Vitamin C Has Always Been a Go-To for the Mature Skin on My Face, But It’s Also Doing Wonders for My Body

Vitamin C-rich serums and moisturizers are my favorite go-to products when my facial skin looks dull and tired—within a few days of use, the brightening vitamin always reliably restores a natural glow. So, when I discovered a trio of new vitamin C body products designed to bring the radiant vitamin C “love” to the rest of the body, my post-summer skin was begging me to check them out.

Avon’s Anew Vitamin C lineup includes Glow Body Scrub ($36), Nourishing Body Butter ($32), and Illuminating Body Serum ($20), all formulated to revive, renew, and refresh skin that’s become dull over time due to internal aging and external factors like pollution. Making the vitamin so beloved in facial products the hero of a body care line was a natural move, says Shirley Lawson, Avon skin-care brand marketing manager.

“Vitamin C is praised as a holy grail ingredient that can brighten skin, even skin tone, and neutralize skin-damaging free radicals; we wanted to bring these radiance-boosting benefits of vitamin C to the entire body,” says Lawson. “Who doesn’t want healthy, glowing skin from head to toe?”

The antioxidant powerhouse vitamin C also has other benefits beyond its brightening powers, says Azza Halim, MD, a board-certified anesthesiologist who specializes in aesthetic medicine, anti-aging treatments, and regenerative medicine.

“Vitamin C in a scrub is beneficial for loosening dead skin cells on the surface to allow healthy cells to show,” says Dr. Halim. “It also helps with hyperpigmentation and, as part of a moisturizer, helps boost brighter and tighter skin. It definitely is something that I encourage my patients to incorporate into their daily regimen.”

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Each product in the Anew Vitamin C collection also has additional targeted active ingredients to help deliver results. The body scrub uses biodegradable sugar crystals to physically remove dead skin cells, and a papaya and pineapple enzyme blend to gently dissolve dead cells for dual-action exfoliation. The body butter is formulated with niacinamide to tighten pores, improve tone, and strengthen the skin barrier, along with sodium PCA, a powerful hydrator found naturally in the skin.

“Sodium PCA acts as a humectant, which means it draws in moisture to various layers of the surface,” says Dr. Halim. “Hyaluronic acid holds up to 100 times its weight in water whereas sodium PCA holds up to 250 times its weight in water.”

The body butter and body serum both have vitamin E to fight free radical damage and protect against moisture loss and vitamin-rich sunflower seed oil—also in the body scrub—to help moisturize and reduce redness and irritation. The Anew Vitamin C trio is dermatologically tested, hypoallergenic, and free of parabens, phthalates, and mineral oil.

What happened when I tried Avon’s Anew Vitamin C collection

Summer with its sunny days, time in the pool, and cranked-up AC can do a number on your skin, so the timing was perfect to see if the products could help me get my glow back on. I love a nicely scented product, so right away, I loved the collection’s invigorating fruity floral fragrance with just the right tinge of citrus.

I used the scrub about three times a week and the larger-sized crystals exfoliated well without any graininess. The body butter, which I used twice daily, was all a body butter should be—lush, yet lightweight, hydrating, yet non-greasy—and left the skin on my arms and legs glowing after the first use. I followed the recommendation to add a pump or two of body serum to the body butter, and that definitely boosted the radiance factor compared to using the latter product on its own.

Bonus: the serum gives a slight sparkle to my skin, and as a girl who loves all that glitters, I’ve taken to applying a quick layer by itself to my arms and legs before heading out.

Though I saw results right away with the products in terms of hydration and less dullness thanks to the exfoliation, it takes at least a few weeks to begin seeing changes from vitamin C use, and I’m happy to report that my skin feels tighter and brighter with continued use. I’ve really liked how these products revived and refreshed my skin as summer turned to fall and am looking forward to turning to the “C trio” to get my skin through the upcoming winter blahs.