Why use topical vitamin-C?
1. It improves the appearance of lines and wrinkles
2. Accelerates wound healing in the case of acne scars
3. Improves the generation of skin collagen making your the skin firm
4. In some ways it may reduce the population of acne causing bacterias by making the skin more acidic.
Why make your own topical vitamin-C?
Most products in the market containing L-Ascorbic acid have very low potency and are to say the least very unstable and already degraded when it arrives at your home.
L-Ascorbic acid is very very unstable in such a way that it is inactivated by light, heat and oxygen. When L-Ascorbic acid is degraded, it is converted into dehydroascorbic acid which does not possess the properties of ascorbic acid.
An indication of a degenerated vitamin-C is its color. Pure L-Ascorbic acid dissolved in water should have a water-clear color. As the pure L-ascorbic acid is degraded by heat,light and oxygen, it turns into a yellowish color and then finally to brown.
Manufacturers of topical L-ascorbic acid mask their unstable product by coloring their topical ascorbic acid solution with a yellow food color. In this case, the user would never know if they are using a fresh l-ascorbic acid solution (water-clear solution ) or a degraded ascorbic acid solution (yellow to brown color).
Take note that the effective dose of a topical ascorbic acid solution should be 10% by weight and also it should have an acidic pH. When we mean by acidic is that they are supposed to sting your skin a little bit. A topical ascorbic acid solution that does not sting the skin only means that it does not have an enough acidic pH that it cannot penetrate the skin. If the ascorbic acid cannot penetrate the skin layers then it is a useless product. In my honest opinion the most effective topical ascorbic acid solution is a homemade one. First, you know the exact dosage of vitamin-C in it and second you are guaranteed to have fresh batches. The only disadvantage is of course you have to prepare it daily or once every two days because ascorbic acid in a solution is very very unstable that it degrades in a few days.
How do i make a topical ascorbic acid solution?
Easy, to make a 10% L-ascorbic acid solution. Get a 50mL distilled water and add 10 tablets of 500mg Ascorbic acid of any brand. If you can get ascorbic acid capsules without fillers, that would be more preferrable since it does not have starch as a binder.
Use cotton balls to spread the solution into your face. Guaranteed to make your skin glow in one week.!!!! Seriously, i have tried this one and it WORKED!!, you just have to get used to the stinging feel of ascorbic acid though.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
DIY Topical Turmeric Extract for ACNE
In Indian ayurveda Turmeric is widely used for wound healing as antiseptic and as an anti-inflammatory agent. Turmeric ( Curcuma Longa ) is a member of the ginger family, they are used as spice and also as natural colorant. The active ingredient in turmeric is known as curcumin or diferuloylmethane. You can easily get Turmeric on a grocey store under the brand name of McCormick.
There are several patents for the topical use of turmeric.
Title: Turmeric as an anti-irritant in compositions containing hydroxy acids or retinoids
United States Patent: 6,277,881
Inventors: Santhanam; Uma (Tenafly, NJ); Weinkauf; Ronni Lynn (River Edge, NJ); Palanker; Laura Rose (Jackson, NJ)
Assignee: Unilever Home & Personal Care, USA, division of Conopco, Inc. (Greenwich, CT)
Title: Topical turmeric skin care products
United States Patent 20070048393
Inventors: Bommarito, Alexander A. (Freeland, MI, US)
Assignee: SPRAY TANNING, INC.
What are the benifits of topical turmeric extract on ACNE?
The main action of turmeric on acne is none other than its anti-inflamatory effects and the acceleration of wound healing. It does nothing on the oil gland activity.
How do i make topical turmeric extract?
Although you can dissolve turmeric powder on water and just spread it on your face, the best method is dissolving turmeric powder on a 50% ethyl alcohol solution or isopropyl alcohol solution. Spread the 50% alcohol 50% water solution over the face and leave it for at least 1 hour and wash it thoroughly.
Bad side: Same with topical beta-carotene. Curcumin would also love to dye your skin yellow.
There are several patents for the topical use of turmeric.
Title: Turmeric as an anti-irritant in compositions containing hydroxy acids or retinoids
United States Patent: 6,277,881
Inventors: Santhanam; Uma (Tenafly, NJ); Weinkauf; Ronni Lynn (River Edge, NJ); Palanker; Laura Rose (Jackson, NJ)
Assignee: Unilever Home & Personal Care, USA, division of Conopco, Inc. (Greenwich, CT)
Title: Topical turmeric skin care products
United States Patent 20070048393
Inventors: Bommarito, Alexander A. (Freeland, MI, US)
Assignee: SPRAY TANNING, INC.
What are the benifits of topical turmeric extract on ACNE?
The main action of turmeric on acne is none other than its anti-inflamatory effects and the acceleration of wound healing. It does nothing on the oil gland activity.
How do i make topical turmeric extract?
Although you can dissolve turmeric powder on water and just spread it on your face, the best method is dissolving turmeric powder on a 50% ethyl alcohol solution or isopropyl alcohol solution. Spread the 50% alcohol 50% water solution over the face and leave it for at least 1 hour and wash it thoroughly.
Bad side: Same with topical beta-carotene. Curcumin would also love to dye your skin yellow.
DIY Topical Beta-Carotene
It is well known that beta-carotene which is a precursor to vitamin-A is converted to retinyl palmitate inside the human body. Beta-carotene is sometimes called the "plant form" of vitamin-A since they usually occur as the yellow-orange pigments in plants and fruits. Carotenoids are organic pigments in plants that absorb blue light.
Application of beta-carotene topically in skin cells to some extent work. This is due to the fact that the enzymes necessary to convert beta-carotene to retinyl esters exists on the skin cells.
The retinyl esters are the chemicals responsible for affecting the oil glands and skin cell differentiation.
Every skin is different so some persons would respond well to a topical beta-carotene instead of the topical vitamin-a. If there is 100% conversion efficiency in the skin cell, 15mg of topical Beta-Carotene would convert into 25,000 IU of retinol palmitate or Vitamin-A.
To make a DIY topical beta-carotene
1. Cut open a beta-carotene capsule. If is already oily and has a paste consistency you can already spread it to the facial skin. If it is on powdered form, you still need to combine it with an oil carrier such as flax seed oil or olive oil ( take note: oil carriers are comedogenic to some extent )
The bad side about using topical beta-carotene is that some skin discoloration occurs as they are natural pigments. Beta-carotenes are natural dyes that would love to make your skin color orange :(.
Application of beta-carotene topically in skin cells to some extent work. This is due to the fact that the enzymes necessary to convert beta-carotene to retinyl esters exists on the skin cells.
The retinyl esters are the chemicals responsible for affecting the oil glands and skin cell differentiation.
Every skin is different so some persons would respond well to a topical beta-carotene instead of the topical vitamin-a. If there is 100% conversion efficiency in the skin cell, 15mg of topical Beta-Carotene would convert into 25,000 IU of retinol palmitate or Vitamin-A.
To make a DIY topical beta-carotene
1. Cut open a beta-carotene capsule. If is already oily and has a paste consistency you can already spread it to the facial skin. If it is on powdered form, you still need to combine it with an oil carrier such as flax seed oil or olive oil ( take note: oil carriers are comedogenic to some extent )
The bad side about using topical beta-carotene is that some skin discoloration occurs as they are natural pigments. Beta-carotenes are natural dyes that would love to make your skin color orange :(.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
DIY Topical Vitamin-A
I made this article so that everyone suffering from ACNE might be able to benefit from the good effects of vitamin-A. First off, the only thing that could reduce ACNE and too much oil production is Acutane which is of course a form of Vitamin-A. High amounts of retinol-palmitate taken orally can also reduce too much oil production but this is of course dangerous to the liver as high amounts of retinol palmitate accumulates on the liver and is toxic. The safe dosage of vitamin-A is only about 5,000 IU per day.
Skin care companies made topical versions as safe alternatives. They are of course in the form of Retinoic Acid ( Retin-A) which causes the skin cells to divide at a faster rate. The increase in skin cell turnover prevents comedo formation and prevents pore blockage. In effect it inhibits acne formation but does too little in decreasing oil production of the oil glands. The side effects of retinoic acid is of course skin irritation and redness.
Another alternative would be to use Vitamin-A ( retinol palmitate, retinyl palmitate ) topically at high amounts. Retinoic Acid effects on the skin is very pronounced and cell division could be very aggresive to the point of causing it to form skin flakes and redness. Topical retinol palmitate is less aggresive and also does not cause too much redness associated with retinoic acid. One company sells topical Vitamin-A solutions which is http://www.thevitamincure.com/. Their product use about 30,000 IU of Vitamin-A per drop. If you live in the U.S. you might be able to readily get that product but if you are outside US that could be a problem.
I personally made a homebuilt version of that product because i live outside US and shipping charge and customs duties for that product would make that product cost prohibitive. I would assume that most countries have "AFAXIN" which is Retinol Palmitate available over the drugstore. This is manufacture by Sanofi-Synthelabo packaged in a plastic bottle that contains 100 softgel capsules. You should buy the 50,000 IU softgel capsules. The softgels are about 9mm in diameter and contains an oil suspended vitamin-A which is about 0.5 mL in volume.
To use:
1. Cut open the 50,000 IU AFAXIN capsule
2. Squeeze out the oil-suspended Vitamin-A from the capsule
3. Spread the Vitamin-A over the facial skin affected by acne.
My Personal Results:
1-2 weeks - The fastest and most visible result that you can see is refining of pores and a much softer skin. There is also a healthy "matte glow" of facial skin as the old skin is rapidly shedding. ( vitamin-A topical or oral stimulates faster skin turnover)
3-4 weeks - Much better skin tone. Healthy skin glow is also observed but at this time i got breakouts. ( this is more or less expected as any oil suspended vitamins are comedogenic - this depends on the type of oil vehicle in which the retinol palmitate is suspended. But for the most part we can safely assume that they are at most comedogenic, which means they block skin pores causing breakouts ). Take note that this breakout phase is expected and would tone down as skin cell turnover rate increases with time. At this breakout phase us antibacterial agents such as Benzoyl Peroxide.
5 weeks - Skin tone is still great and visibly refined pores. Still have some breakout and I am still using Benzoyl Peroxide to control the breakout. Moderate reduction in oil gland activity.
Would update later pls. check back:
Skin care companies made topical versions as safe alternatives. They are of course in the form of Retinoic Acid ( Retin-A) which causes the skin cells to divide at a faster rate. The increase in skin cell turnover prevents comedo formation and prevents pore blockage. In effect it inhibits acne formation but does too little in decreasing oil production of the oil glands. The side effects of retinoic acid is of course skin irritation and redness.
Another alternative would be to use Vitamin-A ( retinol palmitate, retinyl palmitate ) topically at high amounts. Retinoic Acid effects on the skin is very pronounced and cell division could be very aggresive to the point of causing it to form skin flakes and redness. Topical retinol palmitate is less aggresive and also does not cause too much redness associated with retinoic acid. One company sells topical Vitamin-A solutions which is http://www.thevitamincure.com/. Their product use about 30,000 IU of Vitamin-A per drop. If you live in the U.S. you might be able to readily get that product but if you are outside US that could be a problem.
I personally made a homebuilt version of that product because i live outside US and shipping charge and customs duties for that product would make that product cost prohibitive. I would assume that most countries have "AFAXIN" which is Retinol Palmitate available over the drugstore. This is manufacture by Sanofi-Synthelabo packaged in a plastic bottle that contains 100 softgel capsules. You should buy the 50,000 IU softgel capsules. The softgels are about 9mm in diameter and contains an oil suspended vitamin-A which is about 0.5 mL in volume.
To use:
1. Cut open the 50,000 IU AFAXIN capsule
2. Squeeze out the oil-suspended Vitamin-A from the capsule
3. Spread the Vitamin-A over the facial skin affected by acne.
My Personal Results:
1-2 weeks - The fastest and most visible result that you can see is refining of pores and a much softer skin. There is also a healthy "matte glow" of facial skin as the old skin is rapidly shedding. ( vitamin-A topical or oral stimulates faster skin turnover)
3-4 weeks - Much better skin tone. Healthy skin glow is also observed but at this time i got breakouts. ( this is more or less expected as any oil suspended vitamins are comedogenic - this depends on the type of oil vehicle in which the retinol palmitate is suspended. But for the most part we can safely assume that they are at most comedogenic, which means they block skin pores causing breakouts ). Take note that this breakout phase is expected and would tone down as skin cell turnover rate increases with time. At this breakout phase us antibacterial agents such as Benzoyl Peroxide.
5 weeks - Skin tone is still great and visibly refined pores. Still have some breakout and I am still using Benzoyl Peroxide to control the breakout. Moderate reduction in oil gland activity.
Would update later pls. check back:
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