Making Your Own Vitamin C Serums/Toners- SO Great For Your Skin!

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Okay so, I have been asked to make this several times, so here it finally is. If you don't know, this is a tutorial on how to introduce FRESH Vitamin C toners/serums into your skincare routine (Why? Because they make your pores look smaller, clear ruddiness, even your complexion, smooth the skin, smooth fine lines and wrinkles, and lessen acne scars, among other things!) for pennies on the dollar of name-brand serums, most of which won't do anything for your skin anyway (REAL Vitamin C serum needs to be kept refrigerated! In fact, the ONE brand that makes legitimate Vitamin C serums, SkinCeuticals, ships their products overnight, chilled, and tells you to immediately refrigerate. Their serums cost $150 for a small bottle. We can do so much better than that, for so much cheaper!)

Because there's *SO* much info to share, I'm breaking it up into four parts- How to Begin Introducing Your Skin to Vitamin C, How to Make Your Own High-end Products, Where to Buy Everything Needed, and How I Recommend Using Them in Your Weekly Routine

Part One- Introducing Your Skin To Vitamin C Using a Simple Toner



So, before we move on to the AMAZING Vitamin C + Ferulic + Vitamin E + Jojoba Oil recipe, I highly recommend you first start using a simple Vitamin C toner on your skin for a few weeks to a month (depending on how sensitive your skin is!). It's very easy to make- it's just LAA crystals (the best form of Vitamin C) and water. First, how to make it:

If you have sensitive skin, start off with the 5% Vitamin C recipe. Everyone else can start at the 10%, eventually reaching 15% or 20% in your routine. Anyway, I digress-

To make a 5% solution of Vitamin C toner/serum, use 1/2 tsp of the LAA crystals to 9tsp of water. Distilled water is best, but I often used tap. 

For 10%,, 1tsp to 9tsp water (yay math!), 15% is 1.5tsp to 9tsp water, and 20% is 2tsp to 9tsp water. 

All you have to do is take water that is a little above warm (toasty, not HOT water, it's just to help dissolve the crystals), apply the crystals, and stir.  You can use immediately, but I recommend letting it chill first. Keep in fridge, shake before using.

For the first week or two, use about 3x a week. Do your nightly routine of cleansing your skin then use a light moisturizer. After the moisturizer has absorbed, use a q-tip (my favorite) or cotton ball to apply the Vitamin C toner. That's it!

Quick FYI: You should "feel" the Vitamin C when you first start using it. A light tingle, especially as it dries. You should feel it, but it should be comfortable and not at all untolerable. If it is, wash off and go to a lower percentage for the first week or so.

After about a month of this, feel free to move on to Part 2!


Part 2- Making Your Own High-End Vitamin C Serum/Toner



Okay, here we go! First of all, if you want to start out with an easy kit, this is a simple Vitamin C (in true serum form) kit. Some aren't crazy about it because it dries a little tacky, but I often buy it and mix it with my home made stuff, just because I like the consistency it makes (buy the "mix your own kit" so it's fresh): http://www.skinactiv...bic-Acid-L.html This won't contain the extra awesome-for-your-skin ingredients, but like I said, sometimes I like to mix it with my own homemade stuff. Anyway, I digress!

 
Now, if you want to advance this shiz, here's the formula. This is for a 15% compound, so you might want half the amount of LAA:

15% vitamin C + E + ferulic acid serum with Jojoba 

1 tsp L-Ascorbic Acid (should be fine powder, not from a food version of vit c, as it has fillers- again, I'll show you where to buy below!)
1 tsp Sea Kelp Bioferment (SKB)
1 tsp Jojoba Oil 
3 tsp Distilled water 
1/4 tsp Ferulic Acid 
1/4 tsp Vitamin E Oil (from capsules or bottle) 
1/4 tsp Vodka OR WITCH HAZEL (I prefer the latter)
1/2 tsp Hyaluronic Acid liquid 

1) First dissolve the ferulic acid in the vodka or witch hazel (it desolves easier in the vodka, but it feels weird to me to use it, and witch hazel is so good for yous skin anyway, I prefer to use it, even if it takes more work to dissolve the Ferulic acid) in one shot glass. Mix them together. Put it in the fridge. Continue mixing it every 2 hours or so, for a day. I know this is annoying, but Ferulic is difficult to dissolve. The next day:  
2) Combine the SKB, vit E and jojoba oil in a second shotglass. If it doesn't dissolve, microwave it on high for about 5 seconds and stir vigorously. 
3) Quickly mix the L-ascorbic acid into the water in a third shotglass and combine with the other 2 shotglasses. Add Hyaluronic Acid. 

This is the base formula. I change my own version up quite a bit and encourage you to play around with the ingredients to see how you like it. For example, I use about double of the SKB (this is the *miracle* ingredient in Creme de la Mer, btw!) because I love it. I also use about half of the oils, because I think it's a little too much for my skin (it never made me break out, it just felt a little too oily). I also use about twice as muc Hyaluronic Acid (it thickens the product and makes it more serum-like, and it's your skin's natural moisturizer! It's great for you!)

Add to bottle of your choice (see below), shake a little, and refrigerate immediately. (Let cool before using for first time). Also, shake before each use and keep refrigerated.

This formula will stay good for about 4-5 months. You will know it has gone bad if it starts to take on an orange cast. 


Part 3- Where to Buy Everything!
 



 
LAA (Vit C): http://www.skinactiv...Vitamin-C.html  for some reason this doesn't want to link, just go to the site and search "Vitamin C"- it'll be the first product you see (it's titled "Asorbic Acid (L)")

Sea Kelp Bioferment (btw, this is essentially the ~miracle ingredient~ in Creme de la Mer!): http://www.skinactiv...ltramarine.html

Ferulic Acid: http://www.skinactiv...rulic-Acid.html

Hyaluronic Acid (you just need the 1oz size): http://www.personalf...roducts_id=1188

For the oils, I just bought from Amazon/ your favorite store. I bought this one b/c it was cheapest but it doesn't matter much: http://amzn.com/B001N2OGK4

Jojoba (same as above): http://amzn.com/B0000C0XL8

Witch Hazel you can buy at any drugstore or supermarket 

One more thing: you need about 5-6 shot glasses. If you don't have any, I bought these and they worked great: http://amzn.com/B000GCOHVA

And you're going to need a bottle to keep these in. I recommend this store. I like pump, but you might prefer dropper bottles-

Dropper: http://www.gardenofw...167/3920921.htm

Pump: http://www.gardenofw...167/3921052.htm

Part 4- How to Use in Your Weekly Skincare Routine



If you don't use any other skincare products at night other than a moisturizer, you can use your Vitamin C serum 5 nights a week (when you're first starting, don't go over 3x). If you're like me and you do (whether it's an anti-acne product, anti-aging product, or anything else), I recommend using a schedule like mine:

3x a week, I use a very light moisturizer (I like Philosophy's new gel moistuizer and Peter Thomas Roth's super light moistuizer). While it sets in my skin, I brush my teeth, apply my heavy eye cream (super important for me!) and then I apply the Vitamin C serum/toner, all the way to my neck.

2x a week (I alternate days, btw), i use a much heavier moisturizer (I like Creme de la Mer, but only because I have it) and Korres Yogurt whatever. I use my basic light moisturizer, brush teeth etc while it sets, then APPLY MY RETIN-A MICRO (almost as important as Vitamin C serum!). I then apply either Creme de la Mer or the Yogurt OVER the Retin A, because if you're not careful, it can dry your skin.

2x a week, I use a light moisturizer, and that's it. I think it's important to let your skin "breathe."

So basically, alternate them. Also, if I use a super hardcore exfoliant, whether physical (microdermabrasion) or chemical (AHA or BHA treatment), i take two days off the Vitamin C serum. If you use a milder form, like Philosophy's microdermabrasion kit or Dr. Brandt's, taking just one day off will be fine. Obviously, if you go to a spa or doctor to get something done, follow their advice of how long they tell you to wait :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />


So, I wrote this all out, took the next three days to edit it and make it easier to understand and more eloquent, and then somehow pushed the "back" button, losing it forever (auto-save didn't have anything). So this is a quick rewrite. If it's confusing and you have questions, feel free to ask here or the other place. I will check once a day to answer questions!





 
@ohsailor  thank you for this!  I have been interested in making my own, as I've started derma rolling.  This is really good.  I've saved these instructions and links.

 
Yes, a huge thank you for sharing this! Such wonderful information!

 
Thank you for posting this @@ohsailor !  I've been following you on the enablers column just waiting for you to post your vitamin c regimen :ph34r: /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

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*side note, after all the drama yesterday and my favorite posters leaving the boards... it seems weird to see some posts popping up around the board like random hi-5s.  which normally is cool, but in this case it's weirding me out and i'm less inclined to visit.  I think i'll bookmark this.

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Thank you so much for the information!  i love vitamin c serums and they really are so expensive

 
Thank you ladies! You know where you can find me, but I'll also be here to help anyone who is staying. 

I want to add- you can use the "simple" toner for the rest of your life, if I didn't make it clear, if you're not super into DIY. It's just that Ferulic has such amazing properties for your skin, as well. And I didn't really think about it, but if you're good at DIY I suppose you could half the amount of LAA in the advanced formula to get your skin used to Vitamin C, and always add a little more later (just make sure you dissolve the LAA in a couple tsp of water, THEN add to your main bottle). 

I promise you, this saved my skin. I saw more brightness within a week, clarity and smoothness within a few weeks, and after a few months even my father (whom it took months to notice I had gotten my nose and lip pierced when I was a teenager, if that tells you anything!) commented on how great my skin looked. :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Wow! Thank you so much for this helpful information. I have to try this.

 
@@ohsailor Thank you so much for this!  I don't have all of these ingredients so I appreciate your explanations of their benefits.

 

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