Vitamin C is a power player in creating that dewy, youthful glow. There are a gazillion studies proving it to work time and time again; offering a ton of regenerative benefits for your skin. When applied topically, it remains on the skin for 48 hours thereby having 30 times the therapeutic effect of oral vitamin C.

80% of extrinsic aging is caused by UV exposure (US Environmental Protection Agency). More and more dermatologists and skin care experts now recommend wearing an antioxidant serum and a sunscreen — and many of them believe the antioxidant is the more important half of the duo.

While SPF should be your first line of defence, and does an excellent job of protecting against UVA & UVB, it only reduces free radical damage by 55%. The residual UV exposure from the rays that get through can trigger free-radical damage that accelerates skin aging, in the form of wrinkles, dark spots, loss of firmness, and other issues.  

Antioxidants can help compensate for sunscreen’s inherent shortcomings (and for human error in application) by neutralizing the free-radical damage that sun exposure causes.

What is special about New Zealand botanical antioxidants?

NewZealand’s botanicals are unique globally. Because they experience some of the greatest UV exposure on the planet - up to 40% higher than similar latitudes in North America - to survive they’ve had to develop a defensive mechanism. They generate incredibly high levels of antioxidants.

And these antioxidants benefit our skin in the same way they benefit the plants, protecting and repairing the cells to promote healthy, clear, luminous skin.

RAAIE use Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate as our core vitamin C because it is GENTLE and STABLE (i.e. the good stuff reaches your skin). Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (SAP) is the holy grail as it offers similar perks as L-ascorbic acid, mainly antioxidants, and collagen-boosting and pigment-evening properties. Research has also shown it can regulate sebum production and acne inflammation, sebum oxidation (which is the early stages of acne development) so it’s essentially stopping acne production process before its begun. Boom.

RAAIE strategically combine Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate with a second complimentary form of vitamin C, called Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate. Another super-stable form of Vitamin C, studies demonstrate that Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate will remain in the s­­­kin cells forty to eighty times longer than L-ascorbic Acid and will have as much as four times the effect[1]. Additionally, studies have shown faster absorption into the skin than other forms of vitamin C owing to its lipid solubility[2]. 

[1]  Stamford, n. (2012).
Stability, transdermal penetration, and cutaneous effects of ascorbic acid and its derivatives. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 11(4), 310-317

[2] Pilot evaluation of safety, efficacy, and tolerability of a new topical formulation for facial hyperpigmentation, combining ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate and crosslinked resilient hyaluronic acid, Hema Sundaram, MD, 2018