Tocopherol
Tocopherol · INCI Tocopherol
Vitamin E is one of the few skincare ingredients almost everyone has heard of. In our formulas it does two jobs, and the first is looking after the oils.
Its first job is protecting the oils from going rancid. Its work on skin comes second.
What it is
The oils in our formulas are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. That is the point of them, since linoleic acid is one of the building blocks of the skin's barrier lipids, and the oils that carry the most of it are the ones worth having. The catch is that the same chemistry makes those oils reactive. Left alone, they oxidise, and an oxidised oil is no good to anyone.
Tocopherol is what slows that. It is a sacrificial antioxidant. It intercepts the reactive molecules that would otherwise start the chain reaction, and is used up in the process. That is why it is in every formula we make, and why a little more comes in with our bladderwrack, which is infused in an oil that already carries some.
The research suggests it also acts as an antioxidant on the skin, helping protect the lipids of your barrier from oxidative damage, though the evidence there is still emerging.
What it does in our formulas
Tocopherol protects the oils in every formula and has a smaller antioxidant role on the skin.
It protects the oils from turning
This is its main job, and the reason it is in every formula. Our oils are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, which is what makes them good for your barrier and also what makes them prone to going rancid. Tocopherol takes the hit instead. It mops up the reactive molecules that would otherwise start that process. Without it, a rose hip or sunflower oil formula would not keep.
Well characterisedIt lends the skin some antioxidant defence
The research suggests vitamin E also acts as an antioxidant on the skin, helping protect the lipids of the barrier from oxidative damage. The evidence is still emerging. Any effect sits alongside the antioxidants that come in with the oils themselves.
Emerging evidenceWhat the research does not show
And now the mythology, which in vitamin E's case is unusually stubborn.
Marketed as It heals scars and fades marks
Marketed as More vitamin E means better skin
On the label and in the range
Tocopherol appears in every one of our formulations, in the middle of the ingredient list. A little extra arrives with the bladderwrack, which is infused in sunflower oil that carries its own tocopherol, and that is declared too. The exact percentage is published on each product page.
Is it suitable for me?
Vitamin E is well tolerated by most people and suits a vegan routine, with no restrictions under UK or EU cosmetic law. It is one of the more common contact allergens among otherwise gentle ingredients, and the rate is small but real, which is why there is no sensitive-skin badge on this page. If your skin reacts easily, patch test first, and if you know you react to vitamin E, our products are not for you.
Vitamin E causes contact allergy in a small number of people, more often than most of our ingredients. If your skin reacts easily, patch test first.
The research behind this page
We review the published literature. We do not conduct the studies below.
- Keen MA, Hassan I. Vitamin E in dermatology. Indian Dermatol Online J 2016;7(4):311-315. →
- Thiele JJ, Ekanayake-Mudiyanselage S. Vitamin E in human skin: organ-specific physiology and considerations for its use in dermatology. Mol Aspects Med 2007;28(5-6):646-667. →
- Baumann LS, Spencer J. The effects of topical vitamin E on the cosmetic appearance of scars. Dermatol Surg 1999;25(4):311-315. (background; not evidence for this product) →
- Warshaw EM, et al. Patch testing with tocopherol and tocopherol acetate: the North American Contact Dermatitis Group experience, 2001 to 2016. Dermatitis 2021;32(5):308-318. →