The 27 Best Vitamin C Serums of 2023 Recommended by Experts | Glamour

No matter which skin issues you’re currently dealing with, chances are your routine could benefit from the best vitamin C serums. The antiaging antioxidant is one of the few skin care ingredients dermatologists will back for its noticeable brightening, protective, and firming properties, as well as its ability to boost collagen production—which has a plumping effect.

“Vitamin C is an antioxidant,” says Kenneth Howe, MD, of Wexler Dermatology in New York City. “When ultraviolet light penetrates your skin, it causes lasting damage by producing free radicals. Vitamin C can prevent that damage by ‘quenching’ the free radicals as they form.” It also inhibits a key enzyme in melanin production, so it can improve pigmentation like dark spots too. The end result? A more radiant complexion and smoother skin texture over time. (Think glass skin.)

Derms will often tell you to get your daily dose of vitamin C in serum form when adding it to your skin-care routine. “Serums typically have the highest concentration of active ingredients,” says Dr. Howe. In order to get maximum results, though, you’ll need these highly concentrated actives to be properly formulated and applied.

With that in mind, scroll on to learn how to use vitamin C serum for glowing skin, how to choose the best one for you, and why this wonder ingredient is a key player in the best skin care routine for every skin type.

How do you choose a vitamin C serum?

You might have heard experts debating the merits of various forms of the power ingredient. Here’s one to memorize: L-ascorbic acid. “It’s a pure form of vitamin C,” says NYC dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD. “It’s typically highly unstable, so it must be adequately protected from sunlight and capped at an acidic pH.” Howe’s preferred form is also L-ascorbic acid, which he says penetrates more deeply than other forms, making it more likely to reach the layers of skin where you actually need it to work. Another popular one? Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, which tends to be more stable than its counterparts.

You’ll also want to consider its concentration. “You should look for serums that contain 10% to 20% vitamin C,” says New York City dermatologist Morgan Rabach, MD. “Less than 10% is not as effective, and over 20% causes more skin irritation.” A supporting cast of characters can also boost its efficacy. “Vitamin E stabilizes vitamin C for maximum skin protection, and ferulic acid helps lower the pH level of vitamin C so your skin can use the vitamins easily,” she says.

The good news is that vitamin C face serums are easy to find; you can find a ton of vitamin C serums on Amazon, for example—and they’ve proven to be very, very effective.

Is it okay to use vitamin C serum every day?

You can and should. A vitamin C product can help slow or undo signs of aging—80% of which are caused by sun damage, research shows. There’s just one caveat: It has to be present within the deeper layers of your skin in order to do that. (As for when to use vitamin C serum: Because of its ability to protect skin cells from UV rays, it’ll offer the max benefit if you apply it in the morning.)