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Does the Delivery System in your Skincare Products Really Matter?

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The order you apply your products, the combination of products you use, and the active ingredients are all things you have to pay attention to. And now it’s time to add one more thing to that list: your product’s delivery system.

What Do You Mean by Delivery System?

No, we’re not talking about UPS or FedEx. A delivery system, as it pertains to skincare, is what delivers the active ingredients in your products (vitamin C, retinol, hyaluronic acid, etc) deep into the skin. It’s what gives them the ability to work their magic! “An ingredient may be active in a test tube, but in the real world it needs to be applied to the skin without causing irritation, penetrate through the outer skin layer, and remain stable and active when it reaches its target,” explains Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital to Refinery29. “Just as important as the active ingredient is the technology involved in stabilizing that active and allowing it to do its job in the skin.”

In that same article, Dr. Rocio Rivera, the director of scientific communications for L’Oréal Paris Skincare gives this visual to better understand how they work. “Think of the delivery system as a food-delivery service trying to deliver ice cream from Central Park to Union Square at 5 p.m. on a Monday,” she says. “The vehicle (taxi, bus, motorcycle, subway) and route taken (FDR, Fifth Avenue) are all crucial to ensure proper arrival at the destination, but so is the temperature in the car so the ice cream is not liquid by the time it reaches (if it ever does) its destination. This is a very good example of how the vehicle and the conditions at which the active is delivered (temperature, pH, how much time does it take to arrive at the correct component of the skin) are key to ensure maximal efficacy.”

So if your products don’t have an effective delivery system, the product is essentially useless. “You can buy an $800 product, but if it’s not getting down there [into the dermis] it’s not going to be effective,” says Barbara Broas, the national aesthetician for Le Métier de Beauté. “Many products just hit the surface of your face, but when you get deep down you’re going to actually correct what’s going on before it surfaces.”

Carrier Oils

One type of delivery system used in skincare is carrier oils. These are plant-based extracts from nuts or seeds that can be used alone or mixed with other oils. Carrier oils are typically used to dilute essential oils and “carry” them to your skin. This is beneficial as applying essential oils directly to the skin can cause irritation. When using a carrier oil, you sill get the benefits of essential oil but without the irritation!

One of the most popular carrier oils is marula oil. “Marula oil is hydrating and rich in vitamins E and C, as well as antioxidant flavonoids,” explains Dr. Zeichner. “It easily absorbs into the skin, and may be used along with other ingredients to enhance their delivery to the skin.”

Glycols

The most popular delivery system and the one used in a vast majority of skincare products are glycols. They have been used for years to increase the penetration of topical cosmetic products and typically come in the form of propylene glycol, butylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol. Glycols are small molecules and have a high affinity to water, which gives them the ability to be quickly absorbed by the skin.

Butylene glycol and propylene glycol are well-known penetration enhancers (International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 1999) that also act as “slip agents,” improving the feel of ingredients on the skin. Glycols “thin out” a solution, but also simultaneously have enough “bulk” to them to also make them more water-binding and more hydrating.

There was an internet rumor around glycols started about a decade ago when people realized the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) can cause liver and kidney damage and act as a skin irritant. Considering that over 4000 beauty products in the U.S. alone contain propylene glycol, this was a big deal, to say the least. However, MSDS sheets refer to 100% concentrations of a substance. In the very small concentrations used in skincare cosmetics, it is not a concern. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, propylene glycol is classified as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe), and proclaims, “Studies have not shown these chemicals [propylene or the other glycols as used in cosmetics] to be carcinogens”.

Propylene or butylene glycol may make your skin more susceptible to irritation when used with irritating skincare ingredients. Glycols enhance the penetration of other ingredients into the skin as an absorption enhancer. If you know you have a sensitivity to alpha hydroxy acids, for instance, you may not want to apply your alpha hydroxy acid serum the same night as you use a moisturizer containing glycols. On the other hand, I, for one, know and trust a lot of cosmetic chemists, so I am less concerned when a formulated, tested, and certified product contains a potentially-irritating ingredient and a glycol or two.

Bottom Line

Does the delivery system in your skincare products actually matter? ABSOLUTELY! No matter how many powerful active ingredients a product has, it won’t do anything unless the delivery system is just as good. Be sure you’re paying close attention to these and investing in products that actually work.

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