| I love a good night serum for the face. We are going to do a 3-day study of this serum formula. We will be using the same ingredients each day, but we will change the percentages of the ingredients to see how the opacity, thickness, and so forth changes.Today we are doing 2 formulations. The first one (Test 1) I am using as a baseline in which I compare all of the other formulations to. I chose what I found to be an interesting combination of ingredients. Cyclomethicone is known for its ability to dry quickly and spread onto the skin easily. Dimethicone adds a nice glide to lotion and leaves the skin velvety. Isopropyl Myristate helps to reduce greasiness. I chose Conditioning Emulsifier because it adds to that nice velvety skin feel and since I am using a limited amount of oils in this recipe, I did not need a really strong emulsifier.
Hydrovance is a great product to use instead of Glycerin. It helps your lotion soak in fast without a greasy feeling and it is heavenly. I tried Hydrovance the first time I made a hand cream and it was amazing how moisturized my hands were but with no grease. Orchid Extract is a great choice for a night serum because of its skin friendly properties. Squalane was chosen for its lubricating properties and it helps reduce greasiness. Finally, I chose Vitamin E Natural because it is also a great night serum product with all of the antioxidant power!
Recipe: 200 grams or 7.05 ounces
Test 1
Recipe in Grams
92.4 grams Water
40 grams Cyclomethicone
30 grams Dimethicone
10 grams Hydrovance
10 grams Isopropyl Myristate
10 grams Conditioning Emulsifier
4 grams Orchid Extract
2 grams Squalane
1 grams Liquid Germall Plus
0.8 grams Green Tea Fragrance
0.2 grams Vitamin E Natural |
Recipe in Ounces
3.26 ounces Water
1.41 ounces Cyclomethicone
1.06 ounces Dimethicone
0.35 ounces Hydrovance
0.35 ounces Isopropyl Myristate
0.35 ounces Conditioning Emulsifier
0.14 ounces Orchid Extract
0.07 ounces Squalane
0.04 ounces Liquid Germall Plus
0.03 ounces Green Tea Fragrance
0.01 ounces Vitamin E Natural |
Recipe in Percentages
46.2% Water
20% Cyclomethicone
15% Dimethicone
5% Hydrovance
5% Isopropyl Myristate
5% Conditioning Emulsifier
2% Orchid Extract
1% Squalane
0.5% Liquid Germall Plus
0.2% Green Tea Fragrance
0.1% Vitamin E Natural |
Test 2
Recipe in Grams
92.4 grams Water
50 grams Cyclomethicone
20 grams Dimethicone
14 grams Hydrovance
8 grams Isopropyl Myristate
8 grams Conditioning Emulsifier
4 grams Orchid Extract
2 grams Squalane
1 grams Liquid Germall Plus
0.8 grams Green Tea Fragrance
0.2 grams Vitamin E Natural |
Recipe in Ounces
3.26 ounces Water
1.76 ounces Cyclomethicone
0.71 ounces Dimethicone
0.49 ounces Hydrovance
0.28 ounces Isopropyl Myristate
0.28 ounces Conditioning Emulsifier
0.14 ounces Orchid Extract
0.07 ounces Squalane
0.04 ounces Liquid Germall Plus
0.03 ounces Green Tea Fragrance
0.01 ounces Vitamin E Natural |
Recipe in Percentages
46.2% Water
25% Cyclomethicone
10% Dimethicone
7% Hydrovance
4% Isopropyl Myristate
4% Conditioning Emulsifier
2% Orchid Extract
1% Squalane
0.5% Liquid Germall Plus
0.2% Green Tea Fragrance
0.1% Vitamin E Natural |
Instructions
Weigh out water, Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone, Hydrovance, Isopropyl Myristate, and Conditioning Emulsifier in your microwave safe container. Microwave in short burst until Conditioning Emulsifier is melted. I found that stirring with a spoon in between your 15-20 second bursts really helps the water to not get over heated and explode in the microwave. The smaller the batch you make, the shorter microwave bursts you will want with more frequent stirring. I might have had a little accident the first time I weighed out my ingredients. I might have also had Conditioning Emulsifier pieces get all over the inside of the microwave after the water got over heated and caused the explosion. Whoops!Blend mixture with an immersion blender well. Allow to cool. Weigh the additives into your cooled serum. Stir well and squeeze into bottles! I used the 1 oz LDPE bottles with a disk top closure because I prefer squeezing my face lotions and serums. You can also use our PET jars.
Test 1
I felt that this was the thickest and heaviest of all of the formulas. It had a really nice velvety feeling on the skin. For me personally, this one was not my favorite. I have combination skin and it is the summer so I prefer lighter more fluid lotions on my face in the summer. I might choose this one during the winter when it is dry and cold though.
Test 2
This formula had more Cyclomethicone, less Dimethicone, more Hydrovance, less Isopropyl Myristate, and less Conditioning Emulsifier than the original one. It still felt velvety but that extra Hydrovance helped it soak in quicker on the face and the overall serum was more transparent.
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 Finished product  Weighing ingredients  Melted and mixed ingredients  Weighing the additives into cooled serum |
Dear Joy,
I was under the impression that Cyclomethicone should not be added to the heated phase (as it is already volatile), and dimethicone , if heated, can go gooey. Could you please shed some light here ? Is my understanding incorrect? I was always adding cyclomethicone and dimethicone in my cool down phase .
What seems to be exactly what I would do – I would use BTMS for its ability to emulsify large silicone quantities 🙂
thanks and let us know how it feels!
Oh, it would be interesting to weight the container before and after heating it, just to check whether cyclomethicone did evaporate or not (or at least part of it).
Sânziene,
We get great results from following this process. There are many different weights of cyclomethicone. Ours does not evaporate.
The serum sounds awesome! I know in stores these cost upwards of $50.00. I can’t wait to try this one!
I can’t wait to try this! I normally make anhydrous serums, so it will be great to see how this one compares.
Oh, I see!!! Then it all depends about the flashpoint! Is it the same wih dimethicone, is it safe to be heated or does it depend on its viscosity?
Sânziene,
The Dimethicone can also handle this process without any problems. The Dimethicone does not become gooey after heating this way. I hope this helps!
Andee
I’ve been really wanting to try and make a face serum. Thanks for the information and testing!
This sounds interesting…..I have never heard of some of the ingredients used. Something new to learn about! Thanks for the post!
A day facial serum experiment would be great too, for dry, combo, and oily skins… and for men too!
Hi Andee! Yes, thanks for clarifying this ! 🙂 Looking forward to make a serum now 🙂 But one more question: which emulsifier should I use if I wanted a gel-like consistency and appearance (not a white serum, but an colorless one)? Any thoughts?
Sânziene,
To make it transparent requires a different formulation with little to no water and a greatly different set of silicone oils.
Could I drop the FO. I am bit weary about adding Fragrance on facial products as my nose can get sensitive with certain scents.
Soyoung,
The fragrance oil is really just optional. If you can’t stand it then by all means don’t use it. If you are interested in a very light scent just add one drop to a small amount of the product and see what you can handle. Good luck!
Joy
I started making all the girls in my home all natural facial cleansers and scrubs but couldn’t figure out how to make my aging but still pretty nice skin a good night time serum/moisturizer. Thank you so much now I can complete my personal set. However, if I were to make a moisturizer for teenage skin that tends to break out what would the formula be and maybe you already have one on this site and could direct me to it? Thanks for lesson and I love love love this y’all’s website. I am in the process of setting up my own website for my small business, do you have any suggestions to the best place to start. There are so many to chose from out there ya know?
Wanda,
Try the night serum for her too. You might want to use tea tree oil in her mixture. Please go lightly, tea tree carries a long distance and remains strongly scented for a long time.
Tina