When you find two skincare ingredients that can give you the same results, you certainly want to know the best at the game. And this is the basis for a comparison like “is vitamin C serum better than rosehip oil”?
Vitamin C serum and rosehip oil are two super skin brightening ingredients. They both carry out their unique functions at different levels. To start with, vitamin C serum is a water-based product and rosehip oil is an oil-based product.
A comparison of whether vitamin C serum is better than rosehip oil or not starts from knowing what each ingredient does for your skin. Continue scrolling to see what these ingredients do for your skin and then you can choose if you need to.
What Does Vitamin C Serum Do for Your Skin?
Vitamin C serums are majorly skin brightening serums. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that protects your skin from harsh UV rays. As a result, it prevents potential skin damage that exposure to sun rays can cause.
Moreover, vitamin C serum is an effective treatment for skin discoloration due to acne scars and hyperpigmentation. It is also effective in the treatment of signs of aging and in restoring your skin to its youth.
The topical application of vitamin C serum evens your skin tone, promotes skin radiance, and boosts collagen and elastin synthesis. Collagen and elastin are proteins necessary for skin elasticity and the improvement of fine lines and wrinkles.
In addition, as a serum, it boosts skin hydration levels and helps to keep your skin plump. It increases your skin’s ability to retain water, thereby, preventing moisture loss and consequent dehydration.
Vitamin C has great anti-inflammatory properties which help to soothe skin redness. Other benefits of using vitamin C serum include its ability to firm saggy skin, soothe and treat sunburn, and reduce wound healing time.
What Does Rosehip Oil Do for Your Skin?
Rosehip oil is non-comedogenic and is good for every skin type, including oily skin. This oil is an occlusive that locks in moisture and keeps hydration levels steady. It helps to alleviate skin dryness and the itching or flaking it comes with.
Rosehip oil is gentle on the skin and can help to control acne breakouts and treat existing acne when mixed with other ingredients. It is a skin brightening ingredient that mildly exfoliates your skin and gets rid of dead skin cells that make your complexion dull.
Furthermore, this oil is packed with antioxidants and essential fatty acids that nourish your skin and boost cell immunity, and stimulate cell renewal. It stimulates the synthesis of collagen and elastin for skin elasticity.
More so, rosehip oil makes a good oil cleanser. It dissolves oil clogs, lifts them off your skin, refines your pores, and makes your skin firmer. Consequently, your skin looks smoother, produces less oil, and maintains a subtle glow.
Is Vitamin C Serum Better Than Rosehip Oil?
Vitamin C serum and rosehip oil carry out similar functions in different ways. In the case of which is superior, vitamin C serum can produce more actives than rosehip oil.
Also, the molecules in the serum penetrate the layers of your skin to deliver the active ingredient, vitamin C.
These actives target skin concerns like skin brightening, hydration, aging, acne, and sagging skin. Rosehip oil, on the other hand, cannot go beyond the outer layer of your skin. The oil creates a thin film over your skin and seals in moisture and actives.
In addition, the ingredient you choose to use depends on the result your hope to achieve. When you need to get rid of dark spots, hyperpigmentation, saggy skin, and aging, a vitamin C serum is your best bet.
Rosehip oil best caters to nourishing your skin with fatty acids to improve the lipid barrier of your skin, moisturize your skin and keep it supple and glowing.
Does Rosehip Oil Contain Vitamin C?
Yes, it does. Vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is one of the antioxidants present in rosehip oil. And it is what makes it an effective skin brightening ingredient. Also, it helps to refine your pores and smoothen the appearance of your skin.
Additionally, vitamin C boosts collagen production and can help to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It protects your skin from UV rays’ sensitivities and damage that can cause premature aging.
Alongside vitamin C, rosehip oil contains other antioxidants like vitamins E and A (retinol). The vitamin C content in rosehip oil is another reason why some skin types may not tolerate a combination of vitamin C serum and rosehip oil.
Can You Use Vitamin C Serum With Rosehip Oil?
Yes, you can. Vitamin C serum and rosehip oil make a good pair for a customized skincare routine to help brighten your skin. Rosehip oil is a mild delivery vehicle of small concentrations of retinol.
Vitamin C is an unstable vitamin and as such, it needs a complementing ingredient that will keep it stable and enhance its effectiveness.
When you use vitamin C serum with rosehip oil, you open your skin to receive more benefits that transcend skin brightening.
The duo can help tackle premature aging, hydrate your skin, and keep it glowing. Vitamin C serum, although very effective, can dry out your skin. Rosehip oil comes in and serves as a moisturizer to bypass this drying effect.
More so, it creates a seal over your skin to trap moisture and enhance the effects of vitamin C. Because of the retinol composition in rosehip oil, not every skin type will tolerate using these ingredients together.
Therefore, you need to be sure of your tolerance for both ingredients before you use them together.
How Should You Use Vitamin C Serum and Rosehip Oil?
After getting skincare powerhouses in your routine, you should know how to use them correctly to see results. More so, there is a degree of tolerance your skin can only take.
If you’ll want to use vitamin C serum and rosehip oil, you should combine them in a way that works well for your skin type. You can either use them separately or layer them at the same time.
1. Alternating both products
To alternate both products, you can use one product in your morning routine and leave the other in your night routine. Also, you can use them on alternate days.
When you want to use them at alternate times of the day, vitamin C serum is best used during the day when ultraviolet radiation is at its peak and your skin needs every form of protection it can get. Then, you can use rosehip oil at night to moisturize your skin.
Most importantly, when you use vitamin C serum during the day, do not forget to layer on sunscreen lotion to shield your skin from UV rays damage.
2. Layering in your routine
Another way to use vitamin C serum and rosehip oil is to layer them in the same routine. When layering your products, you should wait 30 seconds to a minute between applications of products.
You can make an exclusive routine of just serum and oil or include other products like a moisturizer in between. Follow these steps to layer vitamin C serum and rosehip oil:
- Start your routine on a pre-washed face. Dampen a cotton ball with a cleanser and gently wipe across your face to remove soap, oil, grime, and makeup residues
- Then, after some seconds, pump out vitamin C serum and release some drops onto your palm
- Gently tap the serum all over your face and neck until you have even coverage
- Hold on for about a minute to allow the serum to absorb into your skin
- Afterward, you can layer moisturizer all over your face and neck as well. Wait for a minute for the moisturizer to absorb into your skin
- Thereafter, take about 5 drops of rosehip oil and gently massage it all over your face and neck to seal in moisture and nourish your skin
- Finish your routine with sunscreen before you step out during the day
Are There Any Potential Side Effects of Using Vitamin C Serum?
Naturally, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that is necessary for the health of your skin. However, as skin types vary, so do individual tolerances.
Upon application, if your skin cannot tolerate this vitamin, you may experience things like a tingling sensation or itching.
These side effects are not permanent; they should last only a few days or a week. But if it remains the same after a week or two weeks, you should discontinue the use of the serum.
Is Rosehip Oil Bad for Your Skin?
No, it is not. Rosehip oil is a non-comedogenic oil that quickly absorbs into your skin without leaving any residues to clog your pores.
This oil has powerful anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties that work together to improve the health and appearance of your skin.
However, you should run a patch test before you use rosehip oil. Apply a little amount of oil to the side of your jaw and watch it for a few minutes. If you notice any redness or tingling sensation, rinse off the oil. If you do not notice any of this, the oil is good for your skin.
FAQs
Should you use rosehip oil before or after vitamin C serum?
Use rosehip oil after vitamin C serum to lock in moisture, and seal in other actives in your serum. Oils are occlusives and no other product can penetrate them. Therefore, the oils in your routine come last to keep other ingredients locked in.
Can you use vitamin C serum every day?
Yes, you can use vitamin C serum every day after cleansing your skin and before moisturizing. However, if your skin cannot tolerate it yet, you may cut down the frequency of use to 2-3 times a week until your skin fares well with the serum.
Should you use rosehip oil every day?
You should use face oil like rosehip oil on your skin every day to lock in moisture, brighten up your skin, and keep it glowing. Apply rosehip oil at the end of your morning and evening routine to keep your skin moisturized.
What should you not use with vitamin C serum?
Do not layer or mix vitamin C serum with any AHA/BHA (e.g salicylic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid), benzoyl peroxide, and retinol. Vitamin C is an unstable vitamin and tends to dry out your skin and so do these ingredients.
Using them together can throw your skin off balance and will expose your skin to excessive dryness. However, if you must use them, alternate the application and do not layer them at the same time.
Conclusion
Vitamin C serum is not better than rosehip oil, nor the other way around. Although they carry out almost similar functions, they are two different skincare ingredients. A serum penetrates your skin better than an oil can.
For this reason, they are best considered as two different products. Besides, why pick one when you can have both ingredients in your routine?
Vitamin C serum and rosehip oil make a good skincare ingredient layering pair. Together, they effectively brighten your skin and keep it moisturized and protected. Most importantly, you should be sure your skin can tolerate these ingredients before you use them.
Thanks for reading.
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