help.... frustation with vit c serum-DIY
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free skin care · Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:58 am

so, i finally got the ingredients to make vit c serum(vegetable glycerin adn l-ascorbic acid). I mixed them together last night with carekate's recipe. but for some reason the vit c does not dissolve. i keep shaking it over and over but hm... no luck.
i know you are not suppoed to heat it, and as i remember reading from this forum, you just have to keep shaking the solution.
what i want to know is whether or not there is other way to make it dissolve.
thanks

free skin care · Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:19 am

Did you add distilled water?

free skin care · Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:26 am

Hi Roadtonowhere,

I've had that problem occasionally ... and the way I solved it is to mix the vitamin C with distilled water first and then when it's dissolved [and this sometimes takes quite a while ... and sometimes I've even had a very thin sediment at the bottom despite the best efforts ... and then I add the glycerine.

You may find a 50/50 mix of water/glycerine to be too "slick" for you ... so you might want to try 1.5 teaspoons of distilled water and 1/2 tsp of glycerine.

Good luck

Mary

free skin care · Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:04 pm

Candy 8865, Yes I added distilled water
Mary, I think you are right... I have to mix the vit c with the distilled water first. I did not do that.... hm..... is it okay to use the serum if i still can see and feel the little sediment?
thanks Very Happy

free skin care · Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:36 pm

l-ascorbic acid is water-soluble only. I don't know if glycerin provides the water that the l-aa needs to dissolve. Sooooo, you do probably have to add water first, dissolve, then go to the glycerin step. Remember though, that water oxidizes l-aa fairly quickly so you must mix up a fresh batch every few days.

free skin care · Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:09 pm

does anyone know whether "the more water you add, the quicker water oxides l-aa"?
thanks

free skin care · Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:30 pm

Hi again RoadtoNowhere,

Yes ... the more water in the formula ... the quicker the l-ascorbic acid oxidizes. Even when you pick an orange from the tree, the vitamin C begins to degrade.

However, if you mix your Vitamin C with the distilled water ... shake to dissolve ... and then add the glycerine ... you should have a good serum for a couple of weeks at least.

If the serum begins to change from a clear/white to slightly amber then it's time to make a new batch.

And yes ... if I get a little sediment at the bottom, I just avoid shaking it and it's just fine. It probably affects the percentage ... but I've found Carekate's DIY Vitamin C serum to be just wonderful for my face! Very Happy

Good luck

Mary

free skin care · Thu Feb 23, 2006 7:55 pm

I'm on the same page you are with the Vit C not dissolving, RTN.

L-Ascorbic Acid crystals do NOT give up the ghost in water.

Today I decided to help it along by grinding up the crystals in my trusty marble mortar. Made a new serum a few hours ago and, while the floaties are smaller, they don't appear to be dissoving. Rolling Eyes

Interestingly, I had originally bought plain ol' Ascorbic Acid and that DID dissolve within an hour. The Nutricology brand listed in the DIY thread appears not to be L-AA.

Wah.

Really want to make my own, but don't want the PG, just glycerin and water, if possible.

Will keep perusing the threads for advice and will certainly post if I come up with anything.

free skin care · Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:57 am

What is the advantage to using glycerine instead of PG??

free skin care · Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:58 pm

I've never had a problem with my C not disolving... I always add the Vit C, then the water, shake it and it's disolved, completely.. Then I add the PG and shake again.. Once I did add the water and PG before the C and it took a little more shaking, but they all dosolved..

free skin care · Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:38 pm

The PG causes blackheads for me, but it works for a lot of folks.

free skin care · Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:55 am

I thought that was the case with glycerin, that it is not for oily complexions, is this true?

free skin care · Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:32 am

alright... I am finally making my second batch. This time, I put vit C crystal, then water. shake it, leave it over night, and this morning, I shake it again.
However, the c crystal still does not dissolve Sad

any idea what I should do next?

free skin care · Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:31 pm

What is the difference between purchased Vit C serum and the DIY Vit C serum. Why does purchased Vit C serum stay fresh longer than the DIY ones??? Is it that they use a different Vit C, the addition of preservatives, etc???

free skin care · Mon Mar 20, 2006 3:11 pm

Tea, apparently you CAN just use glycerin in place of the PG in the DIY Vit C serum with water. I believe that you use the same measurements, just replace the PG with glycerin, but I was wondering if that is the way to go for me because I started noticing some blackheads too! Sad

Have you heard others complain of PG causing blackheads, or is it something that you only noticed with you??

free skin care · Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:08 pm

anybody still having trouble getting the vit C crystl to dissolve? I am still having this problem....
any insight will be greatly appreciated Smile

free skin care · Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:30 am

Hi Roadtonowhere,

I have never had that precise problem ... although I have sometimes had a small sediment at the bottom of my serum ... which I just ignored ... and eventually it too dissolved into the mix.

Someone suggested grinding the crystals up in a coffee grinder to make them finer ... and said that this helped with dissolving them. You might want to try this ... or try another brand of l-ascorbic acid ... a powder if you can find one.

I use the crystals because those are what is available to me. I also put Vitamin E and Lecithin in my Vitamin C serum ... and when mixing this with the Vitamin C I use a small stick blender to mix it all up.

I have to shake the bottle vigourously before every use ... but the use of the stick blender might help with dissolving the vitamin C crystals as well ... I don't know.

Sorry you're having this much trouble.

By the way ... when you say that you're leaving it overnight ... are you leaving it in a warm area of the house or a cold area? I only ask because with our recent colder weather, if I were to leave my serum on my kitchen counter, close to the kitchen window ... it would be quite chilly and might not dissolve. However, if I left it somewhere closer to, say, an inside wall, it would be warmer, and the crystals might dissolve better. Smile

Good luck with this ... I hope you solve the problem.

Mary

Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:02 am

I recently started a new skincare routine, which includes the vit C with PG. I noticed a huge increase in the amount of blackheads I have. I'm oily too, so using glycerin instead is out of the question. Maybe I'll just use water and mix up a new batch every other day...

free skin care · Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:32 am

Chrissie wrote:

What is the difference between purchased Vit C serum and the DIY Vit C serum. Why does purchased Vit C serum stay fresh longer than the DIY ones??? Is it that they use a different Vit C, the addition of preservatives, etc???

Pre-made Vit-C serum that you purchase does not necessarily stay fresher longer than DIY versions – that’s why we’re all making our own, because it can become prohibitively expensive to buy a new bottle of serum every few weeks – especially when you consider that the cheapest serums can cost anywhere from $25-$125 per bottle!! We’ve all discovered that for around the same price of a single pre-made Vit-C serum, that you can purchase all of the raw ingredients and have enough of which to make literally dozens of bottles of homemade Vit-C serum.

For those interested in further exploration into making homemade Vit-C serum, please consult the notepad of StAmourOwl at MUA, from whom I obtained the original recipe for the homemade serum that I posted in the DIY Skincare thread here on EDS. Here is the link to StAmourOwl’s notepad: http://www.makeupalley.com/user/notepad/StAmourOwl/

Regarding the glycerin vs. propylene glycol debate: the very first batch of homemade Vit-C serum that I ever made was using glycerin and I absolutely HATED it. It was horribly sticky and seemed to increase my ever-present overabundance of sebum on my face. I have found that using PG is much more suited to my hyper-oily skin.

free skin care · Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:54 am

Hi Mary.....
Thanks for the respond. If I were to grind the vit C crystal, wouldn't that make it degrade faster? since it has contact with air and stuff.
Hm... when I leave it overnight, I put it in a cool dark place wher I put ll my skincare is. Hm... mayb I should try warmer storage system.
thanks Mary.....
cheers

free skin care · Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:01 am

Oh, an btw, anybody using l-ascorbic acid from TPF, does it dissolve easily?
Mary, whta bradn of vit C crystal you have?
Mine says crystal, also the bottle says that it is easy to mix Shock

free skin care · Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:09 am

Hi Roadtonowhere,

Well ... in crystal form they are fairly stable ... it's when you add the water that the degradation becomes pronounced.

In terms of grinding ... you're only going to be exposing them for a few seconds while the coffee grinder processes them ... and then you put them back in the jar.

It's worth a shot at any rate ... and I thought I'd do it next time ... just to see. Laughing

If you just measure out your 1/4 tsp into the coffee grinder and process for a few seconds and then mix with water ... you're only exposing one "dose" ... although come to think of it, I wonder if 1/4 tsp of crystals will be enough to actually grind smaller? However ... that's the plan! Laughing

The crystals I use are from Xenx Labs in Canada.

Mary

free skin care · Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:09 pm

Hi roadtonowhere,

Why not use a mortar and pestle to grind small batches of your crystals?

I am using the vitamin C from TPF and it dissolves well with a little sediment left over but hardly noticeable. I am using the PG and water recipe. I think Mary has something about doing the mixing in a semi-warm environment. I keep my distilled water and my PG in an upstairs closet in my living room that gets heated and I mix in a heated bathroom, where I shake every few minutes for about an hour before adding the PG. Only after it is dissolved do I put it in the fridge.

Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:25 pm

Hi...

new to the place...
drawn by the DIY vitC serum...
can i know where to get the ingredients for the serum?

free skin care · Thu Jun 08, 2006 12:17 am

Has any one used other forms of Vit-c derivative other than l-a-a?

I have used products that have Magnesium/Sodium ascorbyl phosphate which have been amazing. There's also a lot of research to indicate this derivate is very stable and the skin can actually metabolise it once it is applied. But it is soo costly, most sites are offering 10g for around $50usd. The Skin Actives site sells small vials for affordable prices..

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