Waterbased Skincare Ingredient Selection

[Insomnia]

For those who don't know I am formulating skincare since many products on the market contain ingredients that are unneccesary. I have already made an oil-based serum which was pretty easy to make. Not everyone likes oil-based serums and later I started formulating a waterbased one. I have tried vitamin c (ascorbic acid) and it discolored after a while, so I changed it with vitamin b3. Here is how the ingredient list currently looks like: Water, Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide), Glycine, Sodium Levulinate, Sodium Gluconate, Sodium Anisate.

I have e-mailed Peat with a question about preservatives and ph regulators and this was his response:"Citric acid binds metals and acts as an antioxidant for fats. Caffeine and aspirin have preservative effects, and are safe to use on the skin."

I still am not sure whether he means citric acid is safe to use (perhaps someone else here knows). Anyways, the problem I have is that the ph of the solution is currently too high which can spoil the product. I am looking to adjust the pH level to around 5.5-6 (preferably 5.5). If anyone knows of another (safe) alternative acid that I can use to adjust the pH, then let me know in the comments. Can you give me your take on citric acid or aspirin (salicylic acid) being used to adjust the ph. I don't know how safe it is to use aspirin, so maybe someone can give us some info on this.

And lastly I was also thinking of adding glycerin to the mix to make it less viscuous and it has some properties which may be good for the skin. I have seen some threads where people don't really like it and that Peat has mixed feelings about it (I think he mentioned it in one of his videos). So should I add it to the mix or not.

So in short:
Use citric acid: yes/no
Use salicylic acid: yes/no
Use glycerin: yes/no

 

[L_C]

It depends on the humidity of your environment. For example, low molecular weight hyaluronic acid is not good if you live in dry environment. High molecular weight hyaluronic acid is better.

Since I live in dry climate I use less glycerin. Salicylic acid would be good but it's extremely hard to mix in water. You would need to blend it for hours. Personnaly, I don't use citric acid. But I definitely would recommend urea if you want nice moisturizing serum.

I like to mix water base into oil base to make a rich cream.

 

[milkboi]

I really appreciate what @Insomnia is trying do with creating a Peaty skincare product. Could anyone knowledgeable on this topic give his opinion?