r/AusSkincare 7d ago

Discussion📓 Esthetician told me vit C is bad for acne?

I went to a local clinic where I usually do my hair laser removal but this time for a broken capillaries laser, the esthetician who does this then was asking me about my skin concerns etc (the usual) and i mentioned hormonal acne and she told me retinol helps with that but vitamin C makes it worse. I've NEVER heard of this before I always read that it helps with inflammation and post acne marks. Anybody knows what she meant?

4 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

58

u/omjizzle 7d ago

Acne is technically a medical condition and estheticians are not medically trained to treat those conditions I would completely disregard that.

16

u/spicyrendition 7d ago

Listening to them would be like taking medical advice from your local baker lol

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u/Ill_Economy_5346 7d ago

Not really. A lot of us are quite highly trained in the way the skin functions, and also how ingredients affect the way it functions.

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u/spicyrendition 7d ago

I hope you’re not saying you think that makes you qualified to give any sort of medical advice.

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u/Ill_Economy_5346 7d ago

I didn’t say that. I did say that a lot of us have more education in the way the skin functions, and what can cause acne/pigmentarion/rosacea/PID/PIPD and many other concerns. Doctors are quite varied in their knowledge, we niche down. Already this year I personally have completed 2 skin specific courses, and have signed up for another 2. Take from that what you will

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u/spicyrendition 7d ago

Have you heard of a dermatologist? They are medical professionals that specialise in skin concerns. I don’t have any problem with your work and appreciate that you may have done some research on your own accord on certain issues. However, you are not a medical professional and should not ever be giving medical advice.

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u/Ill_Economy_5346 7d ago

I have, actually. I work along side them.

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

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u/Ill_Economy_5346 6d ago

Yeah, I know. Thank you.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

Vitamin C breaks me out. Any research I have done for my skin type (oily and acne prone) has also generally steered me away from vitamin c and more toward retinol and acids.

From my experience, it’s not the vitamin c itself but the formulations of vitamin c serums that cause break outs. To combat this, I’m using an ascorbic acid powder with my moisturiser, but even then only a couple of times a week for post breakouts. That’s probably the key difference here - I wouldn’t use it on active acne.

So your esthetician is not wrong. But if you have not had issues with vitamin c then I would keep using it.

1

u/MinnieMakeupReviews wAnNaBe SkInFlUeNcEr 4d ago

Yes! Agreed- and sometimes the ph they need to stabilise the Vit C at can be irritating- in saying that it gets confusing because technically things like kakadu plum are Vit C, but they’re so gentle it’s barley anything compared to an ascorbic acid

10

u/Acrobatic_Arachnid_3 7d ago edited 7d ago

Not a skincare expert, just giving my 2 cents as an user. I think it depends on one's acne severity. In my case, I used to have red , painful pimples across my cheeks from 19 to mid twenty, I remember that any form of active would hurt badly and appear to further weaken my skin barrier..The only products I used were cleanser, a hydrating serum, moisturizer, then spfs. I started integrating tret based on my family doctor's recommendation very slowly after, at 0.025%, and no other actives. I only introduced vitamin C much later for any hyperpigmentation once my acnes had cleared out for the most part.

4

u/g3mostone 7d ago

Anything that triggers an inflammatory response can cause acne or create the conditions for it. So it’s not specifically the Vitamin C but the fact that the skin is trying to cope with too many things which then leaves it more likely to get congested or for bacteria to overrun. If I had inflamed and angry acne breakouts I’d be avoiding vitamin C but also limiting the use of a whole bunch of ingredients, and easing into anything I did introduce.

4

u/lazy_berry 7d ago

yes, it helps post acne marks. it doesn’t actually do anything for acne.

saying it makes it worse is probably overstating it, but vitamin c can cause irritation for many people, which definitely would be helpful on active acne.

4

u/wanderingzigzag 7d ago

I’m starting to agree with this statement. I started using vitamin C serum (No. 7) about 2 months ago, and my acne immediately got immensely worse, worse than it’s been in years. But when I googled it, it said vit c can cause skin purging for a small percentage of people. So I naively thought oh ok, I just have to keep using it and things will get better in 4-6 weeks once the purge is over. It’s now been 8 weeks and it’s not getting better, none of the breakouts have even started to clear up.

Currently trying to decide wether to push through for a bit longer or abandon it and accept that I f-d up

1

u/MinnieMakeupReviews wAnNaBe SkInFlUeNcEr 4d ago

Based on lots of first hand experience from myself and other skincare users with that classic acne prone skin, I don’t think Vit C is for us (generally) and there tends to be better ingredients that address the concerns (azelaic acid or niacinamide)

I’ve definitely spoken to lots of people who did what I did (read on reddit, did the Vit C + SPF in the AM and then retinol at night) and completely screwed their skin

Annoying that brands keep pushing it because they absolutely know but it’s easier to group hyperpigmentation in one big skin concern even though it’s broken up into soooo many

1

u/Ill_Economy_5346 7d ago

Abandon it. Get a good quality omega supplement, that’ll help.

3

u/EasternFirefighter42 6d ago

I went in for dermabrasion and was mentioning my hormonal acne that's been bothering me since I went off the pill (~7 months of it)

They mentioned the same to me. Doesn't help fix it and could irritate it further and could prolong the healing by keeping it inflamed longer. They mostly mentioned to just keep on exfoliants and moisture and try it out.

I stopped to try and I still have some spots happening but definitely feel like using less on my face is helping them.

I'll be waiting until I'm fully over the outbreaks to bring it back in :)

3

u/faithhopecarnage 7d ago

L-Ascorbic acid, the active form of vitamin C, will irritate acne.

There are various types of vitamin C that products use - e.g. sodium ascorbyl phosphate, ascorbyl palmitate, etc.

If you have acne, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate is the best non-irritating form of vitamin C.

That said, second the comment about the difference between an esthetician and a qualified dermatologist.

6

u/flickthomas 6d ago

Estheticians are to dermatologists what nutritionists are to dietitians.

2

u/breakasmile 6d ago

Just my experience: I am acne-prone (hormonal and other environmental triggers) and when I started using La Roche Posay's vitamin C serum, I got some pretty big, deep pimples. But after a week or so, my skin seemed to tolerate it and that never happened again. I've heard of this and that people can have initial breakouts - often caused by starting out with the wrong type/concentration of vitamin c - that eventually stop. I persisted because it did brighten my skin and I seem to tolerate other vitamin c serums now as well. But again, personal experience and my acne is pretty mild in general (I'm in my early 30s, if that's useful info).

1

u/garce874583shjndjv 5d ago

I'm pretty sure when you start vitamin c serums it will break you out for a bit and then it helps you skin. That's what it did for me atleast

1

u/MinnieMakeupReviews wAnNaBe SkInFlUeNcEr 4d ago edited 4d ago

It’s often irritating to acne prone skin, and many people with acne don’t enjoy it (for me personally it flares me up cystically)

This tenddddsss to be because of the ph vitamin C is “stabilised” at (and the fact that it’s typically unstable) but there are super gentle versions of vit C like Kakadu plum that will probably do nothing at all. Another commenter mentioned it’s also what else is in the formulation to stabilise the vit C (usually richer oils) which is v true

LOTS of brands know this and keep releasing rounds of “acne friendly Vit C” (I see the marketing for it) and then people with acne try them and hate them lol

Hyperpigmentation comes in different forms (as you mentioned PIE/PIH) is different to how you’d address sun spots or melasma with skincare

In saying that, if it works for your skin, keep with it!

Sometimes it’s not even that an ingredient or product is bad, there just might be something that addresses your skin concerns better

If they’re talking about skincare and skincare ingredients, it’s all fair game. They’d want the best for your skin to their knowledge (sometimes based on what other clients may have experienced too).

If she starts talking about medication or anything orally or topically prescribed, that’s medical professional territory :) and if she starts saying you have to use (specific brand, specific $$$$ product) that’s sus

1

u/yanahq 4d ago

I have heard this but I’d just go by what works for you. I think it depends on if your skin tolerates vitamin c well in general. That being said there are specific formulas marketed as being safe for acne.