Sodium PCA

Irritancy: 0-0Comedogenicity: 0-0Humectant

The details

Sodium PCA (the salt of PCA ) is one of the most well-established humectants in skincare. Why is it so special? Your skin already makes it naturally; it's a natural component of your skin's Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF), or the mix of water-binding compounds inside your skin cells that keeps things soft and hydrated. As a cosmetic ingredient, it grabs water and holds it in the upper layers of skin to smooth roughness and ease dehydration. There's some clinical support for the NMF approach with a study showing that a cream built to mimic the skin's NMF significantly boosted hydration. Safety-wise, this ingredient non-irritating, non-comedogenic, and non-phototoxic in testing, with minimal skin absorption. It also works really well with other hydrators like glycerin or hyaluronic acid, and typical usage is somewhere between 0.2-4%.