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Alpha arbutin
I am doing some research at the moment into lightening gels and have two questions.
1) Is niacinamide actually effective (at say, 5%)?
2) Is it possible to prevent the oxidation of alpha-arbutin? IE, make a shelf-stable product?
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33 Replies
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@Belassi my favorite topic. 1) There are studies that show that Niacinamide is effective, especially mixed with N-Acetyl Glucosamine (4% Niacinamide and 2% of NAG). I will lookup the study tomorrow, but it was a legit one. Additionally to this, I can say that I saw a great results as a user (not very scientific I know). 2) isn’t alpha arbutin stable? I read a research that suggested it’s perfectly stable for 16 months in water solutions. Does it change color when oxidizing?
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Alpha Arbutin:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ics.12275 Alpha Arbutin is stable in water solution for 16 months. Stability in a formulation depends on pH. Suppliers say that should be formulated in a range from 4 to 6.5.
Niacinamide:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16029679
Here is NAG and Niacinamide study
https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(14)00104-2/fulltext
It is Procter and Gamble. I will agree if you say that it might be biased.Cosmeceuticals for Hyperpigmentation:
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Thank you! Info very much appreciated.
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You are very welcome. I make a brightening serum with 2% Alpha Arbutine, 6% Niacinamide, 2% NAG and 2% Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate. It clearly works, but I don’t know what makes it work (a combination of the ingredients or just one of them). I suspect that MAP doesn’t do much at this concentration.
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@ngarayeva001 so alpha arbutin is both soluble in water and oil? Cos I intend using in a soap that has oil as part of its ingredients . Oh and for NAG, how do I get it please ,I intend formulating a toner and serum and need the niacinamide to work effectively.
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Are you going to add alpha arbutin to a soap?
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@ngarayeva001 to black soap formulation.. African black soap
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You will waste a good ingredient. Soap has only one function, to remove dirt. You will not get brightening properties of alpha arbutin by adding it to a soap. Use it in a serum instead. And make sure you adjust the pH. You can buy all ingredients discussed above in lotioncrafter.
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How do I adjust ph please? Kind of a beginner
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@Majman
for adjust pH
stirating with TEA or NaOH….
diluting
I like diluting -
And citric acid to reduce the pH. Solution in water.
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Thanks @ngarayeva001
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@Belassi @ngarayeva001 are either of you able to share the full text of the 2 Niacinamide studies @ngarayeva001 cited? ??
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Remember when selecting whitening actives, there is no one size fits all. You need to design each product by to the demographic and their Fitzpatrick scores.
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@Microformulation I started a thread about it, but there are no responses. I read that some ingredients that work for caucasian skin are not effective for ethnic skin and vice versa.
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Real ROUGH guidance.Hydroquinone (avoided) and Kojic Dipalmiate (less effective) work best in Western African skin types, Irritation is an issue.Alpha-Arbutin works best in an Indian subcontinent and the Asian Pacific area.Do the botanical actives work? I am skeptical, but I include them for label copy primarily.Keep it simple. If you need starting formulations for either compound, there are numerous starting formulations from the distributors.
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@Microformulation so kojic dip plus alpha arbutin for western African skin should be effective yeah?
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See above: “Alpha-Arbutin works best in an Indian subcontinent and the Asian Pacific area”.
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I will add from my experience that alpha arbutin works on darker shades of caucasian skin (what is called olive skin).
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@ngarayeva001 so what works for African dark tones since hydroquinone isn’t adviceable
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@ngarayeva001If you look at the scale, you are referring to a III/IV.
@Majman Kojic acid dipalmitate is the most stable. -
@Microformulation for dark skin tones yeah? More effective?
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@Majman I wouldn’t even recommend making this product without experience. At all. The products used can be irritating. Do some Professional reading first.
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@Microformulation, what I find very confusing about Fitzpatrick scale, is to find my type in it, because on one hand I have never had a sun burn in my life (I lived in Atlanta, GA and had a lot of sun exposure) and tan easily, so my skin fits into “never burns tans easily”, on the other hand I am not that dark (not even III). And alpha-arbutin works like a charm.
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