Disclaimer: These do not bleach the skin. No one should be bleaching their skin. These are brighteners, but some may call them lighteners are well. All they do is help even the skin complexion. So if you have spots that have darken over time, yes those could be lightened, but your natural skin tone will not be lightened. We don’t need that. Everybody’s skin tone is beautiful the way it is, but as we age we get dark spots, which is totally natural and you should not feel ashamed of it. But we all have insecurities and doing some skincare can make us feel more confident. Implementing brighteners into your products can really transform the skin and give you that natural glow and even skin tone you’ve been wanting. Taking care of your skin can truly help boost confidence and can allow some of us to feel confident with minimal makeup, or maybe no makeup at all. I wish for everyone to feel confident enough one day to not feel the need to wear any makeup if they choose not to. Anyways, let’s talk about this dang toner already.
Let’s talk about our choices. We obviously need to pick a brightening ingredient for our toner, but there are so many to choose from. So lets take a look at each of them;
(Disclaimer: The descriptions of these ingredients come from the suppliers website of the respective ingredient. Some descriptions may be word for word from the suppliers description and some have been explained in my own words. Any claims of these ingredients is for information purposes)
Since this seems to be the most popular ingredient with my followers. I swear I receive more requests for Kojic Acid products than anything else.
Kojic Acid is an ingredient that becomes destabilized very easily. It is prone to oxidization and is recommended to be mixed with an antioxidant, like vitamin E to help prevent it from oxidizing. I’ve made a toner with Kojic Acid before, but it oxidized quickly and isn’t really a formula I’d recommend. We can take a look at a different version of Kojic Acid from lotioncrafter.com which is Kojic Acid Dipalmitate (KAD). This one is oil soluble. So it wouldn’t be a good ingredient to add into a toner. So overall, I don’t think Kojic acid makes a good ingredient for a toner. Now, there are millions of different products you can make when formulating. So yes, I’m sure it’s possible to make a stable toner with Kojic Acid, but this would end up being too advanced for most at home formulators, so for this reason, it’s out.
Next, let’s take a look at this HIGHLY under rated ingredient. People are always asking me for “natural” or organic ingredients so it surprises me when I hear no one talk about...
This is actually a blend of extracts. Here is the INCI name: Water, Glycerin, Alcohol, Malva Sylvestris (Mallow) Extract, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Extract, Primula Veris Extract, Alchemilla Vulgaris Extract, Veronica Officinalis Extract, Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract, Achillea Millefolium Extract.
I’ve been using this ingredient for years because it’s super easy to formulate with. So I think this one would be a great ingredient for beginners to use who want to formulate brightening products. Its a liquid that is water soluble and it can be used at 3 - 5% and is stable in a pH between 3.0 - 6.5 It also has a shelf life of 3 years, so it will stay good in your cabinet for a while if you don’t use it all immediately. It should also be incorporated into your product below 60°C (140°F). This ingredient can be used by all skin types.
Another really popular ingredient with you guys seems to be
INCI: Undecylenoyl phenylalanine. I get a lot of questions and requests about this one. You can use this at .2% in combination with another brightener, or at up to 2% if not paired with another brightener. It can be added to the heated oil or heated water phase, but at no more than 60°C (140°F). It can be used in any product with a pH under 5. If a product has a pH above 5, but below 6.2 then its needs to be incorporated with the use of up to 20% ethanol, this really isn’t the recommended pH. If your product has a pH about 6.2, then it can go into any product with no issue. It doesn’t experience color changing/oxidizing like Kojic Acid does. So as you can see this has a lot of rules to it when it comes to pH. It dissolves super easily into water, but if you aren’t familiar and comfortable with pH, this ingredient could be a bit difficult. So for that reason it’s also out as an option for beginners. I think there are too many rules to follow and to keep in mind for beginners.
It’s actually found within the spaces of our cells. So it is naturally already found in our skin. NAG has shown to help increase collagen production, moisture, elasticity, exfoliation, & wound heeling. I’m already into this ingredient, it sounds amazing! It’s been shown to help with hyperpigmentation of course too. That’s why it’s in this post. Lol It is an amino sugar that exfoliates the skin similar to alpha and beta hydroxy acids (AHAs & BHAs) but without irritation. So this would be great to use if you are someone who finds AHAs and BHAs to be too irritating. This is a water soluble ingredient that is in powder form. It dissolves super easily into water. It's recommended usage rate is 1-4%, but can be used at up to 10% or even 25% without causing irritation to the skin. If you do use 25% your formula will be cloudy though. And since they really only recommend up to 10%, then I really don’t think you need 25%. Seems like 1-4% is all you need. Lotioncrafter.com has all of these listed as key attributes, which just continuously sells me on this ingredient.
Key attributes:
Increases hyaluronic acid production in the skin
Repairs and treat sun damage
Reduces the appearance of wrinkles
Accelerates wound healing
Reduces trans-epidermal water loss
Improves skin tone
Improves barrier function
Reduces hyperpigmentation
Improves skin hydration
This ingredient is also not pH sensitive. So this make it even easier to work with. So I think this is a great candidate for a beginner friendly brightening toner. One thing that might be a negative to some is that it’s not vegan. It is derived from “the shells of crustaceans obtained as a byproduct of the shellfish industry.”
On another note I found so much interesting info about this ingredient. Here is study done on how N-Acetyl Glucosamine can help with joint health.
So if you can’t tell, at this point, this one is my favorite. Let’s take a look at more options.
Probably the most popular brightening ingredient you see in products. This is a white powder that is easily dissolved into water. It can’t be in temperatures above 40°C/104°F. It also needs to be in a pH between 3.5 - 6.6 Which is a pretty big opening, so it shouldn’t be too hard to formulate with. If used with an exfoliant or a penetration enhancer then you should only use 0.2%, otherwise you can use up to 2%. According to lotioncrafter.com “Alpha-Arbutin blocks epidermal melanin synthesis by inhibiting enzymatic oxidation of Tyrosine and Dopa. Arbutin appears to have fewer side effects than hydroquinone at similar concentrations - presumably due to the more gradual release. It is the more effective, faster and safer approach to promoting skin-brightening and an even skin tone on all skin types. Alpha-Arbutin also minimizes liver spots and meets all the requirements of a modern skin-brightening and skin depigmentation product.” So I think this one is another good candidate. Even though it is pH sensitive, it’s still within the pH level we will need to make sure the toner is at (4.5 - 5.5)
What I mean by that is, if your ingredient is pH sensitive then you need to make your product within the pH level of that ingredients need, but if none of the ingredients used in your product are pH sensitive, then you will still want to adjust your products pH level to be within our skins natural pH (4.5 - 5.5)
Vitamin C
There are so many different derivatives of vitamin C. The “purest” form is L-Ascorbic Acid. But this is a very unstable ingredient. It oxidizes very easily. It needs to be formulated with a specific way in order for it to be active. So we aren’t going to talk about that. That one isn’t an option, but there are a ton of different very stable derivatives of vitamin C I recommend using instead.
3-glyceryl ascorbate - acts as an antioxidant, brightens skin and improves skin regeneration, moisturizes and conditions skin, and enhances collagen and elasticity. It’s needs to be added at under 40°C (104°F) and recommended to be in a ph between 2-5. You can use this at 2% - 10% in your products and it’s water soluble. So can easily be added into water based products.
sodium ascorbyl phosphate - I’ve never worked with this, but this is another stable derivative of vitamin C. It’s water soluble, can be used at 0.2-3%, but up to 10%. It’s a powder that easily dissolves in water, but it may discolor at pH levels below 6.
magnesium ascorbyl phosphate - another water soluble stable derivative of vitamin C. May discolor at pH levels below 6. And is best to be used in emulsion based products at a pH between 5-7. Typically used at 0.2-3% but up to 10%.
FSS vitamin C liposome - this is a liquid liposome of vitamin C. FSS says “The liposomes protect against degradation which can be caused by direct exposure to UV rays and temperature changes” so basically the vitamin is incapsulated into a liposome making it easier to formulate with and more stable. This ingredient is water soluble and can be used at 1-10%. It can be added into formulas at 45°C/113°F.
So the thing is with all of these descriptions, they don’t mention that you can use them in toners/watery solutions, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. They just seem to preform better in emulsion based products. They also all recommend the use of vitamin E for best results. So over all I don’t think these are best for toners either, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them if you want to.
Lastly I’ll talk about this quickly because it’s basically just a liquid version of alpha arbutin along with a stable water soluble vitamin C. Its INCI is Water, Hydrolyzed Oat Protein, Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Alpha-Arbutin. Ethyl Ascorbic Acid is a stable derivative to vitamin C, and we are already familiar with alpha arbutin, and then oat protein is a conditioning ingredient derived from oats that can help soften the skin. This is recommended to be used at 1-5%, it’s been tested at the use of 5%, so I’d recommend 5%. It’s also a brownish/amberish color. Needs added at temperatures below 40°C (104°F) and recommended pH 4.0 -7.0. It doesn’t mention the added use of vitamin E at all and doesn’t mention about being used in toners, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be.
Here are some other honorary mentions that I use all the time in my products I made.
Niacinamide and licorice root extract. I think these are amazing additional ingredients to add in with one of these brighteners. Now nicainamied NEEDS to be in a pH of around6. So keep that in mind, it might not be able to be used with all of these ingredients. Licorice root extract on the other hand, can be used with any of these ingredients.
Another common ingredients used in lighteners/brighteners is AHAs. The combination of exfoliating and a brightening product can really help with hyperpigmentation. AHAs are more advanced ingredients to work with as they are acids and are pH sensitive and you need to raise the pH of them in order for them to be safe to use on the skin. They also can be in too high of a pH that can destabilize them. So that is what’s tricky about these guys. And since they need to stay in an acidic pH, they can’t be used with all of these ingredients I mention above, just the ones that are stable in a low pH (acidic pH). So all of this needs to be kept in mind when creating a brightening product. Since this is for beginners, we are leaving out the AHA and the niacinaide since these are pH sensitive. I have lots of recipes on here already containing niacniamide. You can just search for niacinamide using the search bar or click the niacinamide tag to filter all the posts including niacinamide. I also have a video all about how to use AHAs for beginners so check that out if you are interested.
So which brightening wins? Which one do I think is best for a beginner friendly brightening toner…..N-Acetyl Glucosamine (NAG), mainly because it isn’t pH sensitive. It also offers so many different benefits to the skin, so I think that makes it the winner. Although I think alpaflor gigawhite is another great option, just remember in needs to be in a pH between 3.0 - 6.5
Same with alpha arbutin, I think this is perfect for beginners too, but needs to be in a pH between 3.5 - 6.6, which again, just makes it a littler harder to use compared to N-Acetyl Glucosamine, even though we will need to adjust the pH for N-Acetyl Glucosamine to 4.5 - 5.5 anyways, but it still has less things to consider than alpaflor gigawhite or alpha arbutin. Another positive with all 3 of these; N-Acetyl Glucosamine, alpaflor gigawhite, & alpha arbutin they all can be used with niacinamide (just make sure the pH is around 6). Or, they all could be used with an AHA since they are all stable in low pH levels.
Writing the Formula
The first thing I wanted to decide, is how much NAG am I going to use? I decided to use it at the highest suggested usage rate, 4%. You can use up to 10%, but it seems to be more common to use 1-4%. If you want to use 10% you can. Just subtract from the distilled water percentage to make sure your formula still adds up to 100%. Next thing I did was pick out my preservative. I decided to go with liquid germall plus, because it mixes right into water without the need of a solvent. It's also super easy for beginners to use. Then of course I know I am using some glycerin because this is the easier humectant (hydrates skin) for people to find and I decided to use it at 5%. I don't want to use too much as some people can find it to feel sticky on the skin.
Now I could just end the formula there and make the rest of the percentage distilled water, but I decided to add in another humectant, DL Panthenol. This is vitamin B5 and it helps hydrated the skin and it's super easy to find, cheap, and easy to use. It's a powder that dissolves super quickly into water. So I am going to use 2% of that, but you can leave it out if you don't have it. Then lastly I decided I wanted to add in an extract, you don't have to if you don't want to, but I decided to use licorice root extract since it's cheap, easy to find and mixes right into water. You do want to make sure your extract is water soluble. It's okay if it's mixed in with glycerin. So here is the final formula
Formula
86.5% Distilled Water
5% Glycerin
4% NAG
2% Licorice Root Extract
2% DL Panthenol
0.5% Liquid Germall Plus
500 gram recipe
173 grams Distilled Water
10 grams Glycerin
8 grams NAG
4 grams Licorice Root Extract
4 grams DL Panthenol
1 gram Liquid Germall Plus
Directions;
Combine all ingredients in order mixing after each ingredient.
Make sure you mix until all powders have been dissolved.
Check and make sure pH is between 4.5 - 5.5 If you use the same formula no pH adjusting should be needed, but you should still check pH.
Pour into bottle of choice. You can use immediately
Benefits/Purpose of each ingredient
Glycerin - humectant that hydrates the skin.
NAG - We talked about it earlier. This is the brightening ingredient. this ingredient doesn't change the pH, it isn't pH sensitive, it dissolves and mixes into water easily, so it makes it perfect for beginners.
Licorice Root Extract - helps brighten and even complexion
DL Panthenol - aka vitamin B5 helps hydrate the skin
Liquid Germall Plus - preservative
Substitutions;
substituting ingredients will change the final feel, viscosity, and overall effect of final product. percentages and formulating procedure may need to change with substitutions. these substitution suggestions are just suggestions and have not been tested to work.
NAG - see above for other brightening options. I think alpha arbutin of alpaflor gigawhite would be the best options.
Licorice Root Extract - any extract of choice. (make sure it's water soluble)
DL Panthenol - you could use a different humectant like propanediol 1,3 or any water soluble ingredient you would like or just leave out.
Liquid Germall Plus - any water soluble preservative, but some preservatives that say they are water soluble still have issues mixing into water. I chose to use liquid germall plus because this is the easiest preservative for beginners and it doesn't need assistance being mixed into the water. Some preservatives like optiphen ND, optiphen plus, euxyl PE 9010, geogard ECT, Geogard 221, Euxyl K 903, Tristate Eco, all have issues being mixed into water, they need help by being mixed with a solvent such as glycerin, propandiol, or a solubilizer like polysorabate 80. So if you are a beginner, I recommend using liquid germall plus. If you want to use a different preservative, message me for help. I also recommend watching my video on ecocert preservative
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