Home Made Vitamin C Serum (Dr Vivek Recipe) | Ditch Chemicals Such as Vitamin C Tablets/Syrup

Let's start from the basics, shall we?

Why Do We Need Vitamin C?

Animals can make their own Vitamin C but Humans can't. That's why turn to the food we consume or serums we apply.

Vitamin C is necessary for the growth, development and repair of all body tissues. It's involved in many body functions, including formation of collagen, absorption of iron, the immune system, wound healing, and the maintenance of cartilage, bones, and teeth.

Zooming into skincare, Vitamin C, as an antioxidant, neutralizes the oxidative stress caused by free radicals, protects against UV-induced skin damage and aids in skin repair. According to The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, "sunscreens are only partially effective in blocking free radicals produced by UV exposure." So you should think of vitamin C as adding a secondary level of protection. That's in addition to vitamin C's ability to brighten the skin, fade pigmentation, and promote collagen production! Big fan of it ;)

Why You are Consuming Chemicals if You are Eating or Drinking Store-Bought Vitamin C/ Ascorbic Acid?

Most sources equate vitamin C with ascorbic acid, as though they were the same thing. But thy are not. Ascorbic acid is a fraction of naturally occurring vitamin C. Do you want to know how Ascorbic acid is made? Ascorbic acid is made by a chemical reaction between corn starch and sulphuric acid. The ascorbic acid you buy at the grocery store every few weeks, thinking you are buying Vitamin C, is just a chemical copy, fractionated, crystalline isolate of a living complex known as vitamin C. Worse still, Ascorbic acid has an acidifying effect in the body, making an unfriendly environment for viruses, Candida, and pathogenic bacteria. Yikes, can you remind me why you bought it again?

In addition to ascorbic acid, vitamin C must include rutin, bioflavonoids, Factor K, Factor J, Factor P, tyrosinase, ascorbinogen, and other components. If any of these parts are missing, there is no vitamin C, no vitamin activity. When some of them are present, the body will draw on its own stores to make up the differences, so that the whole vitamin may be present.

If you really need to take something orally, then you should consider Vitamin C Complex which is the full form of Vitamin C.

How Should We Consume Vitamin C, Naturally Then?

Instead of consuming Vitamin C tablet/syrup once off in the morning, the fact is that this water soluble vitamin if over-consumed, just passes off as urine and there you go, you just wasted your money. Companies have worked around this with production of Time-Released/ Buffered Vitamin C complex or Vitamin C Complex so that the release of Vitamin C is phased out, which is a good thing. However, it's still not the natural form, sorry!

Instead, it's better that we adopt a phased approach by consuming Vitamin C rich foods throughout the day (eg. cabbage/saukeraut for morning, broccoli/bell peppers in afternoon and citrus fruits at night) so that it is continually working to grow, develop and repair our body throughout the day.

Then How About Vitamin C Serums? Even Homemade Serums Are Made Using Ascorbic Acid Nowadays.

Did you know that store-bought Vitamin C serums can in fact make your skin look darker?! Yes! If Ascorbic acid is the key ingredient use, do note that its an highly unstable form of Vitamin C that can get oxidised easily after contact with light, heat and air (usually around 3 months after opening the bottle), and this shows up in the form of colour change (it becomes brown) and it loses its potency too.

The reason it can stain your skin is because vitamin C degrades into erythrulose—the EXACT ingredient you'll find in many self-tanners! A tan from erythrulose can last as long as a week! Far more worrisome than an unwanted tan, however, is that erythrulose may even age your skin.  This process generates free radicals and could accelerate sun damage and DNA damage—exactly what we're trying to avoid in the first place by using vitamin C!

However we can save ourselves by using plant-based vitamin c powders to make our own serums at home in small batches and Dr Vivek Joshi has shared a recipe that you can use to recreate one allergy free version, the all natural way. I have personally tried this and I must say, it really works! So here's the recipe for you.

Home Made Vitamin C Serum Recipe (By Dr Vivek Joshi):

1 Tsp Organic Orange Peel Powder*

1 Tsp Aloe Vera

2-4 Tsp Rose Water (depends on the thickness you like)

1/4 Vitamin E / 5 Capsules Vitamin E Capsules (to reduce oxidation of Vitamin C)

* You can make it at home too. Just dry orange peel in room temperature, for 3-4 days. It may turn black too, but it's ok. Once dried, just grind it and sieve it to extract the fine powder.

How to Apply It

Though its well known as a popular brightening and anti-aging ingredient, Vitamin C is sun sensitive and may create sun spots if you don't wear sunblock/sunscreen after Vitamin C serum application.

Therefore, its best to apply it at night after washing your face. Just add a drop on forehead, each cheek and chin (4 drops in total) and massage in circular motion and upwards. You can it wash it off in the morning.

So do try recreating this at home and let me know how it went for you. Eat natural foods and apply all natural products to be green and stay green. Let's feel and look good, the natural and allergy free way.

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