DIY Vitamin C Serum - Recipes and Results Part 1 + Hair Loss and Restoration

As some of you know, I have had an ongoing fight with a cutaneous (skin) parasite. It has left my arms, legs and face with a mass of scars. My arms are the worst. As the parasitic worms move about and literally eat your skin, it starts to take on a characteristic look they call "lizard skin." If you look closely, you can see that the skin on my forearms is covered with scars. My face isn't so bad with the scars, although there are some, but the parasite also cause melasma, so my face, neck and upper chest is a patchwork of brown splotches. The weirdest part is that right under my chin, over my enlarged thyroid, the skin is stark white. It has no pigment at all.

I have researched every way known to try to remedy this, but all the treatments are so expensive. The other day, I found something that may actually help me. I found a site where there were recipes for DIY Vitamin C serum.

I knew the Vitamin C serums were exorbitantly expensive, and that they were unstable, so you had to use them up quickly. I decided to give the homemade stuff a try, so I ordered some NOW Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals from Amazon, which were less than $17 for a pound container.

At first, I was unsure how strong to make the mixture, but I decided to try the 10% solution. After 3 days of nothing happening (it didn't even sting my skin), I decided to go up to the 20% solution. I've been using that on my face, neck, chest and arms for about 3 days now, and I can tell it's working. Tonight, it burned when I put it on, so I may have to cut back to 10% tomorrow.

On my arms, since the skin is a lot thicker, I did a couple of 50% solutions, but the crystals really don't dissolve with that little water, so I may try using something else in the future. I use the 20% solution on them in the morning, and they are feeling a little smoother.

I'm also using castor oil, because I know from experience that it removes scars and much, much more. It is also supposed to fade melasma, so we'll see. I expect to not see much difference for a month or so, and no appreciable difference for at least 2 months. I have 5 months until my son's wedding, so I have time to figure something out if this doesn't work well.

Hair Loss Solution? 

In the meantime, my hair has started falling out horribly, especially on the top and sides. I've been under so much stress, and I had stopped taking my daily vitamin regimen, so I'm not surprised that it's falling out. Luckily, Castor Oil is supposed to help with that too. Dr. Oz says that the one vitamin you should take for hair loss is Biotin, so I did some research and ordered the 5,000 mcg capsules and started taking them.

I had been doing the no-poo shampoo method, but removing the castor oil requires a strong cleanser, so I use a detergent shampoo and rinse with the vinegar water to remove it from my hair and scalp. I then put a tiny bit of coconut oil on for conditioner. I also use the coconut oil for a moisturizer all over.

As I write this, I can feel my neck sweating just a little and it's irritating my skin, causing it to itch, so I will definitely have to cut the serum strength back tomorrow. I just wanted to get a good start so I could see if it was working, because different sites said different things.

You can find the recipes for the DIY Vitamin C serum HERE. If you have sensitive skin, I'd suggest starting at 5% and working your way up. My skin is so thick from years in the sun, the lower concentrations just didn't do what I wanted them to do.

You can  find the NOW Vitamin C Crystals on Amazon by clicking on the link below, which gives me a few pennies from Amazon, so I really appreciate it.

NOW Foods Vitamin C Crystals, Ascorbic Acid, 1 Pound