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 an old bottle of nut oil. 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, which is why it is in five of the eight butters and masks here.

• It is consumed doing the job. A sacrificial antioxidant is used up over the life of the product.
• It protects fats, not water. Which is why it belongs in 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, for the reason set out on the jojoba oil page.

What it does on skin, described honestly

Topical vitamin E is a mild antioxidant and a reasonable emollient. Those are the two things there is decent support for. 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.

Which eight carry it

Eight products carry it, and they split into two groups doing the same job for different reasons. In the butters it is protecting a jar full of plant fats. In the jelly masks it is sitting in a water based formula alongside aloe, where the antioxidant role is smaller and the emollient one larger.

• Five whipped butters. Fat heavy formulas where oxidation is the main risk; the format is on the whipped body butter page.
• Three 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.