Why did I buy that? Ferulic acid

What the heck is ferulic acid and why did I buy it? (To post your own why did I buy that ingredient, click here and write a comment!) Ferulic acid is a polyphenol that offers good anti-oxidizing properties that can moisturize skin, help with light and weather damage, and might help tone down age spots. It might help stabilize Vitamin C (l-ascorbic acid) in our products.

I did read somewhere that ferulic acid can help stimulate hair growth, but I can't find any proof of this claim. It can help reduce inflammation in our skin, and might help protect you from the sun when you're in the sun (but don't use it instead of a good sunscreen!). It works synergistically with other anti-oxidants to create a super anti-oxidant party that will help retard the rancidity of oils in your products and fight free radicals on your skin.

A study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology (summary - it should be good for protection against skin cancer and wrinkles and age spots caused by sun exposure because it protects against oxidative stress)...

Ferulic acid is a potent ubiquitous plant antioxidant. Its incorporation into a topical solution of 15% l-ascorbic acid and 1% -tocopherol improved chemical stability of the vitamins (C+E) and doubled photoprotection to solar-simulated irradiation of skin from 4-fold to approximately 8-fold as measured by both erythema and sunburn cell formation. Inhibition of apoptosis was associated with reduced induction of caspase-3 and caspase-7. This antioxidant formulation efficiently reduced thymine dimer formation. This combination of pure natural low molecular weight antioxidants provides meaningful synergistic protection against oxidative stress in skin and should be useful for protection against photoaging and skin cancer.

Ferulic acid can be found in rice bran (in fact, the product you buy from Lotioncrafter is derived from rice bran oil), borage, coconut and virgin coconut oil, and wheat germ oils.

Ferulic acid comes as a fine white or off-white powder that is soluble in propylene glycol, ethanol, hot water (but only slightly soluble in cold water), and dimethyl isosorbide (an ingredient that can increase skin penetration of actives and is soluble in water). We add it at 0.5% to 1% to our heated water phase. You can use this in a variety of products like facial cleansers (although it'd probably wash off), toners, moisturizers, serums with water, and other products that contain water. I'd consider this a cosmeceutical ingredient ("cosmetic products with properties very similar to a pharmaceutical product (drug-like benefits)" because it's making claims to help with anti-aging.

Join me tomorrow for fun formulating with ferulic acid!