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Ask Jean: Vitamin C?

Ask Jean: Vitamin C?

Ask Jean: Vitamin C?

Dear Jean, I'm confused: Do I need vitamin C? What does it do for your skin? When do I use it? Will it interact with other skin care I'm using?—Amanda D.

Dear Amanda, Vitamin C is beyond fantastic for just about everyone's skin; it's great whether you're blemish-prone or dry-skinned, and it generally works easily into most skincare routines. It encourages glow, clarity, smoothness, and noticeable, overall skin-healthiness.

The bummer of vitamin C is that it degrades in water, so most vitamin C serums are great the first few times you use them, and then perfectly harmless but also fairly useless, skin-improvement-wise, after that. The many potentially toxic preservatives and stabilizers used in conventional formulas (and even the nontoxic ones in clean formulas) can delay that degradation to some degree, but it still happens, eventually.

This vial of powdered vitamin C, however, isn't exposed to water until the moment you use it, so remains at its most powerful and fresh. It activates when you mix it with water—you can just wet your face in the morning (I like vitamin C in the AM, other skincare ingredients in the PM) and smooth it in, or you can mix it with one of True Botanicals' serums (or any serum), or you can swirl it in with your SPF, moisturizer, or face oil. It blends instantly, there's no mess, it feels refreshing but not harsh on your skin, and the results are fantastic.

Case in point: Every morning, I take a walk with my friend Lisa. Even though I've used vitamin C forever, a few days after I started using this one, she turned to me and demanded to know what I was doing differently. At first I couldn't think what I'd changed. "Come on!" she insisted. I told her about the True Botanicals powder; she texted me later that day for name, and ordered it the next. A week later, we were walking on the trail and Lisa just looked, well, amazing. (Bear in mind that when you see someone daily, it's harder to notice changes, not easier.) "You know what it is," she said. "I use it every day. And I look fantastic."

BONUS: While this powder might (temporarily) alarm DEA agents, it will not disturb the TSA in any way, and it never leaks, so it's also the greatest travel product ever.