(L-Ascorbic Acid) + JASON Vitamin E 32,000 I.U.
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Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:15 am

Hello, absolute newbie here with a burning question =) I have been stalking the Essential Day Spa forum for sometime now, and only recently gathered the courage to register and truly begin scrutinizing my (aging) skin dilemmas.

Background: I once tried L-ascorbic acid (vit. c + water mixture with approx. 20 % L-ascorbic acid) on my face, and it burned like crazy---which I was warned would happen. Afterwards my already dry skin became even more dry (no surprise there)...but it also broke out, which happened to be HUGE surprise, since my face rarely ever breaks out. I do suffer from rosacea (or at least what I presume to be Rosacea) however, mostly my skin rarely erupts in pimples and is extremely dry (as I used to have eczema--prob. due to my tendency to over wash and over scrub).

Proposition: After that dreadful experience I hope to "moisturize" my skin as I offer it vit. c. Thus, I was wondering if I could mix vit. e oil with vit. c. since I heard that the two vit. work well with used together. However, I also read that vit. c ought to be mixed in water for it to be used in the skin--because that is the only way that L-ascorbic acid can be accepted topically. Thus, if I mix the vit. c in water and then add vit. e oil to that mixture, will that work? And, in what measurements would that be ideal? Since I only have vit c and vit e oil (as of now) I would like to use that up before adding other ingredients. BTW, I am in my possession the following ingredient brands (any thoughts on their effectiveness?): NOW Vitamin C Crystals (L-Ascorbic Acid) + JASON Vitamin E 32,000 I.U. How should I go about mixing them in a safe yet effective method? BTW: I am open to making a new batch every day...thus I do not need any preservatives...but, I suppose I ought to store any extras in the bottom fridge (just in case).

Any help would be much appreciated =)
annaanna926

free skin care · Tue Aug 28, 2012 4:38 am

I read through your post twice, and I thiiiiiiink I understand what you're asking. Let me know if I make too many assumptions here:

First, YES vitamin C can be used with a waterless base. Anhydrous C serums were my first introduction to LAA, actually. Smile

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17173590
(This just happens to be the study I had bookmarked. I think there are a few more on Smartskincare.)

But what else were you planning on using for the base? It almost sounded like you wanted to just add it to straight vitamin e oil. And I'm pretty certain that would make you break out.

Speaking of the breaking out, I personally think it was just irritation bumps from the low ph. But I'm no dermatologist, so you can ignore that opinion if you like. If you want to go the cheapy route and use a mostly water serum, your skin will eventually adapt to it without the redness and bumps. You just have to start slow.

hth!

Tue Aug 28, 2012 8:17 am

Basically I read that you have to mix water with vit. c for it be absorbed by the skin. However, I also read (from The Green Beauty Guide (a book) by Julie Gabriel and from the smartskincare website, which states:

"One approach to improving vitamin C stability and reducing the potential for skin irritation is to use anhydrous vehicle, i.e. a topical base cream containing no water. Since water acts as a catalyst of vitamin C oxidation, anhydrous environment reduces the rate of vitamin C degradation."

So, apparently according to THEM, mixing water with Vit. C just makes it worse---not better.

Thus, I was was considering to mix JUST vit. e oil (32,000 I.U.) with some vit. c---however, in another post I read that vit. c must be mixed with water for the skin to absorb it. At that point I became highly confused and thus resolved heed both the recommendations in some way or another---by mixing vit. c with both water and vit. e oil. I was just wondering what exact measurements I should use (if I make one batch per day). Basically I would like to avoid any measurements that might nullify the good benefits of the L-ascorbic acid.

free skin care · Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:27 am

If you're mixing it day-to-day and not using any emulsifiers/preservatives/whatnot, then I'd stick with the tried & true 1% E with 15% C.

It'll be like Italian salad dressing, though. You'll have to slop it on your face as quick as possible before the E separates.

If you don't already have them, you'll have to get some very tenny-tiny measuring spoons (like 1/16 teaspoon, etc.) so you can judge the volume to weight thing. I imagine you won't want to bring out the scale every single day, lol.

Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:43 pm

So, no water then?
Do you have any specific measurements in teaspoons or tablespoons? Any extras I will just rubbed onto my neck, and below =)

like:

(something) tsp LA acid + (something) tsp of vit. e oil + (something) tsp of water?

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