About Vitamin E and Which to Use in Your Personal Care Products

Generally, we know that there are two kinds of the antioxidant Vitamin E: the naturally-occurring (the d- form) and the synthetic (the dl- form, and the acetate). However, there is more to it than just that. Vitamin E comes in 8 forms which belongs to two classes. So, which do you use? And, how much Vitamin E do you need to add to your formulations?

The following informative video by Belinda Carli, Director of the Institute of Personal Care Science and Cosmetic Formulator, explains both selection and input amounts for you, and how to check that you have it right.

Check it out now 

*In our store, we sell Vitamin E Acetate (Tocopherol Acetate; You can buy it here!) which is synthetic and contains antioxidants that are great for the skin but does not slow down the rancidity of oils. On the other hand, natural Vitamin E (like dl-alpha-tocopherol) is an even better antioxidant for the skin, and it’ll also slow down the rancidity of oils.

SOME SCIENCE FACTS

Tocopherols

Consists of 4 types of Vitamin E: alpha tocopherol, beta tocopherol, gamma tocopherol, and delta tocopherol. They are distinguished by the slight chemical differences (location and number of methyl groups) on its core structure.

Tocotrienols

Consist of the 4 other types of Vitamin E: alpha tocotrienol, beta tocotrienol, gamma tocotrienol, and delta tocotrienol. Tocotrienols have 3 unsaturated bonds ‘trienol’ but are otherwise similar to tocopherols in structure. Tocotrienols are also more permeable to cell membranes (meaning they’re more easily absorbed) than tocopherols.

If you’d like to read up more on Vitamin E but don’t know where to start, check out our list of references down below!

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Thank you Belinda Carli from Personal Care Formulations for sharing this video with us!

References:

1. Publishing, Harvard, “Easy Does It With Vitamin E – Harvard Health”, Harvard Health, 2014 <https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Easy_does_it_with_vitamin_E&gt; [Accessed 9 June 2019]
2. “The Eight Faces Of Vitamin E”, Juvenon.Com <https://juvenon.com/the-eight-faces-of-vitamin-e-0903/&gt; [Accessed 9 June 2019]
3. “Tocotrienols: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, And Warning”, Webmd.Com <https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1522/tocotrienols&gt; [Accessed 9 June 2019]
4. “Vitamin E: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, And Warning”, Webmd.Com<https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-954/vitamin-e&gt; [Accessed 9 June 2019]

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