There are some beauty treatments, whose effectiveness rivals even the most costly products from your dermatologist, right in your own home. There are a bunch of wonderful herbs, spices, fruits and vitamins that can be truly life changing, when used alternatively as skincare or haircare.

One of my favorite beauty secrets is the use of Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) whose effectiveness against wrinkles, fine lines and pigmentation is backed by a good amount of scientific evidence. Here’s the problem: Vitamin C serums that you purchase, are actually known amongst many beauty insiders as one of the biggest scams in beauty. Why you ask? Vitamin C needs to be stable in order for it to be effective. Once it has hit the air, it immediately oxidizes which serves actually to become not only ineffective but harmful. Oxidized Vitamin C increases the formation of free radicals, rather than repelling them.

It’s recommended by dermatologists to use a Vitamin C serum, so what do you do? Make your own! It’s not only more cost effective, but you will be promised stabilized Vitamin C, which will stimulate your collagen, fade any unwanted pigmentation, and help greatly with wrinkles.

What I found to be the best combination, and I learned from a professional who accesses skin damage through Complexion Analysis, is the mixture of Vitamin C with Vitamin E. Vitamin E is a fat soluble antioxidant, that regenerates, stabilizes and potentiates Vitamin C whereas water does the opposite.

I found when using this mixture of Vitamins topically, my spots were lightened with a rapidity I had not seen before! There is a catch, however, Vitamin C is acidic, and can irritate sensitive skin, especially at the high concentrations required for simulating my kind of results. It would be wise to start the mixture with a smaller concentration of Vitamin C and add more as you progress.

I use Vitamin C crystals, I then add a gel capsule of Vitamin E. You can use this either as a face-mask or a spot treatment depending on your desired results for this treatment and the sensitivity of your skin.

Vitamin C/E Serum Recipe:

1/2 Tablespoon of gel or powdered natural Vitamin C
1 Tablespoon of liquid Vitamin E
A Small Glass Bowl
A Spoon

Mix the ingredients together in the small glass bowl, using either the spoon or your fingers apply all over face, or as a spot treatment. Avoid the eye area. If the tingling is too intense (there SHOULD be a bit of tingling, it means that it is working, so you will have to decipher for yourself) rinse off, add more vitamin E to the mix, reapply, and work your way up to a higher concentration. Leave on as a Mask for 20 minutes, leave on as spot treatment over night.