The Smart Girl’s Definitive Guide to Skincare Raw Materials
A cosmetic chemist uncovers the raw materials you probably already know and love.
Skincare consumers have gotten smart, like really smart. Thanks to the indie beauty craze of the early 2010s plus reddit r/skincareaddition plus YouTube (hi Hyram!), skincare science is mainstream.
As a cosmetic chemist, I love to see it. I still see more misinformation and close-but-not-quites than not, but the intent is there. Skincare ingredient names are part of the vernacular, and, for the most part, used correctly.
There’s always more basic skincare education content to be made, but if ingredient terminology is already so widely used and understood, where do the beauty information influencers go next? Consumers are constantly hammering for more details and transparency. What form will that take in the next wave of beauty blogging?
My bet: a no-prisoners-taken approach to ingredient list dissection that starts with ingredient analysis, and continues on to the identification of exact (or likely) raw materials used.
First, to distinguish between ingredients and raw materials: chemists create with raw materials, skincare influencers, dermatologists, estheticians, marketers, (and most brands), work and talk in terms of ingredients. Some ingredients are raw materials, but not all raw materials are solo ingredients.
Raw materials are more often than not at least two ingredients: specific blends, preparations, or treatments of ingredients that make their addition to a skincare formula straight-forward and easy to scale. Even solo ingredients may be blends: 99.90% main ingredient plus a dash of preservative to keep it fresh before batching.
Enriched flour is an ingredient; pre-made cake mix is a raw material. It’s faster and easier to make a cake using a mix. Ok, actually this an imperfect metaphor: enriched flour is a single “ingredient” that is in fact a raw material. It’s not just flour, it’s flour that’s been processed in a particular method in which niacin, folic acid, riboflavin, thiamine, etc. are added.
Ingredients are publicly-disclosed for consumer safety and education. Raw materials, on the other hand, are often seen as a key part of formula IP. Most brands may not want to speak directly to their raw materials for fear of revealing proprietary secrets about their recipe or process.
This is slightly laughable: day one of cosmetic chemistry is learning how to reverse engineer a formula based on its ingredient list alone. A cosmetic chemist may not be able to dupe the formula precisely, but they can get damn close with 30 minutes and google. (The best formulas, in my opinion, often have some simple nuance hidden in plain sight, making them ever so slightly harder to replicate. When I formulate, I usually incorporate this nuance into the exact procedure, or how raw materials are precisely handled during formulation.)
As more consumers get a solid understanding of the chemistry behind their favorite beauty products, I predict more and more will seek specific insight into the raw materials used.
In that spirit, here are 5 raw materials that I think every skincare consumer should know, and probably already love.
5 Raw Materials
Niacinamide: Niacinamide PC from dsm-firmenich (via Univar)
Squalane: Neossance Squalane from Apprinova / Amyris / Centerchem
Liquid Crystal Emulsifier: OliveM 1000 / OliveM 1000 MB from Hallstar
Peptides: Matrixyl range from Sederma / Croda
Ceramides: SK-Influx MB / SK-Influx from Evonik
Niacinimade: Niacinamide PC from dsm-firmenich (via Univar)
INCI: Niacinamide
Raw Material INCI: Niacinamide
Not all niacinamide is made the same. A chemist’s choice of which niaciniamide raw material to use from which supplier is arguably just as important as the choice to use niacnimaide in the first place. Raw materials of the same ingredients can be one-for-one replacements for each other, but not always. For niacinamide, the key is finding a high-purity Vitamin B3 with low residual nicotinic acid. DSM’s is one of the go-tos for high purity. As lovely and amazing as niacinamide is (look for it at 3-5% in your morning serum, moisturizer, or SPF), it’s residual cousin has been shown to cause sensitization and irritation.
Fun Fact! My first internship in beauty was at Firmenich before its merger with DSM. I thought I would spend the summer in fine fragrance development. Instead I got staffed on a project to experiment with different fat fixatives for malodor concentrate.
Squalane: Neossance Squalane from Apprinova / Amyris / Centerchem
INCI: Squalane
Raw Material INCI: Squalane
I could write a whole ode to Neossance Squalane. It might be my favorite raw material ever, and I’m not alone. If you see Squalane, chances are it’s Neossance Squalane. This material is created from upcycled sugarcane waste, to replace squalane historically sourced from shark liver. It is a non-greasy, lightweight emollient naturally at home in and on skin. It’s almost universally good for everyone, easy to formulate with, creates gorgeous textures, and made with fermentation and biotech. Every chemist should formulate with it, and every consumer should use it.
Biossance is an entire brand built around Neossance Squalane.
Liquid Crystal Emulsifier: OliveM 1000 / OliveM 1000 MB from Hallstar
INCIs: Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate
Raw Material INCI: Cetearyl Olivate (and) Sorbitan Olivate
Every chemist has their own tricks for creating that perfect balance of playtime vs. skinmelt. The target balancing point differs based on the product type—for lightweight serums you may want near-instant melt, but for occlusive creams you may want to intentionally design more playtime. Regardless of the target, one of the best tools remains the same: liquid crystal emulsifiers. Of they numerous options, my personal favorite (as a chemist and a consumer) is OliveM 1000.
OliveM 1000, to glance over the nuanced chemistry, is capable of forming emulsifications with the same physical chemistry micro-structures as those made naturally made when healthy skin components self-organize. Plus, how luxe does “liquid crystal” sound?! The not-so-hidden secret to creating liquid silk-like textures that glide and melt without stickiness.
Once you see this ingredient you can’t unsee it. I’m willing to bet it’s in most of your favorite serums and moisturizers. This is another raw material that deserves its own ode. Here are links to INCI Decoder’s page on Cetearyl Olivate and Sorbitan Olivate. This blog doesn’t always call out raw materials specifically, but it’s so widely used and loved it gets the credit it deserves.
Peptides: Matrixyl range from Sederma / Croda
INCIs: Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, N-Prolyl Palmitoyl Tripeptide-56 Acetate
Matrixyl
Raw Material INCI: Glycerin (and) Water (and) Butylene Glycol (and) Carbomer (and) Polysorbate 20 (and) Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4
Matrixyl 3000
Raw Material INCI: Glycerin (and) Water (and) Butylene Glycol (and) Carbomer (and) Polysorbate 20 (and) Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 (and) Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7
Matrixyl Morphomics
Raw Material INCI: Water (and) N-Prolyl Palmitoyl Tripeptide-56 Acetate
Matrixyl Sythne’6
Raw Material INCI: Glycerin (and) Water (and) Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin (and) Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38
The Matrixyl range is a super popular option for the inclusion of peptides. It is by no means the only option, but has such brand recognition that it’s default the first and only choice for a lot of cosmetic chemists.
The Ordinary even uses it as a titular ingredient in one of their peptide serums: Matrixyl 10% + HA. Matrixyls are also used in their Multi-Peptide + HA Serum.
Ceramides: SK-Influx MB / SK-Influx from Evonik
INCIs: Ceramide NP (Ceramide 3), Ceramide AP (Ceramide 6-11), Ceramide EOP (Ceramide 1)
Raw Material INCI: Ceramide NP (and) Ceramide AP (and) Ceramide EOP (and) Phytosphingosine (and) Cholesterol (and) Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate (and) Carbomer (and) Xanthan Gum
SK-Influx is a specific blend of ceramides, which are often difficult and expensive to add individually. Ceramides are natural components of healthy skin; they’re waxy fats that act as the main “mortar” between all our of skin cell “bricks.” As waxes, they often have high melting points. But pre-blended together makes processing way more efficient.
The blend brands itself as a “skin-identical lipid concentrate for enhanced skin moisturization and protection.” It is, essentially, the same stuff of which healthy skin is made, plus a surfactant and a gum to ease its inclusion into the aqueous phase of formulas.
CeraVe is pretty much built on the back of SK-Influx. It’s used in almost all of their formulas.
These raw materials represent only a fraction of the core skincare ingredients one needs in a full routine, depending, of course, on seasonal, day-by-day, or skin mood needs. After almost a decade in the beauty industry, here’s my composite list of skincare ingredients recommended time and again by science-forward brands, dermatologists, estheticians, and cosmetic chemists (like me!).
A full and personalized routine does not this list make, but most fully-rounded routines do contain most if not all of the below:
Vitamins & Their Derivatives
Vitamin A (Retinoids: Tretinoin, Retinol, Retinyl Palmitate)
Vitamin B (Niacinamide, Panthenol)
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate)
Hydrators
Polyols: Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Propanediol
Polysaccharides: Hyaluronic Acid, Beta-Glucan, Tremella (snow mushroom)
NMFs (Natural Moisturizing Factors): Urea, amino acids, etc.
Ions: Copper, zinc, magnesium, etc.
Sebum-Like Lipids
Omegas 3, 6, 9 (free fatty acids!)
Phytosterols, phospholipids, cholesterol
Ceramides
plus Squalane, triglycerides, wax esters
Barrier Builders
Ferments, prebiotics, postbiotics
Exfoliants
Chemical (AHAs, BHAs, PHAs) or physical
Peptides
Signal, carrier, enzyme-inhibitor, etc.
If you’re curious about any of the above, let me know. I’d be happy to dive into the raw materials I first reach for when formulating systems with these essentials.
Ciao for now,
Lizzy