At BulkActives we have decided to discontinue selling Ellagic acid, because it does not dissolve well, and we do not want people to take crazy risks with sodium hydroxide.

Why sodium hydroxide?

Ellagic acid is NOT easy to dissolve.

It is ONLY soluble in s strong alkaline solvent such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) also know as Lye.

Sodium hydroxide is very dangerous to work with, it is highly caustic and will degrade organic tissue.

Theoretically one could make an alkaline solution of sodium hydroxide, dissolve the Ellagic acid, mix it into a cream, and then bring the pH down to a neutral level, but…

 

Why even bother with Ellagic?

Already many customers are making their DIY products fresh every week, because they do not want to use preservatives. Other customers do not use certain ingredients because they only dissolve in propylene glycol. So why even consider putting a solution of sodium hydroxide on your face.

As for Ellagic acid, is it really such an important cosmeceutical??

Sure, it is very popular in Japan, where it is used as an alternative to hydroquinone (which is banned in Japan). There are also a couple of great animal studies that suggest it a highly effective for preventing and repairing sun damage.

However, there are other products that are just as effective AND they are much easier to work with.

 

What are the alternatives?

Well, for sun protection the most researched product is l-ascorbic acid and its derivatives, especially when combined with Vitamin E and Ferulic acid.

For lightning and brightening the combination of Niacinamide and Glucosamine is claimed to be highly effective. There is even a recent study that suggests that Niacinamide is nearly as effective as hydroquinone in the treatment of melsama.

There are many other when topically applied actives that, like Ellagic acid, may:

lighten and brighten skin (treat melsama/hyper pigmentation)

repair and treat sun damage

prevent or reduce UVA and UVB sun damage

increase skin elasticity

act as an anti oxidant

 

In conclusion!

I  know that we often believe that the one product we can’t use is the most effective. However, this is far from true with Ellagic acid. Ellagic acid is not a miracle product, and you will be better of using the above mentioned alternatives for DIY skin care.

 

 

Note to our wholesale customers:

we are still selling Ellagic acid  in amounts of 5kg +, just email us as per usual.

 

 

 

Tags: alkaline solvent, Ellagic Acid, Ferulic acid, glucosamine, L-ascorbic acid, Lye, melsama, Niacinamide, sodium hydroxide, Vitamin E

This entry was posted on Friday, December 23rd, 2011 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Anhydrous C, BulkActives, DIY Skin Care, L-ascorbic acid, lightening & brightening, plant extracts, skin elasticity, sun damage protection, sun damage repair, Vitamin C and its derivatives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.