How Effective is Panthenol?

Panthenol is an easily accessible ingredients found in a wide range of skin and body care products, especially those focussed on providing hydration, healing, soothing and protection for the skin. Let’s explore what this ingredient is, it’s safety and what the science says about its efficacy.  

What is Panthenol?

Panthenol is the alcohol analogue of pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5). It is often listed as Provitamin B5 by ingredient suppliers as it is a precursor to true B5. It is typically a very thick, clear, odourless liquid at room temperature and is sometimes sold as a 75% solution with the other 25% being water. This can be useful for formulators as it makes the material easier to handle and pour. It can also be found as a powder in its acid form which would be incorporated with water before use.



Benefits & Function

The official INCI functions of Panthenol are:

Antistatic : Reduces static electricity by neutralizing electrical charge on a surface.

Hair conditioning : Leaves hair easy to comb, soft, soft, and shiny and / or confers volume, lightness, and shine.

Skin conditioning : Maintains skin in good condition.

Panthenol is readily absorbed through the skin as well as mucosal membranes. It is very rapidly oxidised into its acid from called Pantothenic Acid. This acid is extremely hygroscopic which means water LOVES it and is attracted to the acid. This is the principle by which many cosmetic humectant ingredients work including Hyaluronic Acid, in which the molecule attracts and ‘traps’ water molecules. Ultimately, this leads to hydration within the skin layers and a subtle ‘plumping’ effect on the skin.

Panthenol finds a great deal of use in both the skin care and hair care market. Within hair care it is usually used in the concentration range of 0.1-1%. Here it acts as an antistatic agent and a hair conditioner meaning it stops hair clinging together, makes it easier to comb and provides a protective barrier to the hair. It is more famed for its use in healing skin care where it is usually used in concentrations from 2-5%. It is an effective active in products used to treat skin injuries, sunburns, and mild heat burns.

As panthenol is an emollient, moisturiser, humectant and has inherent anti-inflammatory properties, it helps protect and soothe damaged skin which ultimately aids in the healing process. When used for wound healing, it is often combined with Allantoin, which has similar restorative properties.

Is Panthenol Safe for the skin?

Panthenol is a skin safe and widely used active in cosmetics with a typical use percentage of 0.5-5%. A large CIR study drafted in December 2017 (Published to PubMed 2022) stated that panthenol (and multiple derivatives) poses no health risks at all when used in cosmetics. It has been shown in some smaller studies that Panthenol can cause minor irritation when used frequently however, in these studies the concentration of Panthenol was multiple times higher than what you would see even if high-strength cosmetics. The summary is that Panthenol is exceptionally skin safe and is safe for use on all skin types; in fact, due to its soothing, anti-inflammatory, and healing properties it is often encouraged for use in problem skin conditions like eczema.

How effective is it?

Numerous studies have shown the potent moisturising and tissue regeneration effects of panthenol.

Moisturising – This study demonstrated that products with panthenol demonstrate a relocation of water molecules deeper in the skin and that this is a sustained effect over several weeks. This study also concluded panthenol is well tolerated by infants and adults.

Moisturising – This study showed that including Panthenol at 1% or 5% in formulation greatly reduces water loss from the skin over 30 days of application. This is particularly useful as including panthenol can help balance formulas which are known to be drying.

Barrier Function – This study demonstrated that including panthenol (7-11%) in semi solid formulations showed bactericidal action, improved skin barrier function and significantly reduced the amount of moisture lost from the skin over the application period as measured by increased hydration in the stratum corneum.

Healing – This study showed that epidermal wounds treated with Panthenol showed greater solid tissue regeneration that controls. Even more, adjuvant panthenol treatment considerably improved the symptoms of skin irritation (in an irritation model), such as dryness, roughness, erosion, and erythema over 3 to 4 weeks.

What does Panthenol pair well with?

Panthenol is a multi-functional ingredient as combines well with a wide range of other active ingredients to complement its function.

It combines particularly well with:

Allantoin – healing agent

Glycerine – humectant

Hyaluronic Acid – humectant

Vitamin C – antioxidant, collagen stimulating

Niacinamide – smoothing


Summary 

Panthenol is a multi-functional, skin-safe active that works as a dual emollient and humectant and plays well with many other ingredients.

Key Benefits:

·      Improved water retention in the skin

·      Supports wound healing

·      Is anti-inflammatory

·      Is bactericidal

·      Appropriate for all skin types

This post was written by our Chief Scientist, Dr. Edward Jones