with a fractional ablative laser. For that motive, Dr. Ugonabo usually applies the C E Ferulic serum after the laser process.
Non-Ablative Laser
Not like an ablative laser, a non-ablative laser “received’t ablate or take away the highest layer of the pores and skin, in distinction to extra aggressive ablative lasers that do,” says Dr. Ugonabo. For that motive, the downtime tends to be shorter, with a sooner restoration—however you do reap a number of the similar advantages, akin to brighter- and smoother-looking pores and skin, simply to a lesser diploma.
“Non-ablative, fractionated lasers lend themselves finest to make use of of topical vitamin C,” says Dr. Ugonabo. The outcomes get even higher with the addition of a vitamin C serum that accommodates silymarin, an antioxidant derived from milk thistle. A examine discovered that pairing a non-ablative laser remedy with SkinCeuticals Silymarin CF led to a lower in irritation.
By dialing down irritation within the pores and skin, this specific vitamin C serum can goal each blemishes and the discoloration that normally seems as soon as that pimples has resolved. Value conserving in thoughts: The precise laser within the examine relied on the examine, with sufferers with pink marks (who usually have fairer pores and skin tones) receiving a pulsed-dye laser and people with post-inflammatory discoloration being handled with a thulium laser.
Cryotherapy
For eradicating pores and skin tags, darkish spots, solar spots and different marks, few procedures can beat the comfort or ease of cryotherapy, a process that makes use of cryogens—super-cold supplies, like liquid nitrogen—to freeze the targets with out harming the encompassing pores and skin. The frozen spot or pores and skin tag then falls off, and pores and skin heals with out it. However not all cryotherapy therapies are equal; SkinCeuticals CryoCorrect Therapy makes use of a concentrated movement of carbon dioxide, which has a milder temperature than the same old cryogens and might subsequently make the method extra comfy.
SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF pairs vitamin C with phloretin, an antioxidant present in apple tree leaves that’s particularly efficient for addressing discoloration and uneven pores and skin tone. The addition of vitamin C and ferulic acid enhances its advantages, too—which could clarify why the trio makes such an excellent match for cryotherapy. The truth is, one examine in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology discovered {that a} every day utility of the serum following cryotherapy considerably improved pores and skin smoothness and the overall look of the handled space after one week (in comparison with cryotherapy alone).