Understanding Foam in Your Vitamin C Serum

It's understandable to be concerned about persistent foam in your homemade serum. The white foam you're seeing is likely caused by air being incorporated into the mixture during the shaking process, particularly when dissolving the powdered Hyaluronic Acid ingredients (both Standard Molecule and Small Molecule/Nano).

Hyaluronic Acid powders, especially the higher molecular weight Standard type, can be challenging to dissolve and often require vigorous agitation, which traps air. Additionally, your formula contains Laureth-23, which is an emulsifier. Emulsifiers help to stabilize mixtures of oil and water, but they can also contribute to the formation and stability of foam by reducing the surface tension of the liquid.

While the foam itself is just trapped air and doesn't necessarily mean the product is unusable, the presence of air can potentially speed up the oxidation of sensitive ingredients like L-ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) over time. You mentioned the powder seems dissolved, which is the most important part for the efficacy of the Hyaluronic Acid and L-ascorbic acid.

Can You Use It?

Yes, you can likely use the serum even with the foam, provided that:

• The L-ascorbic acid powder appears fully dissolved with no visible particles.
• There are no other signs of product degradation, such as a significant change in color (L-ascorbic acid turns yellow, orange, or brown as it oxidizes) or an off odor.

Reducing the Foam

To help the foam dissipate, try letting the bottle sit undisturbed in the refrigerator. Gentle swirling (rather than vigorous shaking) might help release some trapped air without creating more foam. It may take some time for the foam to completely disappear.

For future batches, as the staff previously suggested, dissolving the Hyaluronic Acid powders separately in chilled water with minimal agitation (perhaps just gentle stirring or allowing it to hydrate over time in the refrigerator) before combining with other ingredients can help minimize foam formation. Using a liquid form like Double Hyaluron Liquid is also an easier alternative that avoids this dissolution issue.

Continue to store the serum in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container to help maintain the stability of the L-ascorbic acid and slow down oxidation.