How Long Do Vitamins Take to Work in Skincare?
How Long Do Vitamins Take to Work in Skincare?
Sabrina Schrope
Cosmetic Chemist, Owner of Vitamin You
Introduction
Vitamins and actives are highly popular in skincare products due to their positive marketing and claims. Unfortunately, the actives themselves can become more or less effective depending on their concentration and relation to the other ingredients in the product they're in. The best way to determine how fast an active will work is by testing the finished product against a control without the active.
The concentration of the active is crucial because it may alter how "fast" a product works, but also how irritating it becomes. Many actives are regulated to be safe for consumers yet put to their limits in modern day skincare. Ingredient suppliers will also often perform in vivo and in vitro tests to provide evidence for their claims. Most of these will be around 0.5% to 2% for performance and up to 20% for irritation tests. Most products do not contain more than 5% of active ingredients because they can be difficult to stabilize.
Furthermore, it's important to compare the active concentration and the formula type to specify a scope of effectiveness. For example, one study on a 2% hyaluronic acid water-based gel will be different from a 2% hyaluronic acid oil-based (W/O) cream simply due to different water inputs, complementing ingredients, and pH variability. This is often why there are different answers to the same question. They may all be correct, but based on a different scope of active concentration or formula type.
Chart & Infographic
The best way I thought to communicate how long the different actives take was by a chart and infographic. I've specifically used the derivatives of vitamin actives that are used in our line of cosmetics, which may differ in concentration and formula type.
For example, our vitamin A is carried in an oil-gel formula that has not been tested before. Moreover, the supplier that manufactures our vitamin A may not be the same as the one used in the study, which could also alter the results. I would assume that higher quality-ingredients would have better efficacy data.
| Vitamin (INCI) | Formulation Type | Skin Goal | Time |
| Vitamin A (Retinyl Palmitate) | OTC Cream | Wrinkles & Texture | 8+ weeks |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide) | 2% Cream | TEWL & Rosacea | 4 weeks |
| Vitamin B5 (Panthenol) | 1% Gel |
Irritation TEWL |
2 hours 2 weeks |
| Vitamin C (Ascorbyl Palmitate) | 1% Oil | Lightening | 3 weeks |
| Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate) |
5% Cream 2.5% Gel |
Antioxidant SPF Boost |
24 hours 1 week |
Citations
Of course, the set of data would be incomplete without a full citation report. Instead of citing the chart, please follow this unusual script:
Vitamin A:
Farooq, U. et al. 2018. “Comparative efficacy of two anti-aging products containing retinyl palmitate in healthy human volunteers.” Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. 17(3), 454-460. doi:10.1111/jocd.12500
Vitamin B3:
2014. ”Revealing the Power of Vitamins for Beauty Care”. DSM Nutritional Products. Brochure.
Draelos, Z. et al. 2005. “Niacinamide-Containing Facial Moisturizer Improves Skin Barrier and Benefits Subjects With Rosacea.” Therapeutics for the Clinician. CUTIS-NEW YORK. 76(2), 135-141
Vitamin B5:
Camargo, F. et al. 2011. “Skin moisturizing effects of panthenol-based formulations”. Journal of Cosmetic Science. 62(4), 361-370.
Vitamin C:
Liyanage, A. et al. 2022. “Comparative Study on Depigmenting Agents in Skin of Color.” The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology. 15(2), 12-17
Vitamin E:
2014. ”Revealing the Power of Vitamins for Beauty Care”. DSM Nutritional Products. Brochure.