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AHA and BHA
I want to ask: low pH products. Why do the big companies no use irritant or anti-inflammatory ingredients? For example, products with AHAs and BHAs. Does a low pH counteract the anti-irritant and anti-inflammatory properties?
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9 Replies
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Is your question why wouldn’t we add ‘aloe vera’ to SA toner to tame its irritancy properties?
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Yes. The ingredients reduce irritation.
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Acids cause actual irritation (and damage if overdone), none of those anti-irritation ingredients are ‘strong’ enough to undo it. In fact I have not seen serious scientific backup for any of anti-irritation ingredients. Bisabolol has somewhat reasonably looking study behind it, but the sampling size wasn’t impressive. Bottom line, they don’t work.
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Thank you. I understand the harmful effects of acid. It can play a supporting role or it can act independently. What do you think?
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Perhaps at that percentage of acids, they hadn’t had any complains regarding irritation. Normally an anti-irritation ingredient is added to reduce the irritation or perhaps the redness, to provide some soothing to the skin. For my own acids even if it’s a low percentage version, i’d normally add one.
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Thank you for understanding me. I also think like you. I’m worried, the added anti-irritant ingredients lose their effect
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The company Symrise has a couple different ‘anti-irritation’ actives that show some promise. But like most supplier’s their data is self-published and not exactly rigorous. Not sure if they sell those to any repackers either
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A recent study showed that glycolic acid at a pH of 4.0 is very effective. If you were looking to do an AHA+BHA product, I am not sure how effective the BHA would be at this pH. You would have to research. But certainly you could create a less irritating AHA by raising the pH to this level.
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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2494.2009.00501_2.x
That study shows that (nearly) neutralised Salicylic Acid is a lot less irritating than its acid form. Effectiveness of (nearly) neutralised one is not worse than acid form.
I make mine like that.
About “anti-all-things” property of stuff, I am not sure how true it is. Most of the time it is companies that sell stuff are saying it (they want to sell you things based on your insecurity), as what @EVchem mentioned.
Those that say something works in research (not marketing and and not selling anything) happens a lot in the laboratory, results do not always reflect the same outside of the laboratory.
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