Honestly, glycerine deserves more credit. Kind of like the friend in the group who gets along with everyone: she’s got so much going for her, yet she can always make time for you; she prefers to fly under the radar, but she’s secretly talented in all the best ways. You’ve got a solid relationship, but you should probably make the effort to get to know her on that deeper level. So let’s do it.
In nature, glycerine can be found in all the good stuff like wine, olives, even bread. When it’s in your products, it usually comes from soybeans or palm and is derived from a process called hydrolysis. Since it’s so readily available and this extraction process is relatively easy, glycerine is a super cost-effective ingredient, which is amazing because you can get a hold of it’s powers without reaching for top-shelf products. In fact, if you open your medicine cabinet right now and start reading ingredient lists, we’d bet you’d find it in at least 3 out of 5 of your products.
Glycerine has a ton of benefits, but let’s focus on the 5 best ones:
Glycerine loves water — the scientific way of saying that is “it’s hygroscopic”. It does wonders for both dry and dehydrated skin because it has a similar structure to lipids, meaning provides your skin with oil. As a humectant, it can draw in moisture from the air around you, literally allowing your skin to drink in water. Using it will leave your skin feeling soft and nourished.
You already have glycerine in your skin since it naturally occurs there, which is one of the reasons it’s so easy to get along with. Other reasons: Glycerine it’s mild, non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic and it has been found to be anti-inflammatory, so it can soothe mild irritation.
Again, like a good best friend glycerine can handle any mood your skin is in. Like we just talked about, it helps maintain a healthy water balance in your skin. It also has a neutral pH, which means it doesn’t skew alkaline. Alkaline ingredients can dry you out and they’re generally not good for acne because they can put your skin in a state that encourages bad bacteria. It’s balanced nature and ability to reduce oiliness makes glycerine an especially good ingredient in cleansers, which often tend to have alkaline and drying properties.
Glycerine has been used in skin care for years and years. While newer, cutting edge ingredients are sexy (and we love them), glycerine has a leg up in that it’s been time-tested to be safe and effective.
As we get older, our skin’s Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF) stops working as hard. Which is a huge bummer because your NMF, is super important for balancing your skin barrier, keeping your skin hydrated and maintaining your skin plasticity — meaning its youthful plump, non-saggy shape. Good news though, glycerine actually mimics some of the properties of the NMF. On top of that, its role as humectant means it helps hold water in the outer layer of your skin (aka the layer you can see). This is why it’s so effective when it comes to visible results. The best part: it’s been found to stabilize collagen, too!
It does all the good stuff: moisturizing, hydrating, anti-aging and it doesn’t break the bank. Ready to put glycerine all over your face? We thought so.
