Nordmann Kompakt: Vitamins in cosmetics
Vitamins are popular ingredients in skin care products because of the benefits they have on dermatological treatments and cosmetics. But what exactly do vitamins do, how can they be incorporated into applications and what form should they be in? Our experts have the answers!
What exactly are vitamins?
Vitamins – coming from the Latin word vita – are organic compounds that are essential for life in small quantities. The body may produce them, but usually in insufficient quantities or not at all – meaning they must be obtained elsewhere, e.g. through food.
Vitamins help regulate metabolic processes, assist in other vital functions and are crucial for the immune system.
This is how vitamins are used in personal care products:
Vitamin A has proven to be very effective in a variety of skin care applications. Retinol, for example – the alcohol (OH) form of vitamin A – is seen as the gold-standard in the care of aging skin. It visibly improves the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, increases skin firmness and smoothness and will also even out dark spots and age spots. Vitamin A palmitate is the ester form, and the most popular choice for anti-aging formulations because of its stability.
Our stable, cosmetic-grade vitamin C (STAY-C® 50) is a powerful, multitasking antioxidant for treating almost any kind of skin care issue – from acne to UV damage. STAY-C® 50 (sodium ascorbyl phosphate) is a water-soluble active ingredient that efficiently delivers vitamin C to cosmetic formulations, while ascorbyl palmitate is an oil-soluble vitamin C antioxidant that shields cosmetic emulsions and oils from accelerated oxidation.
Vitamin E is the most commonly used active ingredient in personal care. Its central role is that of a powerful antioxidant that scavenges oxygen free radicals produced by UV light or pollution. In the form of tocopheryl acetate, it is extremely stable in formulations. In fact, this is the vitamin compound of choice for most cosmetic applications because of the maximum levels of vitamin E it provides. As tocopherols, vitamin E is most often used to stabilize ingredients that are prone to oxidation.
Vitamin B3 is a very popular ingredient that is commonly used for whitening skin. However, its efficacy profile goes far beyond this: niacinamide can also increase the effectiveness of products used for treating blemished, dry and/or sensitive skin and for combatting wrinkles.
Also known as provitamin B5, panthenol is the alcohol analog of D-pantothenic acid. It is a highly valued ingredient in skin and hair care products for its moisturizing properties, but its influence on the epithelialization process (i.e. wound-healing) and anti-inflammatory properties also make it very effective at soothing sensitive or irritated skin. Being hygroscopic, too, panthenol is great as a humectant for hair.
Vitamin B6 stimulates healthy-looking hair and boosts the effectiveness of anti-dandruff products. Applied topically, it reduces sebum levels and limits the appearance of oily spots.
Biotin improves keratin structures and can therefore be used to strengthen fine and brittle hair and nails. Although biotin is best known for helping prevent hair loss, combining biotin with STAY-C® 50 can also reduce age spots and even out skin tone when used in skin care products.
Folic acid is a powerful active ingredient that can be used in skin and sun care products to fight photoaging and the signs of skin aging in general. It works by stimulating skin cells like fibroblasts while simultaneously preventing DNA damage.
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