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Vitamin C serum is an anti-aging natural skincare ingredient often found in high-end beauty regimes. You can find this antioxidant in many moisturizers, lotions, and creams as well. Why all the fuss? And is it possible to make your own (much less expensive!) vitamin C serum at home?
I’ve researched, experimented, and tried it out and the answer is… yes you can!
Vitamin C Serum Benefits
Vitamin C is touted as an anti-aging and anti-wrinkle cream, and for good reason. Vitamin C is helpful for brightening and tightening skin. (This works if you take it internally too!).
Researchers found that regular use of vitamin C on the skin will:
- Increase collagen production in the skin, which fights wrinkles (I personally like to take gelatin and vitamin C internally too for this purpose)
- Brighten and tighten the skin
- Reduce the effects of negative sun exposure (Note: Not all sun exposure is bad)
- Mitigate some chlorine exposure
- Help skin repair and renew itself at a cellular level
While I love these benefits, many of these products also cost an arm and a leg. Thankfully, there is a natural, homemade and inexpensive alternative (noticing a trend here?) that seems to work just as well.
How to Make Your Own Vitamin C Serum
In just a few simple steps, you can make your own brightening facial serum.
First, you will need a few items:
- a dark-colored bottle with dropper (I love how these bottles look on the bathroom counter!)
- a quality vitamin C powder (linked below)
- filtered or distilled water
Next, just mix in the ratios below and store! Use as you would a facial toner. Note: Since it contains no preservatives, this serum will last about two weeks and needs to be stored in the fridge.
This serum works on most skin types, especially dry or aging skin. Customize your results based on your skin type by:
- If you have more oily skin or combination, consider trying this vitamin C toner with witch hazel instead.
- If you have acne-prone skin, try this sea spray for skin in addition to or instead of vitamin C serum.
Cautions & Tips
Here’s the best way to use vitamin C serum, from personal experience:
- Measure carefully and do not add extra vitamin C as it is acidic and can/will burn the skin if the concentration is too high. If you are dealing with a lot of wrinkles or very dry skin, extra vitamin C can be added, but work up slowly and test on the inner arm before applying it to the face.
- If you have extra sensitive skin, dilute with even more water.
- This is best paired with a natural skincare routine like oil cleansing.
Vitamin C Serum Recipe
Equipment
- A dark-colored container for storage, (vitamin C oxidizes easily)
Ingredients
- ½ tsp vitamin C powder
- 1 TBSP distilled water (OR 1 tsp distilled water + 2 TBSP vegetable glycerine)
Instructions
- In a small, dark-colored container, combine the vitamin C powder and the water.
- If you are only using water and vitamin C, you are done. This will store for up to 2 weeks or longer in the fridge.
- If you are using glycerin, dissolve the vitamin C in 1 teaspoon of water, then stir in 2 tablespoons of glycerin and store. This version will last a month or longer.
Notes
This article was medically reviewed by Cynthia Thurlow, NP, the CEO and founder of the Everyday Wellness Project, nurse practitioner, international speaker, and globally recognized expert in intermittent fasting and nutritional health. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor.
Ever used a vitamin C serum on your skin? How did it work for you? Share below?
Peanut Butter Chia Seed Pudding With Blackberry Jam
am I able to use a natural vitamin c powder derived from fruits? I’m hesitant to use L Asorbic Acid since it is usually derived from corn and genetically modified. Thanks for this post!
All vitamin C is L-ascorbic, regardless of the source, and all vitamin C supplements are synthesized from the reichstein process regardless what you’ve heard or read. Vitamin C is a specific molecular structure of 11 hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Genetic modification has nothing to do with it’s structure. There is no genetic material in Vitamin C.
What percent serum is this? 10, 15 or 20 % ??
I’ve been using vit c serum for 3 months and haven’t noticed any difference to my face, or hands, although it did burn my neck. I’m 62 and wonder if I’m too old to get a benefit from vit c. Just not sure what % to use either.
I would also like to know the answer to Mary’s question as it pertains to me also. Is there a different way we need to apply it?
Is it possible to get an answerer to the question Mary asked about using the Vitamin C for 3 months with no visible results. I have been anxiously waiting for a post.
Hello Pat
I’ve now been using this serum for about four months and have to say that I am now noticing a slight improvement. (I had acne scars so we weren’t starting with perfect skin.) I have also changed my cleansing routine. Here goes – I cleanse my face with Jojoba oil (but any light oil will do), wipe the excess off with a warm flannel and then apply the serum. For my neck I leave Jojoba oil on and apply the serum over it. I am not sure what % of Vit C I use but this is what I do. Mix 1 teaspoon Vit C powder with 2 teaspoons rosewater. If the Vit C doesn’t fully dissolve I add more rosewater. If the Vit C did dissolve first go, then I add more Vit C until it is at a stage where it doesn’t fully dissolve and I have to add more rosewater. This is called saturation point and the Vit C is at maximum %. (It helps if the Vit C has been ground into a fine powder – I use a blender to do this.)
Hope this helps. Kind regards Mary
In the original research paper, the L ascorbic acid absorption dropped above 20% aqueous solution at ph 3.2 . The acidic ph is necessary to neutralise the charge on the ascorbic acid so it can penetrate the skin Most of the study used 15% but left it to soak for many hours fresh additions over 1 to 5 days saturated the skin, and after 4 days half of the addition had been lost without further applications.
Ref Topical L-Ascorbic Acid: Percutaneous Absorption Studies
Sheldon R. Pinnell, MD,* Huanshu Yang, MD,‡ Mostafa Omar, PhD,† Nancy Monteiro Riviere, PhD,‡ Holly V. DeBuys, MD,* Linda C. Walker,* Yaohui Wang, MD,§ and Mark Levine, MD§
In the © 2001 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc. • Published by Blackwell Science, Inc. ISSN: 1076-0512/01/$15.00/0 • Dermatol Surg 2001;27:137–142
Yes PLEASE tell us the percenage of this recipe for face serum. Because I was reading something that I think you or someone else posted saying that if the PH percentage was less than 2.5% it harms your skin & over 3.5% does nothing. So the percentage is very important.
You need to measure your own pH with a test kit. It might turn out high or low, but you can adjust it. Add more water to raise the pH, add more ascorbic acid to lower the pH.
I would like to know this answer too. The VC product on this recipe has 120mg per 1/4tsp. How can we make sure we are not using more than 20% solution? Thanks
Can I use vitamin c tablet and grind it to powder form?
Thanks for posting this recipe! I have been using the serum for about a week now and my skin has never felt better! I made some for my Mom & she loves it too! 🙂
My crystals are not dissolving!! Please help. What could I be doing wrong? I’ve tried to mix with just water and with the glycerin.
crush with a mortar and pestle … do not heat up, if all will still not dissolve you may be at saturation point … pour off the liquid for use and throw out the left over sludge.
To dissolve vit c, mix in tiny amt of water w half as much baking soda. It bubbles madly and dissolves
Dissolve vitamin C in aloe Vera gel and it works like a charm!
I dissolved 1/4 tsp vit C pow in 4 tsp water. It dissolved completely. But the moment I added 2 tsp aloe vera gel, it went pasty. Please help, what went wrong?
I buy the vitiamin c jell caps and I poke a hole in it . It has the creamy color I was looking for the reg jell caps but didn’t have.I buy vitiamin e oil to mix with mine since it’s good for skin.to put on face and neck
Use distilled water to dissolve the Vit. C in.
This is great but ascorbic acid is synthetic vitamin c and usually is genetically modified. I would worry that using this type of vitamin c could do more harm than good. You can buy a pure vitamin c powder that is organic and high quality for just a few dollars more.
Ascorbic acid is vitamin c and vitamin c is ascorbic acid. They are identical and the process for making it is always the same. Until this process was invented some 90 years ago it was extremely expensive and difficult to manufacture. There are a lot of marketing techniques used to try to make one sound better than another (like “organic”). Don’t buy the hype. Vitamin C is not a compound of substances that can be considered “organic” … it is a specific molecule that is the same whether synthesized or . Look at the vitamin C molecule on wikipedia – this molecule is what all vitamin C looks like that you can buy. Anything with a different structure is not vitamin C. There are buffered versions (ascorbates), and palmitates (bonded to a fatty acid), but what makes it all vitamin C is that 11 atom molecule to which these structures are attached.
Great. It’s still derived from GMO corn. Buy organic that is not made from GMO corn or whole fruit Vit C like Camu Camu powder.
Almost all the ascorbic acid in the world is made in two factories in China. They do use glucose from corn but since GMOs are not used in China (Monsanto couldn’t buy them) the vitamin C is not made from GMO corn. All the Vitamin C is made to pharmaceutical or industrial standards because it is used in industrial processes. Tampering with human health is OK but not with industrial chemistry. So Dave is correct all the hype about organic or L-ascorbic acid is just to get more money from the uninformed and gullible. No insult intended.
I’m glad that the word is getting out about the ascorbic acid in most supplements etc is genetically modified from GE corn. It defeats the purpose of making your own healthy versions because you are trading poison for poison. I buy Organic Orange Peel Powder, Organic Rosehip Powder, Organic Amla Powder and Organic Acerola Berry Powder from Mountain Rose Herbs and mix up equal parts of each into a bowl and fill vegetarian capsules (size 00 – which holds 735mg) with it to make my own Vitamin C pills. I take 3 capsules a day. You will know that you are taking enough if your urine is clear. I plan to try the Organic Orange Peel Powder with this recipe and see if it works.
I use the peel from organic oranges, grapefruits and lemons, cut the peel and white into small squares and allow to dry for several days then grind into a fine powder…I add this to vinegar as a natural cleaner, I use it mixed with water for a facial toner, I add some to my breakfast for an extra boost of Vit C…the uses for your own homemade Vit C powder are endless!
Peel has the vitamin C or the flesh of he fruit .??
Help! My Vit C crystals won’t dissolve – in water, oil, or vegetable glycerine!
Mine either. I even warmed up the water to dissolve it but then it recrystalised after it cooled down. I’m going to try and grind it like the suggestion above but any other suggestions would be great
you need to use distilled water. if you keep stirring (3 mins or so) it will dissolve
I am using RO water, is that the reason the vitamin C won’t dissolve like it should? What is the difference in distilled and RO? If I shake the bottle long enough, which is a LONG TIME, it will dissolve. Also, I like the vegetable glycerin but it’s too sticky so I cut back on it.
Hi, I can think of three reasons why Vit C doesn’t dissolve – there is too much Vit C powder in proportion to water (add a bit more water); water is too cold (try it warmer or room temperature); Vit C powder is not fine enough (grind it to a fine powder in a blender or clean coffee grinder).
I don’t use much glycerine, sometimes none. That’s OK.
Hope this helps.
Distilled water makes all the difference. Tap water has chemicals that seem to interfer with the C disolving. I also want to add that I have been using the C Serum on my hands for 3 weeks and age spots are fading and skin quality have vastly improved.
Can someone help me determine how 1 gram of Hyaluronic Acid and 100ml water equates to teaspoon or tablespoon?
What about using the powder in coconut oil after dissolving in small amount of water?
I am searching for the same answer about mixing ascorbic acid and coconut oil. Did you ever find an answer?
Oil and water don’t mix. Dissolve lecithin granules in the water and you will then get it to mix.
i would love to know the recipe as well and can i add vitamin e gel to it as well…please help…need correct recipe…
Just so your readers know, I have made a similar serum, but had trouble with it being gritty. Then someone pointed out that I should put my C powder in a clean grinder (I have a coffee grinder I use soley for herbs) and grind it finer. That did the trick!