Silky Serum Base - mix with 30-90% water to adjust skin feel

Silky Serum Base is an anhydrous silicone base for making lightweight facial serums. It has a silky, almost weightless slip and absorbs within seconds, leaving a soft, smooth, non-greasy finish - suited to face and delicate eye-area serums.

Blend it with water and your chosen water-soluble actives to build a serum - no heating and no special equipment required.

Composition

INCI: Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, PEG-10 Dimethicone

That is the complete ingredient list. The base contains no water, no preservative, and no EDTA or other chelating agents, which makes it well suited to metal-sensitive actives such as copper peptides. It will not carry oils — use water-soluble actives only.

Suggested use

• Use the base at anywhere from roughly 30% up to 90% of your formula, with water and water-soluble actives making up the balance — more base for a richer, cushioned serum, less for a lighter, more fluid one.
• Add water-soluble actives (such as niacinamide, panthenol, hyaluronic acid, glycerine or botanical extracts) at their recommended use levels.
• Suitable for leave-on facial and eye-area serums.

Mixing advice

• Cold process: No heating needed. Weigh the base into a clean beaker, then add your water/active phase gradually while stirring gently until uniform. Add the water a little at a time rather than all at once — it comes together far more easily.
• Dissolve powders first: Pre-dissolve any powdered actives (e.g. niacinamide) into the water portion before combining, to avoid grittiness.
• A preservative is essential: This base contains no preservative — it does not need one as supplied, because it is anhydrous. The moment you add water, your serum will support microbial growth, so you must add a broad-spectrum preservative at its full recommended rate, calculated on the total finished weight of the serum rather than on the water portion alone. A broad-spectrum preservative at 0.75-1.0% suits most actives, including copper peptides.
• Check the pH: Some actives (certain vitamin C forms, acids) need a specific pH to work and stay stable — adjust the finished serum to suit the active you're using.
• Stabilise against separation: blending in about 1% electrolyte - sodium chloride or magnesium sulphate - as the very last step helps hold the finished serum against separation on standing.
• Keep it clean: Use sanitised equipment and containers, and always patch-test the finished serum before regular use.

Handling & storage

Store in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight, with the container tightly closed. For cosmetic manufacture and DIY skincare use.