“Looking good doesn’t affect your success” is one of those pernicious anti-advices like “elite university degrees don’t matter” and “family connections are worthless in our meritocratic society.”

Vanicream Vitamin C serum is 5% THD, oil soluble and gentle on skin!

Let's not engage in quakery and resort to knowledge instead.

Oral and transdermal (topical) application of Vitamin C (and other molecules in general) follow completely different routes with different absorption rates and accompanying nuances.

Oral intake. Absorption rate is dosage dependent:

  – At moderate doses (≤ 250 mg/day): 70–90 per cent of ascorbate is absorbed into the bloodstream. Bloodstream means just that – Vitamin C will be distributed throughout the entire body, which includes tissues, internal organs and skin. Active absorption takes place in the small intestine predominantly by SVCT1 and SVCT2 sodium-ascorbate co-transporters.

  – At high doses (≥ 1g a day): passive diffusion takes over and also takes place in the small intestine although now via GLUT transporters that become saturated and absorption efficiency drops to 50 per cent or lower.

The half-life of Vitamin C taken orally is approximately four hours anyway, after which any excess of it still circulating will be rapidly excreted via the renal route (kidneys). Studies report that significantly less than 0.1 per cent makes into the epidermal (skin) layer.

Transdermal (topical) application. Depends on the concentration and several factors, but a 20% concentration serum (not a cream) can achieve a > 80% absorption rate through the skin into receptor fluid after 24 hours. Half-life of Vitamin C applied topically is approximately 4 days.

Recap: less than < 0.1 % / 4 hours half-life for the oral route vs more than 80 % / 4 days half-life for the transdermal route.

  L-ascorbic acid must be formulated at pH levels less than 3.5 to enter the skin. Maximal concentration for optimal percutaneous absorption was 20%. Tissue levels were saturated after three daily applications; the half-life of tissue disappearance was about 4 days. Derivatives of ascorbic acid including magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, ascorbyl-6-palmitate, and dehydroascorbic acid did not increase skin levels of L-ascorbic acid.

Red light, or something more chemical?

I know this was a joke, but I can't really understand the worldview that says people should accept physical decline in a passive way. The fact is, we actually have a lot of control over how quickly and how well we age. Just using sunscreen can prevent a lot of the age-related loss of skin structure. And interventions like topical retinoids or collagen induction (e.g. microneedling) can even restore some thickness and elasticity that have already been lost. This also goes for fitness, joint health, and a lot of other things. Caring for your body is actually well aligned with the goals of psychotherapy.

This is a weird video to see after one of my son's doctors told me I should supplement him with zinc. Of course I'm following dosage recommendations.

You can just freshly mix cheap vitamin C powder and water to the desired concentration, adjust pH to be less irritating. The solution can last for a few days, if cooled and protected from light. For it to be effective (according to studies), it needs to be applied daily/frequently. However, DIY is so cheap, you can use it all over your body. Wash/wipe off excess (see below).

The problem is commercialization. Vitamin C is very, very reactive, so formulating it for shelf storage and production is challenging. I think you either have to add expensive/exotic antioxidant systems, or rely on ascorbate derivatives which may be less/not effective.

Fair warning: Vitamin C degrades to dehydroascorbic acid: After some delay, vitamin C solution may stain skin and everything in contact yellow. DHA may also further break down into erythrulose, a self-tanning agent browning the skin semi-permanently (likely not very healthy). Vitamin C may also react with other things (eg. skin care products) in unpredictable ways and can actually form radicals under some conditions. Eg. It can react with benzoic acid to form benzene. On the modern skin, with UV exposure, a primordial soup of "actives", complex hydrocarbons and all natural metal catalysts, vitamin C may facilitate genesis…

The science is promising, but the chemistry of vitamin C is hard to control, or even reason about.

This is not true. 2g is the max recommended dose.

Most people can get enough vitamin C each day from food or drink. 3/4 cup of orange juice daily is enough. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h...

Taking vitamin C orally decreases muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and harms the health benefits of training, like increased insulin resistance. (well established from multiple studies, easy to google).

There was huge antioxidant craze in late 90's and 00's when taking antioxidant supplements like C was considered the right thing to do. Now we know that just taking more antioxidants does not directly help with oxidization tress, because it messes up metabolism and can even increase it.

Please do not spread misinformation here. It can be misleading at best, dangerous at worst.

> IMO, everybody should take at least 2g daily in a couple of doses

I strongly caution against this kind of blanket recommendation. For most people, taking such a high dose without medical guidance is unwise. Unless a healthcare professional has specifically advised it, this level of supplementation goes well beyond established guidelines.

There is substantial research highlighting potential risks, including kidney damage, associated with high-dose vitamin C intake (as referenced elsewhere in this thread).

Anyone considering this should thoroughly research the risks and consult a qualified medical professional before proceeding.

The effects can be significant, even if not due to vit C but something else in the oranges.

They are, but you have to eat the peel, too. I actually love it, but it’s not to everyone’s taste. Of course the oranges need to be free of pesticides, peel declared suitable for consumption.