Shark Sauce Part 1: The Recipe

I'm sure a lot of you have been anticipating this more than the Vita-Sea recipe, much in part due to Fiddy's raves about it on her SNS.  It's finally here!  This is seriously my favorite skincare product, hands down, ever.  It is amazingly good, y'all.

• Shark Sauce Part 1:  The Recipe
• Shark Sauce Part 2:  The Tutorial & Giveaway!!!

Note:  This recipe took a lot of time, money, and work to develop.  Please be respectful and do not redistribute this (especially without credit).  This is meant for personal use only, not for commercial or profit.  It is provided for free, so please show some consideration or I will not be able to provide future recipes.

When I first started getting into DIY, I lurked in a bunch of DIY communities, to see the general attitude of people and quality of ingredients/finalized products.  I found a recipe for a DIY NiaNag Toner and knew I had to make it.  Except I had also ordered a bunch of other things that I realized later wouldn't benefit much from being in my Vita-Sea, so they gradually just made their way into my NiaNag toner.  Before I realized it, this thing was chocked so full of goodness, it might as well have included Unicorn Extract.

Mmm, freshly made essence.... Round 2 for my Niacinamide+ essence, with some modifications. Ingredients: 2% Allantoin Water, Aloe Vera Juice, Sea Kelp Bioferment, 1% Hyaluronic Acid Stock, Niacinamide, Sodium Lactate, Licorice Root Extract, Goji Berry Extract, Ceramide Complex, Panthenol, N-Acetyl Glucosamine, Green Tea Extract, Optiphen. pH didn't need any adjustment. Dropped Glycerin and Vitamin E, because I didn't want to have to add an emulsifier, reduced the preservative as the smell was a bit too strong, and bumped up the concentration on some of the ingredients. Still need to work on that evil allantoin. It's much more of a gel consistency this time vs watery last time. Last batch erased my old PIH in a matter of days. Very excited to see how this goes! #bbloggers #rasianbeauty #diy #diybeauty #skincare

A photo posted by 👩 Chel (@holysnailsblog) on May 7, 2015 at 7:59pm PDT

Ingredients:  2% Allantoin Water, Aloe Vera Juice, Sea Kelp Bioferment, 1% Hyaluronic Acid, Niacinamide, Sodium Lactate, Licorice Root Extract, Goji Berry Extract, Ceramide Complex, Panthenol, N-Acetyl Glucosamine, Green Tea Extract, Optiphen.  Basically, every ingredient is a notable ingredient.

I dubbed it Niacinamide+ Essence at the time, and oh man, it worked amazingly. If you've been following my blog, you'll remember the Skincare Diary update I did a while back, talking about the dramatic results I've had in just a week of using the product.

ONE WEEK!  (This was taken back in March, I think)

It's especially dramatic if you look along my jawline at all the old brown spots from acne, and behind my cheekbone where I get some crazy blackheads and get too eager stress-picking them.  Anyway, months later, I'm out and need to make a new batch.  I shuffled the ingredients around a little more, and then after a late night conversation with Fiddy about something other than donuts and cupcakes, Shark Sauce was born!

Apparently, there is a Shark brand Sriracha sauce.  Amazon.

Actually, wouldn't it be awesome if I could sell this and package it in tiny little bottles like this?  That'd be some Skincaretainment right there!  Anyway, here's the recipe:

Shark Sauce (PRINT/EDIT-FRIENDLY VERSION)

Ingredient	%	(g)
Niacinamide	5	1.42
N-Acetyl Glucosamine	2.5	0.71
Ceramide Complex	5	1.42
Licorice Root Extract	5	1.42
Green Tea Extract	5	1.42
Aloe Vera Juice	11	3.12
Panthenol	2.5	0.71
Optiphen	1	0.28
1% Hyaluronic Acid	5	1.42
Sodium Lactate	5	1.42
Sea Kelp Bioferment	25	7.09
Seamollient	10	2.83
Sea Buckthorn Oil	3	0.85
Polysorbate 80	9	2.55
Borage Seed Oil	5	1.42
Tocopherol	1	0.28

If you want to attempt this recipe, just remember that most of these things can be substituted or have their quantities modified easily.  The amount listed here is for a 1 oz/30 ml bottle, and can easily be scaled up or down using a batch size calculator.

Let's Talk Ingredients...

Niacinamide:  This superstar ingredient does almost everything.  Also known as Vitamin B3, it helps collagen production, brightens, lightens pigmentation, helps against TEWL, helps against acne, and just....  I'm sure it'd do your taxes too, if you asked it nicely.  It needs at least 2% to start seeing effects, and has increasingly beneficial effects up to 5%.  (Your skin can't absorb after that.)

N-Acetyl Glucosamine:  This is used at 2.5%, and works in synergy with niacinamide.  What is synergy?  It means they work better together than just used separately.  In fact, I believe it's the addition of this that helps the niacinamide work so quickly and effectively, seeing results in just a freaking week.

Ceramides:  Mmm, how trendy are ceramides right now?  Unfortunately, unless it's in a good ratio, you might just end up with a fancy occlusive, as they can't penetrate otherwise.  DIY to the rescue!  I used this at 5%, but decreased to 3% here, because I was running low....oops.

Sea Kelp Bioferment:  This is kelp that's been fermented with Lactobacillus, which breaks down the tissue to increase the bioavailability of the compounds.  It also has a really awesome consistency that's great for thickening a solution.  You could actually use this straight on your face, but I like to just add it to my formulations.  You know that fancy La Mer cream?  This is the active ingredient, right here.

Honestly, every single thing in here is here because it's amazing.  So every ingredient is notable, but I don't want this to run for too long.  Part 2 with the tutorial coming tomorrow, and stay tuned for a giveaway so you can have your own Shark Sauce!