Many of the entries here on Daily Dose extol the virtues of vitamin C. It’s an essential nutrient that every body needs to achieve and maintain optimal health. It’s a powerful antioxidant that defuses free radicals before they can detonate your cells and mangle your DNA. It supports your immune system and helps your muscles and connective tissues recover and rebuild after tough physical work, athletic training and competition.

And while vitamin C can help unleash your beast in the gym, millions of people are discovering how vitamin C can help bring out your beauty in the bathroom. So to speak.

There are now dozens of skincare products that contain vitamin C – face creams, eye creams, throat creams, day creams, night creams, lotions, toners, tanners, concealers and a whole bunch more. Why? Because your body requires vitamin C to make a key protein called collagen. Not only does collagen help make your muscles, tendons and ligaments stronger, but it also helps make your skin stronger and more supple. Not just your facial skin, but every inch of skin from your pate to your pinkies to your piggies.

Your skin is made up of several layers. The top layer (the epidermis) is supported by the second layer called the dermis. If your body doesn’t make enough collagen, the dermis can’t hold up its end of the deal. As a result, both layers begin to lose their elasticity and become loose, thin, weak and dry. Your body’s natural production of collagen decreases with age. So, it should surprise absolutely no one that, in older women and men, the gradual appearance of facial wrinkles is usually the first outward sign that something is amiss in the collagen department.

The vast majority of skincare products are “topical,” which means they are applied directly to the skin. The active ingredients in these products, including any vitamin C, must be absorbed into the skin in order for them to be effective. In many cases, this “transdermal” delivery works pretty well for skincare products and even some drug therapies, such as nicotine “patches” used in various smoking cessation programs. However, using topical vitamin C to stimulate collagen synthesis is not quite as simple as rubbing in a dollop of lotion.

First of all, there are many different forms of vitamin C. L-ascorbate, or ascorbic acid, is the “pure” form of vitamin C. Other “derivative” forms include ascorbyl palmitate, ascorbyl phosphates and tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. No, there will not be a quiz later. Some of these forms are well suited to topical use and can be highly effective, some are better than others and the rest are basically useless. For the most part, how well a vitamin C-enriched topical skincare product really works depends on which form of vitamin C is used.

Secondly, the vitamin C used in topical skincare products has to be “fresh.” Vitamin C has a tendency to “oxidize” very quickly once it’s exposed to oxygen in the air. Oxidized vitamin C cannot be used to stimulate collagen synthesis in the skin. More importantly, it can actually increase the amount of free radicals in your skin cells and cause considerable damage. This is the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve with a “skincare” product.

Some forms of vitamin C are more stable and resist oxidation better than others, but all of them eventually undergo oxidation. Therefore, you should never use any vitamin C skincare products that have passed their expiration date. Depending on which products you use and how often you use them, routinely tossing the unused portions can add up to a lot of wasted money. Some “high-end” vitamin C-enriched skincare products can cost hundreds of dollars.

Last, but certainly not least, the key factor in determining whether or not a topical vitamin C skincare product will actually do its job and trigger collagen production is “concentration” – the percentage of vitamin C that is contained in each recommended application of the product. In order to be effective, such products should have a vitamin C concentration of 10-20%, depending on the form of vitamin C used in their formulas.

Many products may actually contain the best forms of vitamin C, but in concentrations too low to be effective. Others may contain higher concentrations of an inferior form of vitamin C. Unless the manufacturer includes detailed and accurate information about the form of vitamin C contained in their product and its concentration, it can be very difficult for you to know for sure if the product will actually work and how well.

By now, you’re probably thinking there has to be a better way to get the right concentration of the right form of un-oxidized vitamin C into your dermis to stimulate collagen synthesis and build stronger, suppler, younger looking skin. Well, maybe not in so many words, but you’re probably thinking something like that. And you’re right.

Altrient™ C is an ideal way to boost the vitamin C levels throughout your body, including your skin, and help build and sustain higher levels of collagen production. Altrient™ C is taken orally, so it’s far easier to use than topical skincare products. Its Liposome Encapsulated Delivery system protects the vitamin C from oxidation and delivers “fresh,” full-potency vitamin C through your bloodstream directly to your cells, including your skin cells – all of your skin cells, not just your facial skin cells. And finally, depending on your skincare needs, you can take high doses of Altrient™ C without the unpleasant side effects of ordinary forms of oral vitamin C.

Topical vitamin C skincare products work from the outside in and, under the right conditions, can help increase collagen production. Altrient™ C works from the inside out. It works each and every time you take it. And we think it works far better than topical vitamin C skincare products. In addition to increasing collagen production that is essential to building stronger, healthier skin, it also delivers the full spectrum of vitamin C’s goodness throughout your body.

Altrient™ C can help bring out the beauty and the beast in you.