A while ago I posted how to make Aloe Vera gel.
I was planning to post a recipe of an hydrating gel (I have been using it in the morning for the last two months and I love it), but before I start, I thought it would be more important to show you how to make the basic ingredients for this gel.
Of course Hyaluronic Acid gel is one of these ingredients!
So tadaaa 😀
I love hyaluronic acid for the property of keeping the skin hydrated, also it is a substance that is naturally found in our skin.
It is used in many anti-aging creams (I don’t believe it is miraculous and it will make wrinkles disappear, but simply because it helps keeping the skin hydrated, the skin appears more plump and fresh).
Recipe:
[WARNING: this recipe, like ALL the recipes in my blog, is of COSMETIC GRADE, therefore this gel cannot be used any differently than by applying it ON your skin]
1 gr Sodium Hyaluronate
98,4 gr Distilled Water (or Rose water 😉 read the end of the post)
0.6 gr Cosgard (or any other preservative of your choice: of course if you change preservative, use the amount of preservative which is needed for that specific kind of preservative)
1) Measure the Sodium Hyaluronate
2) Measure the water
3) Pour the Sodium Hyaluronate on top of the water
At this point some people like to mix it and some people like to let it be.
I have actually tried both ways and here is my experience: if you try to mix it at this stage, part of the SH will stick to the spoon. This means that a precious part of your gel will get lost (and SH is not exactly cheap, so you’d want to mind this).
IMO it is better to let the SH hydrate by itself on top of the water for a while, and stir later.
4) Cover the glass with plastic film and let it rest in the fridge for few hours.
5) After few hours the SH will be hydrated. Now you can stir it with a spoon so to make the gel more smooth (there will be harder parts and softer parts).
6) Add your preservative, stir again and put in a bottle 🙂
You can use this Gel by itself, for its great hydrating properties!
If you have a very dry skin you could like to use it before applying your cream 🙂
You could also make a more luxurious gel by substituting part of the water (or the entire water) with Rose water!
As you might have noticed in the market we can find creams or serums that say “40% Hyaluronic Acid”.
Well, as you can see I am using 1% of Sodium Hyaluronate and this is the highest concentration I can use.
It is technically impossible to use 40% of SH inside of a gel: it will never hydrate and you will waste a huge amount of money.
I tried once to make a 2% and it took ages to hydrate. In the end it was too thick. I could still use it but it was not a good gel at all.
I don’t know what they could mean by saying “40% Hyaluronic Acid” on a product where there cannot be more than 2% of SH, but it is long time I stopped believing what I read in the commercials for creams. The only thing I can believe now is the INCI and what I KNOW is that in one cream where it was said “40%”, the Sodium Hyaluronate in the INCI was at 6th place (this means that in NO WAY it could be at 40%, it could have been at maybe 1% or even less).
The only way to be sure of what’s inside a cream or serum or face-gel is MAKE IT YOURSELF!
Not only this is a great thing to learn, it also makes you feel like IT’S ALL IN YOUR HANDS! 😉
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
It's all in my hands 
Hi, your site is great. I à m about to make the hyaluronic acid with vitamin ç. How long will it last without a preservative? Thanks so much
LikeLike
Hello Linda.
Technically it is not advisable to mix hyaluronic acid with vitamin C, unless you use a stabilized version like SAP which is not acid. But hyaluronic acid is not fine in acid pH, so they are not two compatible ingredients. Also, the gel would melt and become very liquid.
Preservatives are not bad, actually, but if you don’t have one you could use it maximum 5 days and keep it in the fridge. 🙂
Hope this helped!
LikeLike
Hi hope you can help i recently made your serum following the recipe but it never turned to gel just stayed pretty watery so i contacted my scource and they later informed me i had 50 kda hyaluronic acid and this would not turn to gel so i done a wee bit of research and found out the lower the better because it will absorb into the skin much easier and quicker so this sounds good but i would like to use this kind if it will give me more benifit but i would like to get it into a gel like consistancy so i was looking for something to maybe thicken it but i am not having much luck here in the uk and was wondering if you had any suggestions on something safe to use thanks.
LikeLike
Yes indeed a lower molecular weight should perform better but it won’t make a gel.
There are many thickening substances you could use! One very easy to find is xanthan gum. The gel will not give the best “feel” (xanthan makes a bit of a slimy gel) but it will help.
However, because both xanthan and sodium hyaluronate need to “open up” divide the amount of water in two bechers. In one you add a small amount of glycerin (let’s say 1%) then the xanthan (0.3% should be enough – won’t be too firm) and mix. Add the half water slowly.
In the other becher you let the SH do its job. You mix them together only after both substances are homogeneous.
LikeLike
Hi I made up my own serum with your recipe and it gave me a lot of moisture on my face but the only downside is it really dried the pams of my hands and in between my fingers to the point my skin was cracking is this the HA or could it be the Cosgard as it contains alcohol and most obviously the pams have no pores to absorb the HA so I don’t see anyway around this as I have to apply the HA with my hands any help please.
LikeLike
It is just a gel and it won’t moisturise as well as a lotion or a cream would, but I honestly don’t see why it should crack your fingers?
Cosgard contains benzyl alcohol, not normal alcohol, but anyway it is at 0.5-0.6% in this recipe and the benzyl alcohol is not % of it as well so I don’t believe it should justify cracking your hands.
This recipe can be used as a serum but I mostly make it to add it to my creams at 5%-6%.
It is not a particularly pleasant feel on its own, but I still couldb’t justify cracking your hands.
(The fact that the palms have no pores doesn’t mean a cosmetic cannot hydrate your palm: the stratum corneum gets hydrated as well).
Have you checked the pH? 🙂
LikeLike
Hi thanks for the quick reply I am not knocking your recipe in any way I like this stuff and your recipe and I myself am just using it as a simple serum and since using it my skin has been a lot smoother and better hydrated so I want to continue using it but I was just looking for a solution for my hands I know it sounds weird but I stopped using it just for a few days and my hands went back to normal so it has to be the reason do u think I could maybe get away with wearing latex gloves to apply it?
Also I have one more question I know you use scales but I don’t have any just now so I just used a scooper that I got from my protein for taking vitamins it is a 0.5ml/0.5g mini scoop and I used it the last time I made the serum using two scoops two give me 1ml or 1g because I thought that would be accurate but the other day I ordered a different HA a higher molecular weight just to see if my serum would turn out thicker as apposed to using the first batch I bought which you know was lmw HA, anyway this time I only ordered 1g just to see if my measurements with my scoop were close too a gram but the bag I received was a lot more than the measurements I got with my scoop so I am a bit confused now do u think there measurement of a gram could be wrong or is it my scooper as I said is 0.5ml but should be the equivalent of 0.5g but the the 1g bag they gave me is nearly as much as 3/4 of a teaspoon so surely that can’t be right sorry for waffling on but hope you reply thanks.
LikeLike
Scoops are not accurate: they can be ok for 0.5 ml of water which equals to 0.5 grams ONLY IN THE CASE OF WATER. Imagine having liquid mercury and water: a scoop of 0.5 ml water will weight 0.5 grams but the same scoop of 0.5 ml mercury will weight definitely much more! 🙂
This is why a scale is ESSENTIAL to making these recipes.
You might have added too much cosgard and this might be the issue (but not for his alcohol content, but because preservatives must be added at specific concentrations).
Buy a 0.01 scale online (the first I bought costed 7€! They are not expensive) and you will be able to make the real thing. 🙂
LikeLike
Hi .. Can you maybe help me with what kind of preservative to use in cosmetics, but I Will rather use something Parabenfree. And also Im not really good at measuring, I don’t know how many percent 40% is for example.. And I don’t know if it’s good to mix some type of Peptides or vitamins together, so I was wondering if you know about that kind of stuff ☺️
LikeLike
Hi BB your question was very vague. Did you mean that you would like to add proteins and vitamins to this gel to make a serum?
You can, but some ingredients won’t be compatible.
Since you are at the very beginning I would suggest you to make “simple as possible” serums that you can apply in different times of the day. Then, the more you learn and practice, the more you can mix in correct amounts 🙂
There are many preservatives which are paraben free. In this recipe I used Cosgard but it is not the best option (now I know).
40% is 40 percent which means that if you want to make 100 grams of cosmetic you need to add 40 grams of an ingredient… And if you wanted to make 1 kg of a cosmetic you should add 400 grams of that ingredient… And if you wanted to make 100 kg of an ingredient you should add 40 kg of that same ingredient. Hope it is clear 😀
LikeLike
Thanks much appreciated again what kind of scales did u buy was it just common digital kitchen scales or was it lab scales like a chemist would use thanks.
LikeLike
Thank you for your answer .. But I mean I brought some vitamin a, aka retinol. Vitamin b3, aka niacinamide and vitamin c aka I Think ascorbic acid or something 🙂 right now I only mixed the Hyaluronate sodium with sterilized water and some kind of preservative that I bought online, on ebay but Im not sure if it’s working or not really.. And I use a pocket scale that I also bought on ebay it’s digital and it counts in miligrams 😊
LikeLike
Is there another preservative that you could recommend ? 😊
LikeLike
I give you a link to a good article as I have never written a post dedicated to preservatives 🙂
This post is very well made and very informative! 🙂
http://www.makingskincare.com/preservatives/
LikeLike
Ok.
I suggest you to buy ingredients on cosmetic ingredients websites so they tell you how to use them.
If you bought L ascorbic acid that is pure vitamin C and it is highly unstable. All you can do is make the temporary vitamin C serum (lasts one day).
Vitamin A it would be interesting to know in what form it is. Is it retinyl palmitate? With that you should make a cream as it is liposoluble and won’t fit in a gel. To make a cream you should buy emulsifiers and oils too (i wrote many posts about this).
About niacinamide… It is stable at controlled pH but too high or too low pH will make it separate into a bad acid (and base). You cannot add it to the vitamin C serum cause it is very acid.
The hyaluronate gel is basic and you should check the pH range but it might be too basic for the niacinamide.
Hope this helped 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you again for your answer 😊
What I do is, I made my own hyaluronic acid serum with 1/2g hyaluronic acid powder and 50g water or 50ml with a all around preservative in it, that I bought on ebay. And yes to your question about retinyl palmitate. Then I mix the powders together (all the names that I mentioned before) and put just a little bit in my hand and mix it with the hyaluronic acid serum before putting it on my face, this Way I know the ingriedients is working every time and not just only the first week because it’s fresh and if I mixed it all together in a bottle it won’t work the same Way after a week.. I didnt know about that, about the niacinamide. But how do I know if the pH is stable or not ? I guess the pH is the preservative ?😊 I also didn’t know that it wouldn’t fit in a gel, cause it worked fine for me, i mean it dissolved in the gel with the rest.. But I would also like to ask if you know how to make a good face cream cause I said before I kind a knew at this, so I really hope that you can help ☺️
Also most of the stuff I bought is from a website called bulkActives .. 😊
LikeLike
If you mix two grams of sodium hyaluronate and 50 g water (ml/g with water is the same 🙂 ) you are actually making a 4% HA gel which is not very effective in the way that sodium hyaluronate doesn’t have enough water to hydrate properly.
2% is a high amount but shouldn’t waste any product for you so that is the maximum I would use.
No, pH and preservative have nothing to do.
L ascorbic acid breaks the HA because of its pH so I don’t suggest using them together. Better make the Vitamin C serum I wrote about and THEN apply HA serum after having washed out the Vitamin C one, this will work much better.
Mixing L ascorbic acid and Niacinamide is a very bad choice because Niacinamide breaks down at high and low pH and that really is not ok: it becomes highly irritant so I definitely don’t suggest that.
I have many posts about creams and how to formulate one, you can find them in the “All the recipes (Site index)” page 🙂
Hope this helped
LikeLike
What do you mean by it’s the same ? Did you mean the ml and grams? Or did you mean that 2g of sodium Hyaluronate is the same As, 0.5g in 50ml water? 😊 I normally just use 1g sodium Hyaluronate in 100ml, but then I thought it would be better if I halfed the recipe.
Okay NOW i get it I Think 😄 So the ascorbic acid is the pH ? And that is what breaks Down the hyaluronic acid ? Thanks for all this information, Now I won’t use those ingridients together anymore thats for sure ! Is there many ingridients like this, which also shouldn’t be used together ?
I Will take a look on the recipes thank you sooo much 🙏😊
LikeLike
I said that ONLY FOR WATER ml and grams are the same thing: 50 grams OF WATER equal to 50 ml OF WATER 🙂
I will make a post about the pH now 🙂
The ascorbic acid IS NOT the pH but it HAS a very low pH (to make it very simple: low pH means that something is acid, high pH means that something is basic).
Well there are many ingredients that are not compatible on the basis of pH or other reasons 🙂 I will write a more specific post about this too in the future! 🙂
LikeLike
Alright I just got a little bit confused about which one you were talking about cause I didnt mentioned anything about mixing 2g sodium Hyaluronate, I wrote that I mixed 0.5g with 50g water. Isnt that the right Way to do it ? 😊
Okay I get that low pH means that something is acid but when the pH is High what do you mean by basic ? Does that mean that it’s just normal ? 😄 And about the pH, what is it exatcly ? Im sorry if Im too much 😄
LikeLike
Im sorry I forgot to comment about some of the first part you wrote before. Did I understand this correct, so the more water you actually mix with the sodium Hyaluronate the more effective and moisturising it is ?
LikeLike
No, not precisely: there is a certain amount of water needed for it to hydrate. If you put too little water some of it won’t have space to hydrate and therefore it will be wasted.
On the other hand if you put too much water (for example 1 litre) and only 1 gram of sodium hyaluronate, it will be too diluted.
The suggested amount for normal molecular weight HA is 1% 🙂
LikeLike
Okay now I get it 😊 So i did that part right ! Right ? 😄
LikeLike
Just look for 0.01 scale on eb*y or am*zon. They are usually intended for gold as they are very precise.
Don’t take 100grams – 0.01 grams cause that’s too little (if you place your becher on it, it will get overloaded) so try to find around 400 grams – 0.01 grams.
🙂
LikeLike
Hi bb not trying to steel your thunder allinyourhands but if you want the same one as used in the recipe I got mine on eBay but it goes by a different name it is called geogard 221 but it is the same as Cosgard if that’s what you have been looking for.
LikeLike
Hi and thanks for your answer but Im looking for something else than cosgard since I got told that it’s not the best option –^
LikeLike
OK no probs if you don’t mind me asking what’s the reason for Cosgard not being the best option?
LikeLike
I asked what kind of preservative to use and she answered
“Hi BB your question was very vague. Did you mean that you would like to add proteins and vitamins to this gel to make a serum?
You can, but some ingredients won’t be compatible.
Since you are at the very beginning I would suggest you to make “simple as possible” serums that you can apply in different times of the day. Then, the more you learn and practice, the more you can mix in correct amounts 🙂
There are many preservatives which are paraben free. In this recipe I used Cosgard but it is not the best option (now I know).
40% is 40 percent which means that if you want to make 100 grams of cosmetic you need to add 40 grams of an ingredient… And if you wanted to make 1 kg of a cosmetic you should add 400 grams of that ingredient… And if you wanted to make 100 kg of an ingredient you should add 40 kg of that same ingredient. Hope it is clear :D”
LikeLike
I suggest you buy from cosmetic ingredients websites as they tend to be more controlled 🙂
LikeLike
Wow percentages was never my strong point but don’t know why you would make that much of a ingredient anyway so bit confused so I will just leave it there lol.
LikeLike
It was just an example 🙂 but imagine it being rose water in a serum 🙂 40% is fine 🙂
LikeLike
Hi itsallinmyhands so is it still OK to use Cosgard as I bought 20ml and it wasn’t that cheap lol thanks.
LikeLike
Sure it is ok, I use it sometimes too but I just said it is not the best option. 🙂
LikeLike
Hi, great recipe!! I made some HA serum with just water but am keeping it in the fridge for now because I have not put any preservative in it yet. I have optiphen that I would like to use but I am unsure of the amount to put in, wondering if you may be able to help! thanks so much!
LikeLike
I have never used optiphen.
I checked its MSDS and it can be added to acqueous solutions and the percentage of use is 0.5% – 1.5% so, depending on how much HA gel you made, you should add accordingly.
However, next time you make this gel again, remember to add optiphen in the right amount 🙂
It is really more dangerous to use an unpreserved homemade cosmetic than to apply a little bit of preservative 😉
Hope this helped! Have a great day! 🙂
LikeLike
Hello. Can you help me with this? Are there any active ingredients else could I add to my HA gel? I want to add SesaFlash, squalane, AHA, BHA or hydrolized milk protein. Which is compatible with the HA gel? Thanks alot.
Allie
LikeLike
Hello Allie.
You can add the milk proteins and you might add the Sesaflash (I have never used it but the pH seems compatible and it is water soluble).
However AHA and BHA are acids and therefore they are not compatible and squalane is hydrofobic so it would create a layer on top of your HA.
You could make a cream (using an emulsifying system) and use some of your HA with your squalane, milk proteins and hydrolized milk.
AHA and BHA would be better in a different formulation 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks. And could I add some glycerin or sodium lactate in HA gel? Or DL- panthenol (provitamin b5). Hydrating, isnt it?
LikeLike
You can add them but just keep in mind that sodium lactate and glycerine might make it a bit more sticky (but it IS a little sticky and filming anyway on its own!) And D-panthenol should be fine at 0.5% 🙂
LikeLike
is there any difference between the gel formula and the serum ?
LikeLike
I am not sure I understood your question, sorry.
However technically this gel recipe is already a serum but you can use it as a base for a more complex serum (for example you could add other water-soluble ingredients like hydrolized proteins, nanosomes, allantoin… I am just saying random ingredients 😀 ).
LikeLike
May I ask what went wrong and if that’s normal? I made hyluronic acid and after application, applied face cream but then it all gone rubbery. Is that because all I used was a large molecule one which doesn’t really get absorbed anyway??
Please kindly advise. Many thanks!
LikeLike
Also the low molecular weight one tends to do the same. What is actually important is that, even if not absorbed and even if it merely sitting on the skin, it DOES hydrate.
Maybe try to put less HA gel 🙂 or use it without a cream 🙂
LikeLike
Oh I see! Because I have read about the low molecular one a lot, thought it would penetrate better. I came across one made from Algae, have you tried it? If so, any feedback on this?
Thank you for your reply!!
LikeLike
Yes the low molecular weight might penetrate the skin better (but it has to be extremely low molecular weight) but the thing is that even just sitting on the skin the high weight molecular weight HA hydrates, because it bonds with water (more than the low molecular weight one) and therefore the skin is hydrated.
If the surface is hydrated, the deeper layer is hydrated too because there is not too much loss of water towards the outside. 🙂
LikeLike
Hi you will probably not remember but i have a couple of posts on here I made the solution with lmw HA and i used cosgard as a preservative I have been having good results meaning my face is alot more hydrated so been working good.
Now just recently though there has been a really weird sensitivity to the top part of my face the right side to be more precise and my right eye it is wierd when i touch my right side of my face it feels a wee bit sore and sensitive but it also feels like it is deep under the skin also it is really hard to describe but it just feels weird but my eye isn’t red or sore and neither is my face my regimen is wash my face before bed then apply my HA and then i sometimes put a little vasseline on my forehead to keep it hydrated then i go to bed could i be rubbing the HA into my eye while sleeping should i wait a while for it to absorb before i go to bed because it does seem to dry quick but could it still be present and i am rubbing it in just looking at things that could be causing this or could i be applying too much any help much appreciated thanks.
LikeLike
Sorry I don’t know about such things.
Stop using it for a week or 10 days to be sure it is connected?
LikeLike
Ok thanks. If i decided to make it again without a preservative how long would it last in the fridge.
Also as i said i like using this serum because it is keeping my skin hydrated but it is so simple and i am quite acne prone and this works good without the use of a moisturiser because they usually break me out E45 cream is usualy ok with me could i add it to E45 cream or of the top of your head what would be a good cream or moisturiser to add it to that would work with combination skin quite alot of questions but hope you can help thanks.
LikeLike
I am sorry I don’t know what cream E45 is.
But this is it: if you have a cream that you like, you can apply the HA before and, after the skin is dry, apply the cream! Any cream that works for you! 🙂
I don’t buy any moisturiser so I am no good at suggesting any brand really! Sorry about that! 🙂
LikeLike
Hello, I have decided to try this but unsure of the molecular weight: I found on eb*y both the 50 and the 200 kDA… Which one would you recommend? Also, what kind of preservative would work best? And can I use half rose water and half witch hazel, you reckon? Lastly, as the rose water I own already contains a bit of alcohol, can I skip the preservative part altogether? Many thanks and sorry for the many questions, Flora.
LikeLike
Hello Flora.
Those are both low molecular weight. You can use this but you will have to accept the fact that you will have a liquid serum and not a gelled one. In case you could add a gum to gel it if that’s important to you.
Preserving is important. Optiphen plus at 1% should do its job.
Do use a precision scale that can measure up to 0.01g 🙂
LikeLike
Great! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. What do you think of the witch hazel? Would that work? And how much mulecular weight should I use to get a gel consistency? 🙂
LikeLike
I think around 800 or more. I am only unsure about witch hazel’s pH (i dont know it). Anyway a liquid low molecular weight works even better (it is just not a gel) 🙂
LikeLike
OK one last question: would adding glycerine work to improve the texture of the serum? Thanks ever so much! Flora*
LikeLike
You can try adding 1-2% glycerin which is another humectant. Don’t exceed though 🙂
LikeLike
Lovely! Thanks so much! :)))
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have said that L-ascorbic acid and Hyaluronic acid are not good to mix. Can I use Vitamin C toner followed by HA serum? I read in one comment that you said wash off the vitamin C. I’m confused. Also, where can I find this preservative? I am new to your site and am enjoying the information. Thanks! Lori
LikeLike
Depends how the vitamin C toner is formulated!
LikeLike
It is simply L-ascorbic acid and water. 1/8t.- 1T water
LikeLike
Well then you should wash it off:
first of all it is not nice to keep a fast oxidizing thing on your skin (the L-ascorbic acid) and the pH would still bother your hyaluronic acid gel.
Just a suggestion: don’t rely on the teaspoons: always measure the pH before you put this “toner” on your skin! 🙂
LikeLike
I am making the serum now. Can you provide amounts in US? I am not adept at using grams. I have the Sodium Hyaluronate (1/4 t.) in 3.33 oz of water in the refrigerator right now. The conversion I found for the preservative (Benzylalcohol-DHA) is .02oz? Do you know how many tsp/Tbsp that is? Also, what pH should this be when it is finished? Thank you so much. Lori
LikeLike
Hello Lori.
Sorry but spoons are not accurate enough. You need to have a very precise scale (0.01 grams) to make these recipes, luckily they can be very cheap (less than 10 dollars).
I also don’t know the amount in oz, but maybe you could find a conversion tool online. 🙂
Buy the scale, it is really worth it! 🙂
Ps. I don’t know precisely the final pH but probably around 7, 7.5.
LikeLike
I’m in the USA & do not have any measuring tools for grams; can you please convert to tsp, tbsp? I triwd online conversion tools & they vary alot.
Than you for your consideration.
LikeLike
Hi Rebecca!
I am sorry but to make cosmetics a scale 0.01 g is really necessary: the online tools for converting to teaspoons vary a lot exactly because it is not a precise way of measuring (and specific weight of every ingredient varies depending of the ingredient: a teaspoon of mercury will weight much more than a teaspoon of silica powder, for example).
I really suggest you to purchase a very precise scale (you can find some cheaper than 10 dollars!). 🙂
Have a good day!
LikeLike
Which molecule weight of Hyaluronic Acid powder you recommend ?
LikeLike
Right now I am using a high molecular weight HA at 1% as well as a very low molecular weight HA at 0.5%
I have made a new serum few days ago, I will post the updated version soon 😉
LikeLike
hi!
i ordered this
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Frieda-Nano-HA-super-low-molecular-weight-enzyme-oligomeric-hyaluronic-acid-sodium-hyaluronic-acid-powder-1G/32597754201.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.57.4vCD5X
its says Molecular Weight: 5000 do i read this right?
i made it with the help of your instructions (only HA and distilled water), and it turned out very liquid, its almost like water…can you tell me why? is it spoiled? does this work this way? thanks in advance:)
LikeLike
I hope you added a preservative as well however you have bought an extremely low molecular weight HA so it won’t gel.
It is supposed to be better performing than higher molecular weight HA, so use it as it is 🙂
LikeLike
Anya, please don’t use this!!! Studies have shown that HA with a molecular weight of 20 kda or lower causes inflammation. It’s best to use 50 kda (that’s 50,000 da) and higher.
Here is a great way to use the low molecular weight HA that doesn’t gel. Get some of those cotton pads that have layers you can peel apart, soak the pad, peel the layers and plaster them all over your face. If you have a little more money, you can get plain cotton masks with no serum on them and soak them with your HA or other serums.
LikeLike
Karen I would really like to see those studies so please provide links to the original studies to your claims.
LikeLike
Hi, Been reading through the comments and I might be blind. I see in several places where “Cosgard is not the best option” but I do not see what is the best option. Also Can you recommend a source for Cosgard? or whatever the recommended preservative is?
LikeLike
True. Cause I havent still posted about preservatives cause it is a very difficult subject. I have been studying about it.
Cosgard can be found also under the commercial name of Geogard. Many places sell it. It is both on Manske shop, Aroma zone… and really many others.
Hope this helped! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks. I found it under the chemical name: Benzylalcohol-DHA.
What are you using for studying? how can I learn about the preservatives?
LikeLike
Books 🙂 tere is so much material you can find online, even from conferences on the subject! 🙂
LikeLike
Hello! What is the mol wt of the Na-HA you are using? I see one that is 1800KD, a high mol wt one. I think I want to use this one. I have tried several HA serums that I have purchased, but none of them tell you what mol wt range is used. Most of them seem like your picture, gel, but just a little bit drippy if you tilt. There was one tried that the gel was more firm. Each drop stood up tall with a straight firm point. But the gel was soft and absorbed very easily. I actually liked the effect of the firmer gel on my skin the best. It was the most hydrating for me. Do you think high mol wt HA give decisively firmer gels? Or do you think that formulation had just used more than 1%? (There was no other thickening agent in this serum). I would love your input! Thank you!
By the way have you ever used Sea Kelp Bioferment? Its so loved in some corners. I would like to try to add it to my HA serum, maybe 5%? Please let me know if you have any experience with it.
Smita
LikeLike
I had a high molecular weight HA, otherwise it remains liquid and doesn’t gel 🙂
However HA tends to liquify with time so usually they do add some support in store bought HA serums because HA doesn’t keep firm enough.
However: the highest is the molecular weight, the better if you want thick gels.
Lately the rave is all about Low molecular weight.
You can use over 1%, I have used 1.5% and initially it was a very thick gel, but as I said before it spoils fast and becomes liquid with time so make a small amount and use it up fast 🙂
I have heard of the SK Bioferment but have never tried it! I think Susan (Swiftcraftymonkey) wrote a couple of posts about it 🙂
LikeLike
Can you tell me how this recipe would work in bulk? Like if I wanted a gallon? I could use amstick blender. Also could I incorporate an essential oil into this and keep its viscosity?
LikeLike
It would still work the same way. As it is in percentages, you can make as big a batch as you want, just weight all your ingredients.
Essential oils wouldn’t necessarily spoil viscosity, but don’t add more than a drop or two every 100 grams or they will float on top of the gel (as you can see, there is no emulsifier in this gel)
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing. May I ask if I can use witch hazel toner in place of the distilled or rose water?
LikeLike
Just be sure the pH isn’t too low as it may interfere with HA! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks! I’ll make sure to find out what the pH level is.
LikeLike
Thank you for this recipe and thank you for sharing your knowledge! I am planning on adding the gel to my homemade body lotion.
Question, I do not normally add water to my body lotion. Any chance I could add the sodium hyaluronate to an oil? Also, I do not add a preservative to my lotion. I make it a small batch at a time which last about 2 months. I’m assuming the shelf life of the other ingredients will maintain the stability of the hyaluronic acid. Could that be true? And a last question regarding vitamin C. You mention the two ingredients are not compatible in certain formulations. Is it your opinion that I should skip the C in the body lotion I make with hyaluronic acid? Or again would the other ingredients allow compatibility? Thanks in advance for your help!!
LikeLike
Hello Pam
If your “lotion” doesnt contain water, it is not technically a lotion. If it is all made of oils, butters and waxes, it doesn’t even need a preservative.
A lotion is made AT LEAST of a water phase (this gel could be one), an oil phase (oils, butters), an emulsifier and definitely a preservative. You cannot make a lotion skipping the preservative.
Regarding the shelf life of products: you cannot know the shelf life of a product unless you test it but generally it doesn’t work as you say.
I have written many posts about how to make real lotions at home and I have many recipes of creams and lotions. Just check the theory and the recipe section! 🙂 Hope this helped!
LikeLike
Hi. I was thinking to make hydrating anti-aging serum. I think to use hyaluronic LMW 0.7%, HMW-1%, glycerite extracts, solubilizer, Essential oils, preservative.
1. What natural solubilizer would you advice and %.
2. Do I need emulsifier
3. Shell I use Carrageenan gum or Guar gum instead of HMW hyaluronic acid?
4. Do I need adjust pH with this ingredients
thank you soooo much
LikeLike
It depends on how much essential oils. However, polygl 10 laurate sounds as a good solubilizer. It also depends on the essential oils you use so test it first.
I would use HMW hyaluronic.
Yes check the pH and adjust if it is not skin compatible 🙂
LikeLike
Hi blogger, do you monetize your itsallinmyhands.com ?
There is easy way to earn decent money every day, just search on youtube :
How to earn with wordai 4
LikeLike
I made an HA serum and, like you said, it was a lovely gel at first, then liquefied over time. It there any way to stop this process? Is there a recipe to incorporate the gel into something more like a face cream? Thanks!
LikeLike
Yeah kinda any face cream I have contains some of this 😉
The way to slow down the process is to keep it in the fridge: it will last a little longer.
LikeLike
I have noticed you don’t monetize your site, don’t
waste your traffic, you can earn extra cash every month because you’ve got high quality content.
If you want to know how to make extra money, search for: best
adsense alternative Wrastain’s tools
LikeLike