The Skin Vitamin Your Body Can't Make (And Can't Do Without)

Your body may not be able to produce it, but it needs it: normal skin contains high concentrations of Vitamin C, which supports collagen synthesis and antioxidant protection against UV-induced photodamage.

Yet, unlike virtually every other animal on the planet, humans cannot synthesise Vitamin C internally. Every Vitamin C molecule your skin depends upon must come from what you consume – and summer systematically depletes those reserves faster than most diets can replenish them.

UV radiation is the primary culprit. Every time your skin is exposed to sunlight, Vitamin C is consumed in the process of neutralising the reactive oxygen species that UV generates. The skin is exposed to environmental elements such as solar radiation, pollution, and smoking, which cause damage through the induction of oxidative stress – and antioxidants such as Vitamin C counteract this oxidative stress through electron transfer and donation. In high summer, this process is continuous – and for most women, intake rarely keeps pace with demand.

Morning & Night combines Vitamin C with 28 additional biologist-selected nutrients for science-backed, clinically proven results to skin.

While it is a powerful antioxidant, Vitamin C's most critical (and often overlooked) skin function is collagen synthesis.

Vitamin C acts as a cofactor for the proline and lysine hydroxylases that stabilise the collagen molecule's tertiary structure, and it also promotes collagen gene expression. Without adequate Vitamin C, the hydroxylation process that forms stable collagen cannot occur. The collagen your body produces in its absence is structurally compromised – less resilient, less able to maintain the firmness and elasticity that UV exposure progressively undermines.

Vitamin C has an anti-ageing effect by increasing collagen synthesis, stabilising collagen fibres and decreasing collagen degradation and melanin formation. This action – simultaneously building collagen and inhibiting the melanin overproduction that causes post-sun pigmentation – makes Vitamin C key in late summer, when both concerns are at their strongest.

The skincare industry has long prioritised topical Vitamin C – serums, creams and mists that deliver ascorbic acid directly to the skin's surface. These products have genuine merit. But they address only the outermost layers of the epidermis, and they face a fundamental challenge: L-ascorbic acid encounters challenges in penetrating the skin due to the lipophilic properties of the stratum corneum, meaning they will only make very superficial changes.

Internal Vitamin C takes an entirely different route. Vitamin C is transported into the skin by sodium-dependent Vitamin C transporters (SVCT1 and SVCT2), ensuring high intracellular concentration that protects against oxidative stress, supports collagen synthesis and modulates melanogenesis. By delivering Vitamin C through the bloodstream to skin cells at every layer of the dermis and epidermis, internal supplementation addresses the skin's structural needs in a way that topical application cannot fully replicate.

This doesn't mean abandoning your serum. It means understanding that the most comprehensive approach to skin health operates on two levels simultaneously: what you apply externally and what you provide your cells internally. The most sophisticated skincare routines work both – our Morning & Night supplement contains Vitamin C to target skin from within, while our award-winning Skin Nutrients Facial Oil contains natural Vitamin C in 32 botanical oils and extracts.

While SPF remains the non-negotiable foundation of summer skin protection, it doesn’t address the oxidative stress that occurs with UV exposure. That's where Vitamin C comes in.

Topical and oral Vitamin C have been shown to improve skin elasticity, reduce wrinkles and hyperpigmentation, and provide photoprotection against UV-induced damage. Research published in 2025 in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology specifically examined Vitamin C's role in protecting the skin barrier against environmental stressors – confirming that barrier integrity, not merely surface appearance, depends on adequate Vitamin C status.

The post-summer skin concerns that appear in September – pigmentation, dullness, reduced firmness – are not immediate. They are the lagged consequence of a summer spent with insufficient antioxidant reserves to keep pace with UV-generated oxidative damage. Addressing Vitamin C status throughout the summer, not retrospectively, is the more effective strategy.

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Our flagship Morning & Night supplement contains Vitamin C as part of a carefully calibrated, 28-nutrient formula delivered in two circadian-timed doses – delivering what your body needs, when it needs it.

Vitamin C is included in the Morning formula for a specific reason: this is when the body faces its highest oxidative load. As cortisol rises and metabolic activity peaks, and particularly as you begin your day with sun exposure, the demand for antioxidant protection is at its highest. Delivering Vitamin C at this biological moment – when the body is primed to absorb and utilise it – is more effective than delivering it at a time when these demands are lower.

Crucially, Morning & Night pairs Vitamin C with the nutrients that enhance its efficacy. Vitamin E works synergistically with Vitamin C for combined antioxidant protection. Selenium provides additional antioxidant defence, supporting the network that protects skin cells from UV-induced damage. And L-lysine – present in the Night formula's amino acid complex – provides one of the two amino acids directly required for the collagen cross-linking that Vitamin C makes possible.

This is chrononutrition applied to skin health: not simply providing the right nutrients, but providing them in combination and at the precise biological moment they can be most effectively used.

Vitamin C is a crucial water-soluble antioxidant and cofactor in multiple enzymatic processes essential for skin health. The clinical evidence supporting its role in skin ageing, photoprotection and pigmentation management is among the most robust in dermatological nutrition research.

We commissioned a gold-standard, independent, placebo-controlled, double blind clinical study, published in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology. The study found that 92% of participants reported measurable  improvements in skin appearance – including hydration, radiance, and reduced fine lines – after just 12 weeks of consistent use. 

Vitamin C's relevance to skin health doesn't begin in June and end in September. Collagen synthesis is a continuous process: oxidative stress from pollution, stress, and incidental UV exposure continues year-round. The pigmentation that accumulates during summer takes months to address.

What changes with the season is the urgency and the opportunity – late summer is a moment when Vitamin C depletion is at its most acute, and the visible consequences of that depletion are beginning to emerge. Starting, or recommitting to, consistent, internal Vitamin C support now addresses both the damage already done and the ongoing biological requirements that no amount of topical product can fully meet.

Your skin cannot make Vitamin C, and it also cannot do without it. Support your skin through summer (and beyond) with Morning & Night – and you’ll see results after just a few weeks of use.