This milky facial oil is pretty much the opposite of my Argan bronzer. While the bronzer is designed to impart a summery glow, this serum lightens and brightens the complexion, smoothing out imperfections and giving you that Downton Abbey complexion I’m so in love with these days.
A base of silky, luxurious Argan oil is thickened slightly with a hint of capuacu butter. I chose cupuacu for its smooth, silicone-like feel, but if you don’t have it mango butter (USA / Canada) would be a good alternative. The butter is there to thicken the oil base and help keep the powders in suspension, so while I don’t recommend eliminating it, you could if you’re ok with shaking the bottle vigorously before each use.
To that I’ve added a touch of sericite mica (USA / Canada). This pale, translucent powder works to diffuse light around the skin, giving the appearance of smooth, perfect skin without heavy coverage. It’s a wonderful subtle touch.
For added brightness I’ve added titanium dioxide. I recommend adding it slowly and in small amounts, testing it on your skin to see what you think. You’re aiming for a bit of lightening, not the Queen Amidala look.
Once you’re happy, use a funnel to pour your serum into a 15ml glass bottle with a dropper top. To use, just massage a few drops into your face, taking care to blend around the edges as you would with foundation.
Winterlight Argan Serum
10g | 0.35oz argan oil (USA / Canada)
2g | 0.07oz capuacu butter
~5/32 tsp oil-soluble titanium dioxide (I use these tiny measuring spoons for tiny measurements like this)
3/16 tsp sericite mica (USA / Canada) (do not use other kinds of mica unless you want to look like a disco ball!)In a small dish, weigh out the argan oil (USA / Canada) and capuacu butter. Place the dish in a slightly larger bowl of just-boiled water and let the warmth of the water melt the capuacu butter, stirring to encourage things along.
Add the sericite mica (USA / Canada) and stir with a flexible silicone spatula to combine. Begin adding the titanium dioxide a wee bit at a time, stirring between additions to blend and testing the mixture on your skin to check the colour.
Once you’re happy with the final shade, use a funnel to transfer to mixture to a 15mL/half ounce glass bottle with a dropper top.
To use, shake the bottle before use and massage a few drops into your face, taking care to blend around the edges.
Wonderful! I am so going to try this one. I am always in love with Downton Abbey complexion! Thank you.
Me too 🙂 Enjoy it!
What if I wanted to add a little color to this to perfect my complexion even more? How would you recommend going about that? Thanks so much Marie!
For a hint of non-complexion-specific colour, I’d probably start with a coloured mica—if you want even more colour but not shimmer then I would look at some of the pre-dispersed liquid dyes that TKB Trading sells. The main advantage of those over powdered pigments is that they’ve been very finely distributed into the oil base already so you have a lower chance of getting a smear of pure pigment across your face! You could also try including some of your custom-blended mineral makeup from my book 🙂 Happy making!
Hi Marie.
I’m not sure if you see these comments anymore but I’m looking for the Bee Better Version. I made it in January and can’t find it now.
Hi Sandra! I haven’t done a Bee Better version of this formulation, so I’m not sure what you made in January. You can find all my Bee Better formulations here.
Ooh! This looks so interesting! Could we see some photos of you with this on? I am excited to try!
I finally got my stuff together and made a video of it, so now you can see it in action 🙂
I don’t have cupuacu butter, what’s the next best thing?
I chose cupuacu for its smooth, silicone-like feel, but if you don’t have it mango butter would be a good alternative 🙂
After following you for quite some time, I have noticed you have amassed an impressive collection of ingredients. Care to share how you store your wares?
Hi Gina! You’re right—my collection is a bit out of hand 😛 I’m lucky enough to have a secondary kitchen-type area in my basement with a few cupboards and a spare fridge, so that’s where everything lives. It’s cool, dark, and out of the way, so it’s ideal! Readers who don’t have a second kitchen have told me they have a DIY bookshelf or tub 🙂
Oh! I’m giving this a try as soon as I can ! I’m thinking of adding some silver and gold mica and perhaps some licorice extract and vitamin c for extra brightening effects, should make a nice primer for my foundation . Only maybe a little long to set … should i add some kaolin clay ? Starch ?
That’s sure a long list of revisions 😉 Watch your solubility, the vitamin C and licorice extract are going to be water soluble and won’t play nicely with this oil based concoction. Honestly, I’d just leave the recipe as it is rather than doubling the ingredient list 😛
Could you use shea butter instead in this recipe and also can you sub out a different type of mica? Not sure if I have Sericite mica.
Hi Fuchia! You could use shea butter if that’s all you have, though I find it a bit heavy for facial use. Mango butter would be a better alternative.
Sericite mica is a unique type of mica that isn’t crazy sparkly/glittery like all the other ones, so you can’t swap it out unless you want to look a touch like a disco ball 😛
Thank you I do have Mango Butter so I’ll use that instead. Will see if I have Sericite or get some.
Have fun! 🙂
What do you consider a smidgen? 🙂
I have a handy set of wee measuring spoons for just this purpose, very much like these ones. I highly recommend grabbing a set, especially if you’re interested in making cosmetics as the precision is wonderful for developing recipes and achieving that perfect skin tone in your mineral make-up again. 1 smidgen is 1/32nd teaspoon, but it’s much easier to measure that out with the special spoons 🙂
Where oh where did you get those “eye dropper” caps from? I checked New Directions and did not see them.
They’re from Saffire Blue—I find I prefer the shape of both their eyedroppers and their 15mL glass bottles (both pictured here) to the ones NDA sells.
Thank You!
Due to living in the US and shipping cost I did find this company-it has good prices and no minimum order.
http://www.specialtybottle.com/cobaltbluebostonroundglassbottle2ozwdropper.aspx
Thanks! I wish cross-border shipping wasn’t such a pain, they have so many things I’d love to try.
🙂
I want to try some of your body recipes. I have ready access to basic essential oils, but would probably need to place an order for many of the raw ingredients. Are there basic “pantry” type of ingredients you keep on hand always because they are used frequently? It’d be more efficient to get basics to have on hand. I’d love to see an article on developing such a pantry of supplies.
I have just such an article here 🙂
Would it be bad to add an essential oil or two to this blend to match my skin issues? I was thinking frankincense and sandalwood.
Not at all! Enjoy it 🙂
Hi Marie,
I love all of your lovely creations. Although, red turkey oil is not required for this recipe, I finally ordered 16oz of it from Saffire Blue. I prefer the RTO to polysorbate 20. Anyway, I have all of the ingredients for this recipe, what do you think of adding a pinch of allantoin powder to it?
Thank you,
Heather
Hi Heather! Allantoin is water soluble, so if you add it to this it will be gritty and gross 🙁
Thank you!
Made this Serum today, although I needed to swap in Mango butter and used a Silver Satin Mica as I couldn’t source the ones in the recipe, and the results are fantastic!
Really surprised how well it toned down blemishes and feels so light on the face.
Looking forward to trying more recipes over the next little while.
Wonederful! I’m so glad you like it! Do you find the silver satin mica makes you very sparkly? Sericite mica is not a sparkly mica at all, and really doesn’t look or behave like any other micas. It’s a light diffuser, which is why I included it 🙂
No not too sparkly at all! I have very pale skin and is very complementary. I find even the palest cosmetics look awful on me so I decided to just use this and forgo the rest of my make up on my first day back at work (just had a lovely month off!) and everyone said how nice I was looking!
Oh good! I can definitely relate to storebought cosmetics never being quite pale enough 🙂
Hi Marie!
It recently came to my attention that while argan oil (or sometimes argania spinosa in ingredients lists) is very NON-irritant, it is comedogenic.
While I wish I could get a copy of the actual Vivant Labs report, all I got is this:
http://skinsalvationsf.com/2013/08/new-clogger-alert-argan-oil/
and this:
http://skinsalvation.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/comedogenic-updated-619-1024×790.jpg
Care to share your thoughts? Or am I just reading the wrong articles?
Oh, and you mentioned several times about border “issues” with shipping raw materials from the US to Canada… Have you ever considered a package/parcel forwarding service? ShipSmartCanada.com or PakMailCanada.com and others like it? I have one myself, works effectively (from US to Philippines).
Cheers!
Hmm, interesting. I’ll be the first person to admit that my skin is very well behaved, so I’ve never had any issues with it. Honestly, it sometimes seems like every ingredient out there is comedogenic under some circumstances/according to some sources :/ As with most things, I encourage you to do your research, do some tests, and see what works best for you. Personally, argan oil reduces my acne.
Honestly, the added cost and bother of cross border forwarding companies is just not worth it. With the Canadian dollar being painfully weak against the USD right now everything is magically a good 20% more expensive, even without cross-border fees. And forwarding companies don’t eliminate customs or duty fees, either. Sigh.
Thanks so much for your input on the argan oil! I’ll probably just go purchase small amounts from different suppliers and see how I react to them. I have FREAKY sensitive acne-prone skin.
I guess I have been lucky with my forwarding service (US to Phil.) The price I pay for each mail they forward me is already inclusive of customs or duty fees… or so they say, anyway. But with you mentioning the status of the Canadian dollar, I am seriously considering purchasing from Saffire Blue!
Are the prices from NDA-USA and NDA-Canada so far apart?
Thanks sooo much! Hope you have a lovely Valentine weekend!
I must admit I don’t closely monitor the prices on NDA.com, but it’s easy enough to price compare if you need to. I don’t know if they change their prices with the exchange rate… I’m sure they do, but I’m not sure at what point they go through and change the prices. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Hey Marie,
I’ve been a fan for quite some while, and you have been my cheerful guide into making my own cosmetics, so I want to scream out a BIG THANK YOU for all of your inspiration and support. You opened up a completely new world for me! There is just one thing I miss once in a while, and that is that not all of your products have a before and after picture. It’s hard to imagine what a product does, especially the more make-up oriented stuff, just by looking at (beautiful and simplistic!) pictures of product ;).
Good luck on your future DIY adventures!
Thanks, Charlie! I’ve found before and after pictures can be tricky to capture solo, but I do try 🙂 Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
What a wonderful post, can’t wait to try it. Where do you buy your ingredients? Any chance you can link them to a shopping site???
Click the links in the big box above the comments for my two top shopping sites 🙂
Hi Marie!
I’ve been following your DIYs for sometime now and they’re awesome! I’m finally ready to dip my toes into making facial cosmetics now that my serum foundation from Bare Minerals ran out. I was thinking of adding colorants to this formula or altering that of the bronzer serum you made.
Would you recommend this, or does it seem like a bad combination? And if it does seem feasible, would any colorant likely work or would there be any exceptions?
Thank you so much for all the info you’ve given us followers! We definitely appreciate it! 😀
Hi McKenzie! I’ve had good results mixing a wee bit of my mineral make-up with a few drops of argan oil in my palm, and applying that. You can dilute to preference for coverage every day, which is nice, and I’ve found this mix-and-go approach makes for a more uniform, easier to colour match product.
Hi Marie,
Happy 4th Anniversary!!! So grateful for all you do and share with us!!!
Question regarding the Cupuacu butter. This one’s new to me. I did find it on the Saphire Blue website/USA, (trying to avoid New Direction as I don’t have $100 min. to buy this round) but they only carry the “natural un-refined” version (vs. ND carries ultra-refined). Having never experienced this butter, I’m wondering how smelly it is.. 🙂 Would unrefined work? What did you use? I’m making this for myself and am rather smell-friendly. Just want to get your thoughts before ordering.
Thank you!
🙂
Hi Diana! I have both versions. I’d describe the unrefined version as smelling a bit like cocoa butter + sour milk. Not a hugely appealing scent, but it’s fairly subtle and vanishes once you massage it into the skin. I’d say it’s less smelly than unrefined shea butter in terms of intensity. I’ve used both and I can’t say I’m hugely fussed either way.
I’m excited to make this! Do you think it would be alright to add a little rosehip oil in, or do you think that would mess things up?
Hi Nikki! You would want to use less argan oil and then make that amount up with the rosehip oil, but that should work out just fine 🙂
Hello! Good evening!
My silica microspheres arrived today and I’m dying to use them. Your book won’t be delivered till next mo th which has made me wicked whacky madly mad because I want the pages on colours and the liquid foundation/concealer whatever it’s called! I want to make it!
If I remember correctly, in this video, you use silica microspheres. But this recipe uses the mica, which one do you recommend?
That all depends on what sort of feel you like… personally, I’m all about the silica as I love the dry touch! Visually, the effect is indistinguishable 🙂
Hi Marie,
I’ve been using this serum for a few days now, and I really like it! As with everything I make, I’m always thinking of how I can customize it. My cheeks are perpetually pink from rosacea, and it got me thinking about the green-tinted corrective concoctions at the drugstore. What are your thoughts about adding a bit of French Green Clay? Would I sub it for the titanium dioxide or for the sericite mica? Ohhhh I don’t think I can wait for a reply, I need to go experiment right now!!!
I’d probably add a bit of chromium green oxide instead; it is a much more potent, reliable, and effective pigment than French green clay 🙂
Hi Marrie,
I have watched every single video of yours on YouTube and have read a lot of your blog as well in the past month. Thank you so much for everything.
I just had a tiny question, do you think if I added Stearic Acid or Cetyl Alcohol in tiny amounts, I’m thinking 1-2g, I could make this serum a bit thicker and it would suspend the TD and Silica Microshperes without it ruining it. Or any other suggestions so that one doesnt have to shake before use.
Thanks,
Hisham
Hello! Yes, I think a touch of cetyl alcohol would be a lovely addition to this serum 🙂 This guide should help you figure out somewhere to start!
Hello Marie,
Please can you tell me measuring of 5/32 tsp and 3/16 tsp in gram , because I don’t have these spoons.
Thank you
I’m afraid I don’t know them off the top of my head. I would recommend getting a set of tiny measuring spoons, though! They’re incredibly useful for making cosmetics at home.
Hi Marie! I stumbled upon this recipe while researching an issue that I am having while concocting my own version! I sadly cannot seem to find the solution to my problem. So I attempted to make your version as a test against my version but the same results occured…which tells me the problem is me! haha. Here is my issue: I get a great fluid serum the first day…but the next day it turns clumpy…every single time! I am using cetyl alcohol and many different oils and combos in my version…but the same thing happened when doing your recipe exactly. I have lost soooo much expensive oils making a brightening serum and I am about to pull my hair out! Do you know what could be causing this?
Could it be the cetyl alcohol crystallizing? I’d try a version without the CA and see what happens 🙂