Beautifying vitamins march into personal care

Several vitamins are currently proving popular with personal care manufacturers and each delivers different beautifying benefits. Concerning the development of vitamins for use in personal care formulations, many Asia Pacific firms are beating European manufacturers to the market with low cost and high quality products. Vitamin A ​ Vitamin A is a particularly popular member of the vitamin family in the eyes of personal care formulators thanks to its anti-ageing properties. Clinical studies have demonstrated the age defying properties of the vitamin which is available in various different forms; Retinol, Retinyl Esters, Retinoic Acid and Tretinion. When applied topically in skin care products vitamin A fights wrinkles by stimulating the production of collagen and encouraging cell renewal and therefore reducing the damage incurred from free radicals. Regarding the different forms of the vitamin, Retinol is used in various lotions to fight ageing but due to formulation difficulties Tretinion is often preferred. Frost & Sullivan analyst Sowmya Ramaswami said Tretinion is considered to be 10 times more potent than retinol and ideal for the treatment of wrinkles. ​Vitamin C​ The active ingredient of vitamin C, L-ascorbic acid, is also widely used in creams and gels and even hair and oral care products because of its anti-ageing properties. The vitamin is an antioxidant taht helps reduce water loss from the skin, stimulate collagen production, reduce skin inflammation and strengthen the skin's repair mechanism. Vitamin E ​ Vitamin E is another popular vitamin that is used various products including lotions, shampoo and lipstick because of its ability to protect the body against the early signs of UV damage. The vitamin which is available as alpha-tocopherol and tocopherol acetates also helps prevent cell membrane damage by reducing the peroxidation of fats. Vitamin B3 ​ Finally, Vitamin B3 is used in personal care products because of its ability to help the skin retain moisture. Niacin, nicotamide and niacinamide are all forms of the vitamin that are used in formulations to right the appearance of wrinkles and lighten the skin.