Vitamin E

An antioxidant for the jar

Plant oils oxidize. The unsaturated bonds in them react with oxygen over months, and the result is the flat, paint-like smell of a forgotten nut oil at the back of a kitchen cabinet. Tocopherol interrupts that reaction by being oxidized itself, sacrificially, before the oils are. Adding a fraction of a percent measurably extends how long a formula stays as it was made, so it is no surprise that so many butters and masks list it.

• It is consumed doing the job. A sacrificial antioxidant is used up over the life of the product.
• It protects fats, not water. So its natural home is an oil based formula rather than a gel.
• It is not a preservative. It does nothing against bacteria or mold; that is a different ingredient entirely.
• Jojoba needs less of it. A wax ester barely oxidizes, and the jojoba oil page explains why.

What it does on skin, described honestly

Topical vitamin E is a mild antioxidant and a reasonable emollient. Those are the effects with decent support behind them. The larger claims, about scars, stretch marks and healing, are not well supported, and some studies have found no benefit at all for scar appearance. It is a sensible ingredient to have in a formula and a poor reason to choose one product over another.

• Mild antioxidant and emollient. Real, modest and not worth paying a premium for.
• Scar and stretch mark claims are weak. The evidence does not support them, whatever the packaging says.
• A known contact allergen for some. Tocopherol causes reactions in a small minority; patch test if your skin is reactive.
• Scarring is a medical question. It belongs with a doctor rather than on a label, whatever a package promises.

Where it turns up

Products carry it for different reasons. In body butters it is protecting a jar full of plant fats. In jelly masks and aloe based face moisturizers it sits in a water based formula, where the antioxidant role is smaller and the emollient role larger.

• The whipped butters. Fat heavy formulas where oxidation is the main risk; the whipped body butter guide covers the format.
• The jelly face masks. Water based, where it pairs with the humectant described on the aloe vera page.
• Often listed near the end. A fraction of a percent is the normal dose, and that is where it belongs on a label rather than being a headline ingredient.
• Its presence is a small quality signal. A formula without any antioxidant at all is one that has not planned for the months between manufacture and use.