Good morning! Welcome to another new week. What did you all do this weekend?

My weekend was filled with a little work, a little play, and a little relaxing. Perfect balance, if ya ask me!

Today’s post is on a topic I’ve been meaning to write about for a while, now! I don’t think any one of my close friends would call me high maintenance when it comes to…grooming myself. Every day I wear the same makeup – concealer, blush, and mascara. If I’m feeling fancy, or going out, I’ll put on a little eyeliner and perhaps even some eye shadow. My nails are usually bare, and not manicured (something I really wish I did care about more! lol) and it takes me under 45 minutes to get ready, from shower to walking out the door.

OK, so I’m in a public bathroom in this picture…but you get the point.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that when it comes to my skincare routine, I like that to be as low maintenance as possible. That said, for the last 5 years or so, I’ve been on a perpetual quest to find my one tried and true product for each necessity – my holy grails, as I like to call them. Oh, and I’m also one for using the least amount of chemicals as possible on my skin. And the only HG I’ve left to find is the perfect hair serum.

Now, I wouldn’t have what you would call gorgeous, flawless skin. That type of skin seems to grace the presence of darker-complexion, tanned brunettes (as far as I’ve noticed.) And for being 28, I don’t have to worry about wrinkles too much yet. My main concerns are having sensitive, combination skin, that can be dull, and the occasional acne that rears its ugly head come that-time-of-month. Although I can’t do too much for hormonal zits, I have found a way to brighten up my dull, freckly skin.

At first I was going to go over my entire skincare routine, and I might do that in another post if people are actually interested, but what I really want to focus on today is the part of my routine that’s made the biggest difference in my skin:

DIY Vitamin C Serum.

This is the only addition I’ve made to my skincare routine in the past month, and I’ve already gotten several compliments on my skin, specifically that it looks bright and glowy! Before I started using my DIY serum, I used Mad Hippy Vitamin C serum, and I’m not sure how much good that did to my skin.

And in addition to producing more noticeable results, it’s a lot cheaper, too!

All you need is:

-distilled water

-L-ascorbic acid

-a tinted glass bottle

I picked up Vitamin C crystals (ascorbic acid) from Whole Foods, and it was only about $10. The distilled water I grabbed from Sprouts for a buck fitty, and I also grabbed the little bottle for a couple bucks. I’d recommend getting a tinted spray bottle though. I think that’d be less messy. Anyway, here’s how you make it*:

I started with a 10% potency the first two weeks, to make sure my skin could handle it, and after it seemed to be doing just fine for a couple weeks, I moved up to 20% I don’t think I’d go above 20% concentration.

Basically just put the ingredients in your bottle and shake, shake, shake! The solution keeps for about 4 days, and then just dump out the rest and make more. I put this on in the morning only, after swiping my face with some witch hazel on a cotton ball, and before sunscreen.

Do you put any type of products on your skin?

What do you think makes the biggest difference for your skin?