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Instantly Restore Your Skin, Hair, and Health with Nature’s Super Vitamin!
If there was a single go-to nutrient for your skin, hair, and overall health, my pick would be Vitamin C.This super-vitamin isn’t just important during flu and cold season. Using DIY Vitamin C serum year-round is a guaranteed way to protect, nourish, strengthen and heal your skin and hair. With a little drop here and a little dab there, these miracle serums fit effortlessly into any beauty routine, and with results to rave about, you’ll want to make room for it.
Before we get into some game-changing DIY Vitamin C serum recipes, here’s a little insight on what makes this nutrient so powerful and effective.
Unparalleled Benefits of Vitamin C
Orange juice and lemonade are a tasty way to treat your insides with a vital source of Vitamin C. For everything else, there’s Vitamin C serum. And just as freshly squeezed citrus gives you an instant pick-me-up, here’s how those same benefits can impact your skin and hair.
Antioxidant Protection
Oxidative stress caused by free radicals damage skin and weaken hair. Vitamin C swoops in like a superhero and scavenges and neutralizing reactive oxygen species.
Hair benefits from antioxidants because they prevent hair loss by protecting the follicle and keeping it from shrinking. Your skin benefits from antioxidant protection in a variety of ways including:
- Protecting it from cancer-causing free radicals
- Reducing inflammation, redness, and sensitivity
- Tightens, firms, and reverses signs of aging including wrinkles
- Treats scars
- Repairs sun damage
Everywhere you go you hear about antioxidants. They aren’t just a beauty fad but a central part of improving and maintaining the health and wellness of your skin and hair.
Collagen Co-Creator
The topical application of DIY Vitamin C serum triggers the fibroblasts in skin and hair responsible for collagen production. This helps improve the elasticity and buoyancy in hair to reduce strand breakage and prevent split ends. Similarly, Vitamin C serum will plump the skin, reducing the appearance of thinning, lines, wrinkles, and dullness.
Looks Aren’t Everything, But….
Your skin and hair can finally experience the infamous GLOW everyone is talking about. Vitamin C is naturally brightening and even skin tone and enhances clarity.
Overall, creating your own DIY C serum recipe is an effective and budget-friendly way of giving lifeless hair a fighting chance and adds a powerful tool to your anti-aging skincare routine. Now, for those recipes!
Prepping Your DIY Vitamin C Serum Recipes
Before we hop into our labs (aka the kitchen), there are a few things to consider when recreating or personalizing your Vitamin C serums to keep it safe and guarantee your product works the way you want it too.
Choosing Your Source of Vitamin C: When searching for your primary ingredients, you’ll notice Vitamin C comes in all sorts of forms and delivery methods. For these recipes, you’ll only want to use a super fine Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) powder that will easily dissolve.
Ascorbic Acid is the most potent form of Vitamin C, especially if you’re looking for anti-aging benefits. However, if you’re skin is very sensitive it may be best to use Sodium or Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate. These sources of Vitamin C are slightly less concentrated but can be just as effective over time.
Measuring pH Levels: Have store-bought Vitamin C serums not worked for you in the past? You may be shocked to know that many don’t because the formula has oxidized (common) and the pH level is off making it unsuitable or ineffective. In order to ensure your DIY Vitamin C serum recipes give you the desired results, measure the pH level using pH tester strips (we like digital testers because they are easier to read and produce less waste).
Check the formula as soon as you’ve completed the recipe, then again every few days. You want the pH level to be between 3 and 4. If the pH level fluctuates too much, the serum will no longer be good for your skin. Expect to make a new batch every 2-3 weeks.
Carrier & Essential Oils: Stick to skin-safe essential oils including Frankincense, Helichrysum, Lavender, Chamomile, and Tea Tree oil. If you want to venture out and use other oils be sure to research their safety as some can become toxic once applied and exposed to the sun.
The recipes below have been perfected with the ideal carrier oil. However, you can play with the recipes if you, for example, prefer to use Jojoba Oil over Sweet Almond Oil. Just be sure to check the pH level and adjust the Vitamin C concentration as needed.
Storage: To keep your DIY Vitamin C serum recipe from oxidizing quickly, store in an airtight(ish) amber glass container and keep away from sunlight. A spray, dropper, or pump glass bottle is suitable.
Application: As with all DIY products, start slow. Apply once a day every other day to introduce the product to your skin and hair and look for a reaction or results. Over the course of a week or two, gradually build up to applying twice a day or as desired.
DIY Vitamin C Serum Recipes For Your Skin
Super Easy Vitamin C Serum
Purpose: Clarify and refine the skin.
Ingredients:
- 4 teaspoons pure ascorbic acid powder
- Water
- Glycerin
Directions:
- Dissolve four teaspoons of pure ascorbic acid powder in enough water so the crystals disappear (about a quarter of a glass).
- Add this solution to 100 ml of glycerin and shake well to mix.
- Cleanse your face and neck then apply 3-4 drops of the serum and massage gently until fully absorbed. Use every night.
Anti-Aging Face Serum
Purpose: Encourage collagen production and cell rejuvenation to plump fine lines and restore youthful elasticity.
Ingredients: Recipe good for one month of use.
- 2 teaspoons organic Vitamin C powder
- 8 teaspoons filtered/purified water
- 2 teaspoons Vegetable Glycerin
- ½ teaspoon Vitamin E oil
- 5 drops Rosehip oil
- A pinch of baking soda
Directions: Can be applied all over the face and neck.
- Dissolve Vitamin C powder with filtered water using a bowl and whisk
- Add glycerin, baking soda, essential and Vitamin E oils and mix completely
- Use a funnel to transfer into a pump bottle or glass dropper
- Shake well before use
Cheek Brightening Serum
Purpose: Calm redness, even pigment, brighten a tired complexion.
Ingredients: Serves 3 ounces for up to 2 weeks.
- 2 teaspoons organic Vitamin C powder
- 2 teaspoons filtered/purified water
- 3 tablespoons aloe vera gel
- ½ teaspoon Organic Jojoba Seed oil
- 8 drops Lavender essential oil
Directions:
- Dissolve Vitamin C powder with filtered water using a bowl and whisk
- Add aloe, jojoba, and lavender oil and mix completely
- Use a funnel to transfer into a pump bottle, spray bottle or glass dropper
- Shake well before applying
All-Purpose Healing Serum
Purpose: Treat sunburns, redness, inflammation, eczema, healing wounds and scarring.
Ingredients: Serves 3 ounces.
- 2 teaspoons organic Vitamin C powder
- 2 teaspoons filtered/purified water
- 3 tablespoons aloe vera gel
- ¼ teaspoon Vitamin E oil
- 8 drops frankincense essential oil
Directions: Use for spot treating or as needed.
- Dissolve Vitamin C powder with filtered water using a bowl and whisk
- Add aloe and mix completely
- Use a funnel to transfer into a spray bottle or glass dropper
- Shake well before applying
How to Use Your DIY Vitamin C Serum Recipes
All recipes will experience slight oxidation and separation. For lasting formulas and proper application, store your serum in the fridge and shake well before applying.
Do not use a single recipe for longer than 3 weeks. Apply serum all over the face and neck at night and rinse off in the morning. Never wear Vitamin C serum under direct sunlight.
To transform these beautifying face serums into silkening and strengthening hair serums, add an additional 6 tablespoons of either coconut, jojoba, or olive oil (or a blend of these) to any of the recipes and apply small amounts to the tips or strands of the hair but never on the scalp.
Give your skin and hair at least 2 to 3 weeks of regular application to start experiencing the bountiful benefits of this super-vitamin infused serum.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed these recipes! Let us know in the comments below how they work for you, or if you have any questions – we love to help!
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