DR  DENNIS GROSS & VITAMIN C:
WHAT HIS WEBINARS TAUGHT US

Vitamin C was on top of the 2020s most google-searched skincare ingredients. It has long been a popular anti-ageing ingredient, and the data revealed it was keeping its top spot, with the most googled question about it being “What does vitamin C do for your skin?”. But what exactly does vitamin C do to your skin? After attending two webinars of renowned board-certified dermatologist and surgeon Dr Dennis Gross namely “The truth about Vitamin C and your skin” and “Your Vitamin C regimen”, here is what we learned about the famous ingredient. Keep notes!

WHAT VITAMIN C IS

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin necessary for the normal development and repair of connective tissue, i.e. bones, blood vessels and skin. It’s a skin-brightening ingredient that fights hyperpigmentation, promotes healthy collagen production and reduces skin inflammation. Thus, Vitamin C can give you better-looking skin. 

THE BENEFITS OF VITAMIN C

According to Dr Dennis Gross, vitamin C is an anti-ageing, antioxidant and soothing skincare ingredient that builds collagen and elastin, absorbs easily and fights hyperpigmentation. Moreover, it promotes the skin’s firming properties and fights free radicals. “It’s a versatile ingredient you should start using at any age”- Dr Dennis Gross.

THE REGIMEN

In his webinars, Dr Dennis Gross and his board-certified aestheticians introduced us to a vitamin C regimen that you can try at home to achieve a healthier, more glowing skin. Follow the steps below:

1. First, steam your face as skin steaming hydrates, soothes, plumps and helps your skin better absorb skincare products.

2. Cleanse your face using a gel cleanser and rinse off with lukewarm water. “Pick a cleanser that sounds like it works for your own aesthetic,” Dr Dennis Gross suggests. “Do not forget to cleanse your eyebrows, as makeup exists there, too,” he continues. 

3. Steam again to “melt” the excess makeup and gel cleanser residues.

4. Apply a red light LED mask for 3 minutes to reduce inflammation and build collagen. Use the LED mask on your chin and neck to fight saggy skin that lives across the neck and firm it.

5. Continue your regimen with acid peels. Dr Dennis Gross suggests using one of his brand’s 2-step peels. The first one removes dead cells, and the second one shuts off the acids of the first step and makes skin plumper and more glowing. If you don’t have any of these, you can use a peel with AHAs and BHAs (alpha and beta hydroxy acids). “Do not forget the jawline and the lip area, the neck and of course the back of your hands”, he emphasizes. 

6. Apply a face mask with vitamin C to fight free radicals that are still being generated by sun exposure you had decades ago. 

7. Apply a brightening serum that goes down to the cells that cause hyperpigmentation and shuts off the enzyme that leads to overproduction of melanin.  Sometimes, hyperpigmentation is self-perpetuating. 

8. Use an eye cream with vitamin C that can work well for dark circles. According to Dr Dennis Gross, there’s one eye trick to understand if you have hyperpigmentation in your under-eye area. Here’s the trick: If you gently pull off your under-eye area skin and the discolouration disappears while the skin is too thin, you need more collagen. But if discolouration is still visible and skin looks brown, you have to use vitamin C in your skincare routine because you have a lot of pigmentation there. 

9. Apply your moisturizer and massage for lymphatic drainage.

10. Finish your regimen with a lightweight sunscreen and use it on your lips, too. “Vitamin C under the sun it’s OK because the sun produces free radicals, and vitamin C eliminates free radicals,” says Dr Dennis Gross