How To: Rich Winter Facial Serum

If you're new to the blog, you may not be aware that I am Scandinavian.

Well, I am.

My roots are a mix of Danish and Norwegian, which places me squarely in the Scandinavian category. We Nordic folks tend to both love and hate our part of the world. Our summers are gloriously light and filled with non-stop celebration of the sun and warmth. In summer, it stays light until 11:00 pm in my neck of the woods, dims briefly to twilight, then starts getting light again at 2:00 am. (seriously - how cool is that?!)

But on the other hand, there is winter.

Scandinavian Winter is as Dark as Mordor

Scandinavians endure seemingly endless months of deep dark blackness in winter. Copenhagen is pretty much pitch black by 2:00 pm when it's worst, and if it's a cloudy day (which it often is), then it doesn't get much brighter than twilight during what is mockingly referred to as 'daytime'.

That's where this serum comes in. 

Warmth, Coziness and Glow

This serum has warmth, feels luxurious, and has a hint of spiciness to it. Just sniffing it brings a warm and comforting feeling.

A couple of the ingredients are infused oils (one is pictured in this post). If you don't infuse oils, don't fret. You can use oils right out of the bottle and even exchange the oils I am using for your own favorites. I'm just showing you how I make my own winter serum.

This amount will last you all through the winter. It's 50 grams (a little more than 50 ml).

LisaLise’s Rich Winter Serum

Ingredient	Grams	Ounces
Sweet Almond Oil (coriander infused)	30.0	1.06
Nigella Seed Oil	10.0	0.35
Castor Oil (rose infused)	4.5	0.16
Plum Kernel Oil	4.0	0.14
Sea Buckthorn Oil	1.0	0.035
Vitamin E Antioxidant	0.5	0.018

Method

1. Weigh and mix all ingredients in a clean container
2. Stir to combine thoroughly
3. Transfer to final container (dark glass is ideal)
4. Enjoy your fabulous creation

About Vitamin E

This is not a vitamin e capsule meant for consumption but a cosmetic ingredient sold under the INCI name is mixed tocopherols or tocopherols.  Although I admittedly formulate with food, I don’t recommend using vitamin e capsules as cosmetic ingredients. There's a reason for that. The filler/carrier/base in vitamin capsules sold for consumption consists of one or more 'mystery' ingredients. I'm not a fan of working with unknowns, and since vitamin capsules don't come with an INCI list, I don't use them.

Oil Infusions and Substitutions

If you don't infuse oils (or are a little hesitant about giving them a try), then use any carrier oil you like and add 1-4 drops of essential oil to the mix. To approximate the scent of my serum, you could add 1 drop of diluted rose essential oil and 2 drops of coriander essential oil.

But you can also just leave the essential oils out and use the carrier oils listed. The nigella seed and plum kernel oil have a built-in glorious scent that is fabulous.

To Use

A few drops are all that is needed for the face and neck area. Apply after washing while the skin is still damp for optimal effect.

Do Tell

If you decide to give this serum a try, I'd love to hear your feedback - please feel free to drop a comment below and let me know what you used and how you liked it.


Psst: there's a few books about making your own infusions and extracts in the shop and if you aren't sure where to start, maybe this is for you