Over the years, and especially since I found out I had Celiac’s Disease, I’ve started making things at home. I’ve gone more organic and most importantly, I’ve realized that we pay A LOT for things in Sephora and Ulta that we can make at home, in bulk, for so much LESS money. Here are two versions of my homemade, DIY face serum with Vitamin C and Hyaluronic Acid (HA) in it. Once recipe you made every time you use it and the other is if you want to make a weeks worth at a time. (By the way, I get no income or credit from any of the these Amazon links. If that changes I will let you know).
Here are a couple of important things to know about why I make this for myself. First, this is a hugely money-saving recipe. For maybe $30 up-front you’re getting enough supplies to make jars and jars of $100-a-jar face serum. You could be saving yourself over $1000 depending on how much you spend on face serums. Second, this recipe does not have and preservatives and no artificial coloring. Why is that important? Vitamin C turns orange as it oxidizes. I don’t know about you, but a lot of my face serums are orange or otherwise colored when I buy them. Also, Vitamin C oxidizes in about 14 days. I’ll say that again …. 14 DAYS! You spend about $100 on a little tub of face serum that you use for a few months, but the primary ingredient oxidizes in two weeks and is worthless to your serum, but you don’t know it because your serum is artificially colored! See how they get you.
This recipe takes away that guess work. It saves you money and it’s natural. And because you made it, you know that you are getting the most benefits out of the ingredients.
HA and Vitamin C Face Serum - Single Use
Ingredients
- 1/4 teaspoon Hyaluronic Acid Serum
- 1/16 teaspoon Vitamin C Powder
Instructions
- Measure out 1/16 teaspoon of Vitamin C and set it down in the measuring spoon.
- Now measure out the 1/4 teaspoon of HA and cup it in the palm of your hand.
- This is why you’ll want your Vitamin C set aside already, because now you hold the liquid and pour the Vitamin C powder into the HA in your hand.
- Mix for about 30 seconds with your fingers, pretty much until the liquid turns clear and is no longer cloudy looking.
- Use your fingers and dip into the mix and rub on your face and neck.
- If it stings at these measurements or your face gets redish, and it did for me, you can cut the amount of Vitamin C down to 1/32 teaspoon. Eventually your skin should adjust and you can try going back up to the 1/16 teaspoon.
You can buy an already pre-made HA serum online. This is what I originally did, however, after going through that bottle, I bought HA powder and started making my own HA serum (recipe below).
I originally bought this Hyaluronic Acid Serum off Amazon.
I bought this Vitamin C powder off Amazon and it is still what I use.
HA and Vitamin C Face Serum - Weekly Use
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Hyaluronic Acid serum
- 3/4 teaspoon Vitamin C powder
- 1 one ounce amber glass bottle
Instructions
- I make the above recipe a week at a time and you have to keep it in the fridge! Once you have the Vitamin C powder in the bottle with the HA serum, shake shake shake that up really good. You will visibly see the serum turn from cloudy to clear. That’s how you know it’s done.
Notes
I bought this pack of 6 amber glass bottles. The amber color keeps the Vitamin C from oxidizing by blocking out any sunlight and since I have six, one can be dirty and I have a clean one to make the next week’s mixture. Six bottles is more than enough, I just couldn’t find a pack of two or three, so I bought six. Hey, make some a give it to your friend.
You can totally mess with the Vitamin C to HA mix so that you get it just right for you. For example, if the Vitamin C dose at this measurement stings then you can lower the amount of C powder in the mix. But also, if you don’t feel anything and notice no changes, you can increase the Vitamin C mix by a little.
Use a light sunscreen lotion or cream on your face if you spend time in the sun, because Vitamin C turns orange when it oxidizes. Also, wash your hands REALLY well with soap and water after each use and get the soap under your finger nails, other wise you will get spots of orange color under your nails from the Vitamin C.
Now, on to my DIY Hyaluronic Acid Serum recipe. Like I said, I originally purchased the pre-made serum, but it is so easy to make your own. This powder goes A LOT farther than a pre-made bottle of HA serum. So even though it’s more money up-front for the powder, it makes so much more than buying one bottle of serum at a time. Buying the powder will probably last you a year.
Hyaluronic Acid Serum
Ingredients
- 1/4 teaspoon Hyaluronic Acid powder
- 1 4- ounce amber glass bottle
- just under 7 tablespoons very cold distilled water and yes, it HAS to be distilled water
Instructions
- Pour the distilled water and HA powder into the bottle, screw the lid on tight and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. It will look like the HA powder is not dissolving at all. This is normal. Put it in the refrigerator and shake it about every 10 minutes for 2 hours.
Notes
Every time I use the HA serum I made, I take it out of the fridge and I shake it for at least a minute. I also use the dropper on the glass bottle to suck the mixture up and down and help make it consistently gel like.
This is the hyaluronic acid powder I bought on Amazon.
I purchased this packet of 4 ounce amber glass bottles on Amazon. Just like the 1 ounce bottles above, you will probably not ever use all six bottles, but the amber color is important and I couldn’t find a pack of just one or two.
Now, you have a recipe for homemade, DIY HA serum to use in the above daily or weekly face serum recipe!
Accessories List
Finally, to cap off this really long post, I purchased some accessories to help me out, because mixing up these small amounts is not easily done with standard measuring spoons.
I bought this tiny funnel to help when getting the powder in the bottle and I bought these small measuring spoons, because 1/32 of a tsp is really small.
And by the way –
- Tad — 1/4th teaspoon
- Dash — 1/8th teaspoon
- Pinch — 1/16th teaspoon
- Smidgen — 1/32nd teaspoon
- Drop — 1/64th teaspoon
Because it doesn’t say that on the measuring spoons. I wrote it on the back of them with a sharpie. The sharpie writing did eventually wear away, but I have the sizing memorized now.