Learning to formulate: Some thoughts about cosmeceuticals

As I mentioned, I feel like I've tweaked moisturizers to death, so here are a few ideas for ingredients you can include in your products. I can't stress enough the idea of making a basic moisturizer then adding ingredients once you see if your skin likes it - give it a week before deciding, unless you're really having problems - then add a new ingredient and leave it another week. I also recommend reading the posts on skin chemistry and types to see what your skin might like or hate.

There are so many ingredients out there claiming to be good for wrinkles or dark circles or age spots, and the best thing you can do when you come upon a claim like this is to research it. Some anti-aging ingredients are very well documented (like AHAs), some are dubious, and some need more research to come to any conclusions.

Let's say you come upon a listing for Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone). It's listed as an anti-oxidant that promotes collagen and elastin synthesis. It is part of our skin's lipophilic make up, and that generally means our skin can benefit from it. It sounds pretty great, but if we take a closer look at this ingredient we see that it has a high molecular weight, which means it isn't likely to penetrate our skin very well. Having said this, one study found that it can penetrate our skin enough to help reduce wrinkle depth and prevent the negative effects of UV exposure.

There is a synthetic analogue called idebenone that is a lower weight molecule that will penetrate our skin more effectively than Coenzyme Q10 and studies have shown that 0.5% to 1% can help reduce the signs of aging, such as a reduction in skin's roughness and dryness, the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and the appearance of sun damage. It is known to be a good anti-oxidant that can replenish Vitamin E's anti-oxidizing abilities and a good anti-inflammation reducer.

Or look at a humectant like hyaluronic acid (HA - scroll down after clicking for more information). It's another ingredient we can find in our skin, but the actual HA molecules we apply to our skin won't penetrate it as it's far too large. This doesn't mean it can't behave as an awesome humectant, but it won't be able to do the things you hope because it won't actually get into the layers of skin that need it.

When you're researching an ingredient, one of the important questions you should ask yourself is can it penetrate our skin? Something might sound really awesome, but if it only works if you eat it or if it can penetrate your skin, it's probably pointless to put it in a lotion. Look for information on the topical application and skin penetration of the ingredient to see if it's worth the expense.

Another thing to consider is that a lot of times, the ability for a specific cosmeceutical ingredient to work depends upon the formula and the version of the ingredient you're using. As we saw in the post on Vitamin C, only certain types of this ingredient are stable in our products. So if you wish to use this ingredient, can you put it into your normal lotion recipe with your normal processes or do you have do something specific?

Are there cosmeceuticals that interest you? Post them here and I'll do some research. Or do some research on them yourself and post your findings in the comments! Join me tomorrow for some information on niacinamide (this one sounds interesting!)