

Say Hello To Your Winter Skincare Hero: Vitamin C Serum
Winter is here and I'm just trying to stay moisturized. To do so, I'm waging war against any dryness and dullness that winter brings to my skin. After almost three decades of just putting Jergens Body Lotion all over my face, I had an epiphany, decided to fix up and take my skincare more seriously. I have never had any major skincare issues in my adult years and would say I have combination skin so I never paid any attention to anything skincare-related. However in my late 20s, following eczema flare-ups that left hyperpigmentation scarring, I started caring more about my skincare routine. After that, I developed an extensive skincare routine (double cleanse, tone, serum, SPF moisturizer), and my skin cleared up and has been glowing ever since, no filter.
A staple in my skincare routine that is also a winter essential has been Vitamin C. I would suggest using a Vitamin C serum in the morning after cleansing, to have you glowing all day long, even in the winter. I would follow that up with an SPF moisturizer and then you'd be good to go. It should be noted that when using Vitamin C serums during the day, SPF is a MUST. In addition to that, be careful of other serums or acids you mix or layer it with, for example dermatologists have advised against layering or mixing Retinol or AHAs/BHAs with Vitamin C.
What are the benefits of adding Vitamin C to your skincare routine? Well, it is an antioxidant that protects against free radicals from UV exposure which affects the skin barrier and environmental factors. It also promotes collagen production which reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and brightens the skin, reducing hyperpigmentation and spot scarring as it inhibits melanin production which naturally evens out skin tone and brightens complexion.
In short, Vitamin C brightens your skin and prevents signs of aging.
The Best Vitamin C Serums For Dark Spots
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Glossier Super Glow
Glossier
Glossier's serums are known to be all that, the beauty cult favorite brand re-released its serums this year, and the reviews are even better. This Vitamin C serum includes magnesium as a bonus for that extra glow.
Drunk Elephant C-Firma⢠Vitamin C Day Serum
Drunk Elephant
Drunk Elephant's C-Firma Day Serum has been a beauty favorite for some time now. Although it comes in at a higher price point, this product is vegan and cruelty-free, and its gel formula makes it suitable for sensitive skin.
LancĂ´me Visionnaire Skin Solutions 15% Vitamin C Correcting Concentrate
Ulta
This product contains 15% pure Vitamin C as well as the hydrating hyaluronic acid. Reviews have also mentioned it's lightweight and non-greasy, so it's perfect for daily use.
Vichy Liftactiv Vitamin C Skin - Brightening Skin Corrector
Vichy's Vitamin C serum contains 15% pure vitamin C and hyaluronic acid in the form of L-Absorbic acid, so you can glow and hydrate your skin at an affordable price point.
SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Serum
SkinCeuticals
SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic has a high potency and has the dermatologist's seal of approval. It contains Vitamin E and Ferulic acid for increased effectiveness, so this luxury product is worth every buck.
OLE HENRIKSEN Truth Serum
OLE HENRIKSON
A favorite with the YouTube community, OLE HENRIKSEN Truth Serum was rated a Harper's Bazaar Editor's Choice. Its formula is boosted with collagen and aloe juice.
TruSkin Naturals Vitamin C Serum
Amazon
Amazon's viral product has had almost 10,000 reviews, and is said to be one of its most reviewed products. It includes along with Vitamin C, Vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, witch hazel and jojoba oil. Coming in at the lowest price point, it's a must try.
Want more stories like this? Sign up for our newsletter here and check out the related reads below:
When Skincare Is Self-Care ISO Skincare Review
4 Black Woman-Owned Brands You Need In Your Skincare Routine
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Originally published November 23, 2019
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Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushingâŚand that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyneâs Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and youâll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, âItâs not what you do, but how you do itâ? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you arenât doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush canât reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. Thatâs because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesnât let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, youâll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly donât want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, youâll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession â a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
6 Solid Reasons Why You Could Use More Guy Friends
It (almost) never fails. Whenever I do an interview, someone will ask me: 1) is it hard to be a marriage life coach and not be married (chile, these clients are a part of the reason why Iâm more cautious than ever about mate selection) and 2) am I lonely when it comes to being single? From the angle of loving Black men and understanding, daily, what a marital covenant can do for a person, I am totally open to jumping somebodyâs broom one day. Lonely though? No. Not really. And a part of the reason is because I have such an awesome group of male friends.
No, Iâm not one of those women who donât see the value in female friends too. Itâs just that one demographic âscratches one itchâ while the other scratches another. And when it comes to men, specifically, there are certain things that they bring to my life that are simply incomparable.
Thatâs why, whenever single women will tell me that they are getting restless as they wait on their husband to make his presence known, I am quick to ask, âGirl, where are your male friends at?â Because while they canât meet every need that a husband can (and should), believe me when I say that they do offer some bona fide benefits that will definitely make them a great alternative on a few different levels.
Iâve got a solid six for you today.
1. Men Are Not Women. Letâs Start There.
Listen, Iâm sure that there is a lot of good stuff out in TikTok world; however, as a life coach myself, on the coaching front, truly sensible advice can really be like a needle in a haystack on that platform â especially when it comes to trustworthy (and sound) insight on men. So much stuff is rooted in bitterness, stereotypes, and gross generalizations (generalizations are typically rooted in bitterness, by the way) that thereâs no way that it can be seen as being even close to being reliable.
And as much as some of yâall might not want to hear what Iâm about to say, I think a part of the reason is because a lot of women donât want to accept that men are justâŚdifferent. Not in a âYeah, I know. They should be more like usâ kind of way. I mean, a âGod made it that way by design, and science is there to back it up.â
For instance, some professionals believe that women having more blood flood to the brain is why they are more emotional in their communication style, while men are typically more direct (more on that in a bit). Other studies reveal that women are more comfortable with their emotions while men tend to be more centered (and sometimes quicker) at problem-solving. And while a womanâs right hemisphere of her brain is more developed to the point where she is more sensitive and empathetic, a manâs is more developed to where he is more âmathematicâ (2+2=4, thatâs it) and explorative.
This kind of stuff always fascinates me, so while I could go on and on, the bottom line here is men's and womenâs wiring are not identical.
And while society keeps trying to make them be the same via all of these damn gender wars, the beauty in the differences is men and women can actually provide each other with balance. Because, after all, as a man by the name of Larry Dixon once said, âIf two people were exactly alike, one of them would be unnecessary.â And both men and women areâŚnecessary.
2. Guys Tend to Have a âStraight No Chaserâ Approach
Whenever I read an article about how social media is creating more narcissists than ever, I canât help but nod my head up and down in total agreement. I donât even hesitate because one example of this that I see on a regular basis is how people are becoming more and more wired for praise, and yet they canât handle any kind of criticism or call out to hold themselves accountable to save their lives.
You know who will bring you back down to earth, though? A good friend. And guy friends? I guess due to some of the science that I just mentioned, I donât have one in my life who pulls any punches. Although some are more, letâs go with tactful in their approach (LOL), thereâs not one who sugarcoats issues or tells me what I want to hear. And you know what? I need that. I donât need flatterers (even the Bible frowns on thatâŚdid you know that? â Job 17:5); I need folks who will be as direct, candid, and âWell Shellie, you askedâ as I tend to be with other people. It keeps me responsible. It grows me up. And it helps me to better discern when my ego is getting all up in the way.
Yeah, if you want to hear the REAL real, a guy will deliver it to you. Which brings me to the next way that they are a true âwin.â
3. Theyâre Good At Catching Blind Spots
Back when I was on my âGet Your Heart Pieces Back Tourâ (you can read more about it here), there was a guy from my past who I was talking heavy with for a few weeks. Heâs always been fine. The sex was always incredible. And, back in the day, he was there for me during a time that was very dark in my life, which is why I will always hold a special affection for him. Thatâs why, I ainât got no lies to tell yâall â after our first eight-hour-straight conversation, I was ready to get on a plane and (eh hem) relive some memories. So, what stopped me? One was a particular conviction that I have (perhaps weâll discuss that at another time). Another was a conversation that I had with two of my male friends.
One asked me, âSo, who contacted who?â Oh, the loaded question that will make you reflect on talking to these exes, chile. The other said, âHe said he did what when he found out his ex cheated?â Listen, I donât know who reads my content or not as far as people who know or who knew me, so I wonât get all into the details. Iâll just say that it wasnât anything violent, but it was intense. And those two questions, put together, caused me to ponder some things that I wouldnât have otherwise.
Because while my girlfriends thought that it was some rom-com come to life, my guy friends were like, âUh-uh. Think it ALL the way through.â They simply had eyes where I didnât becauseâŚthey are guys who know guys. Simple as that.
4. Theyâre Like the Big Brothers (or More Big Brothers) You Never Had
I didnât really notice how much I needed my blood brother until he moved to South Africa. Even though heâs younger than I, thereâs a presence that he provided that made me feel protected; like if some ish really hit the fan, I had someone to call who could help me to feel safe. Thankfully, over the course of the first couple of years that he was gone, some âlove brothersâ came into the world. And when I tell you that they donât play about me â I mean, at all.
A good example of this is when my house burned down back in December of 2021. Two immediately sent me a laptop (because for a writer, thatâs like not having a car). One sent me the deposit for a new place to stay. Another came to check on me for a week straight. I canât tell you how many mini-sermons I got on how to legally proceed with my landlords. Bottom line, they held me down and didnât even give it a second thought. And although my girlfriends had my back as well, they were coming more from a nurturing stance, while my male friends were more protective.
Another example. Earlier this year, I had to drive to another state to sue the person I bought my car from (heads up: a meditator told me that Kentucky has some of the strictest as-is laws in the country). Long story short, the dealer assured me of a feature that wasnât there. Anyway, I asked one of my male friends to drive me, and even though we took my car, he was like, âLet me driveâ â and I had no problem with that. He does it for a living; we had to leave while it was still dark outside, and he knew that I was kind of tired. There was a natural âlet me cover youâ energy about him that we didnât need to be dating for it to show up â heâs a good man who knows how to take care of ALL of the women in his life. I love that for me.
One more example. One time my car didnât start, and I didnât know what to do. I had to leave it in a random parking lot and, so I called a male friend for some advice. All he said was, âI got it. Iâll call you later.â By that evening, he drove it to me. He had a mechanic friend of his put a new alternator in, and he didnât even charge me for it. He was like, âGirl, you need to get a man, but until you do, I got you.â
When all you have in your life are guys who you date, sometimes itâs hard to discern what their motives may be. Plus, if things donât work out, youâre back to figuring everything out on your own. When you have male friends, though? Thereâs no slick ish. Plus, theyâre not going anywhere. Youâve got brothers from another mother who acts just like that. And itâs awesome.
5. They Are Awesome Friend (or Stand-In) Dates
One of my male friends, folks have been thinking that weâre screwing on the low for years now. Heâs a cutie. He can sing his butt off. I tell him often that if I could turn his speaking voice into a person, that part of him (and that part alone) would be my sneaky link, for sure (that voice!). Yet nah â nothing even remotely sexual/physical has happened to us beyond a hug âhelloâ and a hug âgood-bye.â And while I wouldnât say that weâre exactly âplatonicâ because he sometimes jokes that âShellie, you are like a sister, but you still ainât my sisterâ and that holds a bit of subtext (check out âHere's Why Very Few Relationships Can Actually Be 'Platonic'â), weâve got almost two decades under our belts â at this point, ainât nothinâ finna go down. It just doesnât âclickâ that way. And we are both so good with that.
That doesnât mean that weâre not each otherâs kick-it buddies, though. Aside from the fact that we try to have a lunch or dinner date once a month, if thereâs something we want to do or a place we want to go to, we donât hesitate to take each other as an unofficial date. Thatâs because we know that it will make the event more fun and less stress-filled because there is no extra stress, pressure, or expectations. We also know how to dress up or down, be casual or corporate â yâall get it.
Yeah, if youâve got something coming up, you donât want to go alone, and the idea of a traditional date seems like it would be âtoo much,â a guy friend is the perfect solution. It has worked out for me (with the guy whom Iâm referring to and others) for years now.
6. Platonic Love Is Really Special
Clearly, I believe that men and women can be âjust friendsâ (check out âUnpopular Opinion: Men And Women CAN Really Be 'Just Friends'â). And although the genuine definition of platonic means that there is NO sexual interest on ANY level (which is why I think that word is used too loosely), those types of relationships can exist â and they are truly one of a kind.
Final example. Iâve got four male friends who I absolutely adore. We hang out. We can talk on the phone for hours. We send each other stupid clips throughout the day. And HELL NAW, we ainât gonna date each other. LikeâŚever. We talk enough about relationships that we get how and why other people are attracted to us â and still, that doesnât mean we want to fit into those categories. We like each other. We love each other. We trust and respect each other. We enjoy each other. As friends, and thatâs all itâs ever gonna be.
However, because I am a woman and they are men, we bring something into each otherâs worlds as far as opinions, perspectives, and insights that no one of the same sex can. As their friend (for instance), I tell them when a woman has some ulterior motives that they havenât even thought about, and as men, they tell me when a guy is just wanting to hit, no matter how cryptic their approach may be.
OH, HOW I LOVE MY MALE FRIENDS. They make my world so much richer. Plus, theyâre great reminders that you donât have to be sexual with a man in order for you to be intimate with him. Men are far more layered than that (contrary to whatever you may hear in the media).
So, if you donât have any strictly male friends, Iâm hoping that this will encourage you to at least consider getting some (or hell, at least one). And if you do, do what I do and treat your male friends to a meal sometimes, just to say âthank youâ. Men whoâve got your back, just because, without wanting you to get on your back? Sis, they deserve a seasonal meat-ân-three or somethinâ. Wouldnât you say? I WOULD.
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