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Oil-soluble actives
I’m making a special type of serum for a general purpose product and looking for only oil-soluble actives. So far I’ve settled on Vitamin E acetate, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate (oil-soluble Vitamin C), and panthenyl triacetate (oil-soluble Vitamin B5). Would this be a good general purpose list of ingredients? I’m limited to 3 actives. Any other oil-soluble actives you’d recommend?
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4 Replies
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What do you want the serum to do for skin?
In truth, “actives” are typically just claims ingredients put in formulas to give the marketing people something to talk about. They don’t actually have much impact on performance so you can literally put in any ingredient that is compatible & makes a good story.
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Oh Perry….it sounds like you understand skin. ???? And that makes cosmetics soooooo boring…once you understand a few basic concepts. ????
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Still trying to get used to the terminology in this business (e.g. actives, excipients). I’d like to make a functional and general purpose serum, which will be used primarily for the face. I understand that no product will do everything, but I’d like to select ingredients that have multiple benefits for all skin types.
For vitamin C, I read about wound healing, collagen regeneration, reduced damage from the sun, and evening out skin tone for all skin types. For Vitamin B5, I read about improving skin elasticity, reducing inflammation, reducing redness from various skin conditions, and helping all skin types retain moisture. For Vitamin E, I read about its synergistic effects when combined with Vitamin C and soothing effects for all skin types. However, I’m very open to substitutions.
Basically, this will be a general purpose “hero product” in a line that will be expanded in the future to target specific functions.
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The term “active ingredients” when applied to cosmetics is just a marketing thing. It is used to trick consumers into thinking their cosmetic product will have some drug effect it is not legally allowed to have. The term “cosmeceutical” is used similarly.
Now, I’m a bit more skeptical than the average cosmetic chemist, but I am of the opinion that none of the vitamins you’ve listed will have any noticeable impact on skin. The things you’ve read about what they do are exaggerations of suggestive lab results. Evidence of a real, noticeable effect is lacking.
Even a prescription level of Retinoic Acid (vit A) is only noticed by less than 20% of users.
So, when you are making your hero product, use whatever actives support the story you want to tell. The only noticeable thing your product will do is moisturize skin.
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