If you break down the ingredients of skin care products, you may be surprised to find that many magical and extremely effective products are full of "filler" ingredients. Although these "filler" ingredients are certainly not as exciting as the ingredients on the previous label, they are the backbone of many skin care products and help make the gorgeous ingredients as effective as possible.

So, what is 1,2-hexanediol? 1,2-hexanediol is a synthetic humectant, emollient and preservative. It is completely safe and common in many skin care formulations.

1,2 Hexanediol is a very multifunctional auxiliary ingredient, which can do many things in skin care products: it can bring a soft and comfortable feeling to the formula, it can be used as a moisturizer and emollient, it can be used as a solvent for some other ingredients (for example, it can help stabilize perfume in water-based products), and it can also help to disperse pigment more evenly in cosmetics products. This is not all: it can also improve the antibacterial activity of preservatives.

Macromolecular ethylene glycol

1,2-hexanediol belongs to the category of high molecular ethylene glycol. This category includes pentyl glycol and octyl propylene glycol, which are very similar to 1,2-hexanediol. The difference between these molecules is the amount of carbon on the carbon chain.

When the carbon chain becomes larger, the solubility of molecules in water becomes worse. This means that pentyl glycol is the most soluble and octyl propylene glycol is the most insoluble.

Function in skin care formula

1,2 Hexanediol has three main functions in the skin care formula.

Wetting agent

1,2-hexanediol has hygroscopic properties, which makes it a popular choice for moisturizers. Moisturizing ingredients absorb moisture from the air into the skin, providing lasting moisture throughout the day. It is usually not selected as the main moisturizing agent of the product, but because of its moisture absorption effect, in addition to its other characteristics.

solvent

1,2 hexanediol is the most commonly used solvent in skin care products. As a solvent, 1,2-hexanediol has the ability to dissolve components, such as plant extracts and pigments, otherwise it may spread unevenly throughout the product. This not only ensures the uniform distribution of each ingredient in the formula, but also affects the texture and efficacy of the final product. 1,2 hexanediol is also useful in combining silicone and fragrance into products to ensure the stability of these ingredients.

preservative

1,2 hexanediol itself is not a special magical preservative, it has the ability to improve the antibacterial performance of other preservatives. This is useful because it means that preservatives can be effective at lower concentrations, rather than without 1,2-hexanediol. This leaves more room for active ingredients in the product formulation.

In addition, 1,2-hexanediol can be used as coupling agent.

Effect on skin

As mentioned above, 1,2-hexanediol has the ability to absorb moisture, which can deeply moisturize the skin and provide long-term moisture. It also has moisturizing properties that soften and soothe the skin by creating a protective moisturizing film.

1,2-hexanediol has been proved to be a completely safe and non irritating ingredient. This is true at almost all concentrations, but some people report irritation when the concentration starts to increase. It is unclear whether the report of such stimulation is true, but 1,2-hexanediol can be effective at low concentration of 0.00,005% and high concentration of up to 10%. Because it can be effective in such a small concentration, it should never cause irritation in skin care.