DIY recipes
April 22nd, 2026 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
May I offer a definition? “A substance that, applied topically, will help reverse the manifestations of skin aging, including the capacity to prevent the entry of noxious chemicals and microbes, loss of elasticity, impaired pigmentation, wrinkles, increased itching or pain, etc.” This definition contradicts the FDA’s “rule” that cosmetics shouldn’t alter skin physiology but can change skin appearance. But of course, anti-aging cosmetics change skin physiology (and appearance), even if we insist on pretending otherwise to keep the FDA happy. In my book and in my pamphlet “Chemicals that Nature Makes,” I mention some anti-aging ingredients. For some of them, there is strong experimental evidence from scientific journal articles. Still,…
February 28th, 2026 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Coconut milk is an endosperm product that has a growth-stimulating effect on the developing coconut embryo. In 1941, the Dutch plant physiologist J. van Overbeek discovered that the addition of coconut milk led to a marked increase in the growth of plant embryos and tissue cultures. The question of which components cause the growth stimulation arose immediately, and kinetin was discovered. Experimental data indicate that kinetin acts as a strong antioxidant in vitro and in vivo, not only in plants but also in animals. Kinetin has been found to inhibit oxidative and glycoxidative protein damage generated in vitro and to protect DNA against oxidative damage mediated by the Fenton reaction.…
February 21st, 2026 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
For those left adrift by the disappearance of a company that catered to skin care DIY enthusiasts, Lotioncrafter.com now supplies the following: Epidermal growth factor: Keratinocyte Growth Factor Hops extract is not one of our proteins (it’s not a protein at all!), but it has been formulated following our process. It’s a source of xantohumol. Sea Kelp bioferment is very similar to my old formulation and should make a good base to carry KGF into the scalp. I will keep adding links as I find Lotioncrafter ingredients that could help mimic my old formulations. Thanks for your patience Hannah
February 21st, 2026 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
As always, I avoid fragrances. If you don’t like the smell of a particular ingredient, avoid it, but fragrances will always work against you, unless they are an active ingredient that has a beneficial activity and happens to smell nice (like apocynin, a.k.a. acetovanillone, or mint, an antiviral). Utensils you will needPlastic jar for 50 grams or more of cream. Should give you space for mixing using a spatulaScale: I suggest you use a scale and manage your ingredients by weight, rather than volume, this is what formulators do. It’s hard to measure volumes when you are dealing with thick or viscous materials. Scales are very inexpensive and precise these…
April 2nd, 2024 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Older skin is different from baby skin, not just in texture but also in color. Or, let’s say, colors, like in plural? Older skin looks almost like a map, with different spots reminding you of all the ays we mistreated our skin as we grew up. That burn while we were boiling water in the kettle? The time we stayed way too long in the sun after the sea had rinsed away the sunscreen. How about broken capillaries? They produce bruising that changes color with time and may take months to disappear. You may also get those pin-size red spots. Many illnesses require the use of anticoagulants: heart arrhythmia, cancer,…
February 8th, 2024 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The first thing to do is ask yourself what your aspirations/desires/hopes are for the serum you wish to design. Anti-age? Tightening? Comfort? Nutrition? Then come the restrictions imposed by reality. What ingredients can do what you wish your serum to do? Are they available? Are they safe? This depends on where you live. The USA is a great country for DIY: you can get almost anything worth having in your skin care. You can start with Skin Actives. Then there are the laws of nature. The first law in DIY skincare is this: ignore the physical and chemical properties of an ingredient at your peril. Why? The solubility of a…
January 31st, 2024 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What do you need to get your skin to glow? You could get some fireflies to do the work using luciferin and luciferase. Fireflies make light; it’s called bioluminescence. Humans don’t make light. Figure. This gorgeous photo of Greta Garbo makes it look like she is glowing. Actually, her face is only reflecting light perfectly positioned by the photographer. If trying to catch fireflies is too much work, you may be content with skin that doesn’t glow but reflects a bit more light. And how do you get that? Removing the upper layers of cells from the epidermis should do the trick; smoother skin (or makeup) will reflect more light.…
January 28th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Yes! Niacinamide is great! And you can make your own niacinamide skin care easily: just add it to Skin Actives base spray and serum. It’s very soluble in water, one of those few actives that it’s easy to use on your own. Niacinamide is a frequent ingredient in skincare, and for good reasons: it’s a vitamin, so it will be useful even at very low concentrations. It has many more benefits for the skin, so read on! Figure. Chemical structure of niacinamide (nicotinamide) Why a vitamin? No niacinamide, no NAD+, no respiration! Niacinamide is one of the components of NADPH (reduced niacinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) the coenzyme that provides the…
November 6th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
You get lots of occlusive agents (in bold) plus the miracle of petrolatum. Ingredients: Algae Extract, Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, Glycerin, Isohexadecane, Microcrystalline Wax, Lanolin Alcohol, Lime Extract, Sesame Seed Oil, Eucalyptus Leaf Oil, Sesame Seed Powder, Alfalfa Seed Powder, Sunflower Seedcake, Sweet Almond Seed Meal, Sodium Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Calcium Gluconate, Magnesium Gluconate, Zinc Gluconate, Magnesium Sulfate, Paraffin, Tocopheryl Succinate, Niacin, Water, Beta-Carotene, Decyl Oleate, Aluminum Distearate, Octyldodecanol, Citric Acid, Cyanocobalamin, Magnesium Stearate, Panthenol, Limonene, Geraniol, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Citronellol, Benzyl Salicylate, Citral, Sodium Benzoate, Denatured alcohol, Fragrance. Skin conditioners and moisturizers: Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, Glycerin, Isohexadecane, Microcrystalline Wax, Lanolin Alcohol, Sesame Seed Oil, Decyl oleate, Paraffin Minerals: Sodium Gluconate, Copper…
October 25th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
With Skin Actives new Base Serum and Base Toner Spray, you can do many things! Our water-based carriers will dissolve many different actives, like epidermal growth factor, ROS BioNet with antioxidant proteins, hydrolyzed collagen, peptides, hyaluronic acid, and many more. This is your opportunity to do DIY (do it yourself) skincare by adding active ingredients that attract your attention and make your unique serum or spray. Our ready-made bases already include preservatives that protect you from bacteria and mold that could spoil your “concoctions” and even infect your skin and eyes (this is why skincare products always contain preservatives, by law!). They also have the pH (level of acidity) your…
August 5th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
O ATP! I could write poems to ATP, sing to it, or maybe build a sculpture! It’s the most beautiful molecule in the world. Or maybe Rubisco is, or chlorophyll. I have many favorites. But ATP is the energy currency of life. Life “runs” on ATP, the energy that allows cells to make order out of disorder and build molecules using what, ultimately, it’s the sun’s energy. But let’s keep it simple: our cells make ATP out of the food we eat. Our skin uses ATP to do almost everything, to keep everything going, make new cells, and keep going for almost 100 years. Figure: the ultimate energy currency,…
May 10th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Why do plants have so many antioxidants? Because, however different from us, plants use oxygen, and their metabolism produces ROS* (reactive oxygen species) just like us. They also live in an environment where ROS* are present. Just like we do. Let’s use their antioxidants, so varied and effective, they will delay skin aging and help reverse the effect of ROS* and UV reaching our skin. We hear a lot about astaxanthin can increase the active value of your “potions”. Why? Figure: chemical structure of astaxanthin Plant pigment, antioxidant Astaxanthin, a carotenoid, is a potent antioxidant that enhances the immune system, and reduces the acute inflammation reaction of the skin…
April 3rd, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Kinetin (6-furfurylaminopurine) is a derivative of adenine, one of the nucleic acid bases that form DNA and RNA. Kinetin would be more effective if you were a plant looking to grow some shoots, but it has some benefits for human skin. Figure. Kinetin (6-furfurylaminopurine) Kinetin on human skin Kinetin (a chemical with plant hormone activity) and zeatin (a natural plant hormone) have been shown to have some growth-modulating, antioxidative and antisenescence effects in human skin cells. Kinetin application also stimulated the formation of elastin and fibrillin-1 deposition in the upper dermis and stimulated their perpendicular organization to the dermo-epidermal junction. Kinetin may affect keratinocyte differentiation to improve skin moisture content,…
March 24th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
But first, what’s in it? What can it do for you? The ingredient list wants to convey “natural” and “plum” (just because plum and plump together sound like fun), so you will find many label value ingredients below the 1% concentration, which is the boundary after which you can list the ingredients in any order. This is a good way to hide preservatives, but here there are a couple at the end of the list (Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol). Plums are a type of fruit of the genus Prunus, but this product uses fruits that may look like plums but belong to many different, unrelated species. There are some nice ingredients…
March 24th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
How to start?Buy some self-stick labels and write with a golden marker the following: Magic! Elixir! Golden! Crystal! You are halfway there. Next, I will tell you how to make your own, improved version. Ignore ingredients labeled by me as “label value”, LV. They are there to “plump” the ingredient list and help hide synthetic ingredients and fragrances. Charlotte’s Magic Cream | Charlotte Tilbury Ingredients: Water (solvent), Homosalate (chemical UV filter)), Glyceryl Stearate SE (lubricant), Ethylhexyl Salicylate (exfoliant), Butylene Glycol (solvent), Glycerin (humectant), Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane (chemical UV filter), Octocrylene (chemical UV filter), Cetyl Alcohol (emulsifier), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate (emollient), Cyclopentasiloxane (silicone, feel), Dimethicone (silicone, feel), Phenoxyethanol (preservative), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea)…
January 16th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
You can buy ceramide powder from Skin Actives here 1.2 grams may not look like much but it will go a long way. This is because the role of ceramides is to form layers that will prevent water loss from your skin. That’s all they do, just like the ceramides that your skin makes (starting with fatty acids). Ceramides in your skincare products are more important if your skin barrier is damaged, but don’t expect miracles (you can expect those from epidermal growth factor). What matters is not the type of ceramide but its capacity to form layers. Natural ceramides don’t have an advantage over synthetic pseudoceramides (like ours is).…
January 4th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
There are acne patches that will cover up the lesion, they are small, sticky, and made of hydrocolloids. What can they do? Very little but they may be enough if the acne lesion is very minor. The hydrocolloid will absorb the fluids produced by the acne. It will also hide the lesion and help prevent you (or your kid) from touching the zit and spreading of infection. You can improve on these “inert” patches by using them in conjunction with Zit-ender. Apply just a hint of Zit-Ender to the pimple and stick an acne patch on top. If you don’t have acne patches at home, you may be able to…
December 9th, 2021 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What is a lip balm? What can it do? Lip balms are used to help with painful lips, dried by the dry weather, central heating and the sun. What’s special about lips? With its three to five cellular layers, the skin of the lips is very thin compared to the skin in the rest of the face, which has up to 16 layers. The lip skin does not have sweat glands or hair, so it does not have the usual protective layer of sweat and body oils, which keep the skin smooth and somewhat protected. For these reasons, the lips dry out faster and become chapped more easily. They are…
October 20th, 2021 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
In my opinion (this is Hannah), there are three cornerstones to skincare: mitochondria, antioxidants, and protection from UV. And these needs, protect skin from UV and strong oxidants, and protect the integrity of mitochondria, are NOT age specific. What do mitochondria do?Let me explain why mitochondria are so important and so worth the best possible care we can afford. Mitochondria provide energy as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the form of energy our cells can use to do “housekeeping,” grow, and divide. This is true, not just for us humans, but for all eukaryotes (organisms with nuclei). Mitochondria use molecular oxygen to extract a lot of energy that would otherwise be lost,…
September 23rd, 2021 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is crucial to life. It works as an electron/hydrogen carrier that facilitates the transfer of energy between nutrients and the cell’s energy currency, ATP. In these oxidation-reduction reactions, the active part of the coenzyme (the one that gets reduced and oxidized again and again) is the nicotinamide. Note: the name used in chemistry is nicotinamide, but the skincare industry uses “niacinamide”. The rose by any other name… Although NAD+ is crucial to life, some live forms can make it and other can’t. Humans can’t, and we have to ingest it as food (or vitamin supplements). It is a vitamin, a form of vitamin B12, also plays…