, commonplace in today's 'brightening' serums. According to dermatologists, L-ascorbic acid has long been credited as the most effective form of of vitamin C, the gold standard, even. The problem? It's unstable and can, in high concentrations, cause irritation or an inflammatory reaction.While this particular vitamin C serum didn't actually burn or sting on contact with my skin, just two days after using it, I woke up with my right eye swollen shut.
My swelling went down fast. After about a week, using nothing on my face other than the rogue spritz of the with hypochlorous acid, my skin bounced back to baseline. But I had lingering questions. Why did this vitamin C serum cause such a severe reaction? And, must I now give up topical vitamin C forever? Here's what I gathered.My skin one week after a skin-care elimination.I want to be clear: This inflammation reaction was not the fault of this specific serum nor vitamin C as an ingredient; this was a major user error. My primary mistake was, you guessed it, not reading my label.