SootherSkin protectantIn every formula

Allantoin

Allantoin · INCI Allantoin

Allantoin has been used on skin for over a century, it appears in an enormous number of products, and almost nobody talks about it. That is partly because it does not announce itself. Nothing tingles, nothing glows. It simply makes skin less cross.

One of the oldest, quietest and best evidenced soothing ingredients there is, which is a rare combination.

Allantoin, the soothing skin protectant in all our formulas.
Allantoin, the soothing skin protectant in all our formulas.

What it is

Allantoin is the compound that gives comfrey its long reputation as a healing plant, though ours is made synthetically rather than extracted, which gives a purer and more consistent material without some less positive parts of the plant coming along for the ride.

What it does is calm. It settles redness and irritation, in part by binding up irritating substances so they cannot reach the skin and provoke it. Regulators in the United States formally recognise it as a skin protectant, which is a stronger position than most cosmetic ingredients ever reach and reflects how well established the evidence is.

It also softens rough skin, by loosening the keratin that holds dead cells together so they shed more readily. That is a different and gentler mechanism than an acid uses, which is why it suits skin too reactive for exfoliation. At the level we use it, expect a quiet smoothing rather than anything dramatic.

What it does in our formulas

Two functions, well founded.

01

It calms irritated skin

This is its main job and it is well established. Allantoin reduces redness and settles irritation. It works partly by binding up irritating substances so they cannot bother the skin. Regulators in the United States formally recognise it as a skin protectant, which is a rare thing for a cosmetic ingredient and reflects how solid the evidence is.

Well characterised
02

It softens rough skin

Allantoin loosens the keratin that holds dead cells together at the surface, so they let go more easily. It is a gentler mechanism than an acid, which dissolves the bonds instead, and it suits reactive skin that cannot take exfoliation. A quiet effect at the level we use, not a resurfacing one.

Well characterised

What the research does not show

Allantoin needs less correcting than many ingredients, which is a pleasant change. Two things are still worth being careful about.

Marketed as It heals wounds and repairs scars
Allantoin does appear to encourage skin cells to grow and wounds to close, and that work is real. But the evidence is mostly in cell cultures and animals, and it belongs to wound care rather than to a moisturiser. We are not a wound treatment and we do not make claims about healing.
Marketed as Comfrey extract, the natural version, is better
Allantoin is a compound in comfrey. A comfrey extract gives you the allantoin plus a variable quantity of everything else in the plant, some of which is best avoided on skin. Ours is made synthetically, which sounds less romantic but gives a cleaner, more consistent, predictable material.

What is left is genuinely good: a well-evidenced soother that calms irritation and softens rough skin, doing its work without fanfare. It is one of the ingredients that never needs to be overclaimed, because it does not need it.

On the label and in the range

Allantoin appears in every one of our formulations, toward the end of the ingredient list, at a fraction of a percent. That is not a token amount, it is where allantoin actually works: most products use it between a tenth and half a percent, and the evidence sits comfortably in that range. The exact percentage is published on each product page.

Is it suitable for me?

Allantoin is one of the least irritating ingredients in cosmetic use. The independent expert panel that reviews cosmetic ingredients has assessed it and found it safe as used, and it has a century of use behind it with remarkably little trouble. It suits a vegan routine and carries no restrictions under UK or EU cosmetic law. It sits comfortably on sensitive and reactive skin, which is exactly why it is in every formula we make rather than only the gentle ones.

Vegan-friendlySensitive-skin suitableNo known safety concerns

Allantoin is among the least irritating ingredients in cosmetic use. As with anything new, if your skin reacts easily it is worth patch testing first.

Formulation Clear
Formulation Clear
Science led
Science led
Gentle, skin friendly
Gentle, skin friendly

The research behind this page

We review the published literature. We do not conduct the studies below.

  1. Becker LC, Bergfeld WF, Belsito DV, et al. Final Report of the Safety Assessment of Allantoin and Its Related Complexes. Int J Toxicol 2010;29(3 Suppl):84S-97S. "https://doi.org/10.1177/1091581810362805", "url"=>"https://doi.org/10.1177/1091581810362805"}" rel="nofollow">→
  2. Araújo LU, Grabe-Guimarães A, Mosqueira VCF, Carneiro CM, Silva-Barcellos NM. Profile of wound healing process induced by allantoin. Acta Cir Bras 2010;25(5):460-466. "https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-86502010000500014", "url"=>"https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-86502010000500014"}" rel="nofollow">→
  3. US Food and Drug Administration. Skin Protectant Drug Products for Over-the-Counter Human Use. Allantoin recognised at 0.5 to 2 percent. "https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/omuf/monographs/OTCMonograph_M016SkinProtectantDrugProductsforOTCHumanUse09242021.pdf", "url"=>"https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/omuf/monographs/OTCMonograph_M016SkinProtectantDrugProductsforOTCHumanUse09242021.pdf"}" rel="nofollow">→
Found in every Biotaderm formulation Shop the range