Eye on Ingredients: A Love Letter to Squalane

by Juul Huizinga
March 24, 2020
in Beauty, Eye on Ingredients, Knowledge, Skin Care
0

As we are fighting to get ourselves through spring in one piece – and summer still seems to be quite far away – our skin is having a hard time and needs a little more love and hydration than usual. If your skin is just as dry and rough as mine, squalane could be your new guardian angel.

The difference between squalane & squalene

Squalane is a moisturizing molecule that mimics our skin’s natural hydrating properties. It is also a natural antioxidant and studies have even shown it to have an antitumor effect¹, meaning that it can protect your skin from toxins.

What is squalene?

Squalene (with an e) is the natural hydrator that our skin produces itself; it is produced in every human body. Squalene keeps our skin’s outermost layer moisturized & protected. But unfortunately as we get older, we make less and less squalene ourselves. Peak production of squalene occurs in your teenage years – but the production will begin to slow down in your 20s and 30s. The result? Drier & rougher skin as we mature.

Squalene isn’t only natural in humans. The moisturizer is naturally present in olives, rice bran, and also sugarcane. It can even be found in (and harvested from) shark livers. But squalene derived from animals isn’t used in skincare products, because as soon as it gets exposed to oxygen, it will quickly start to spoil.

What are the benefits of using squalane?

Squalane is a hydrogenated version of squalene derived from olives, rice bran or sugarcane (like the one from FYI Cosmetics). This process makes squalane a more stable substance, much easier to use in skincare products. It is often used as a base in skincare products because of its rejuvenating and overall skin-improving properties. The skin recognizes squalane as if it had produced it (as if it were squalene), which contributes to skin maintenance. Squalane adapts to what the skin needs at any given moment, meaning that dry skin will become more hydrated and oily skin will become less oily. Squalane is able to recover the skin’s natural balance.

Some other benefits of squalane are that it reduces pigmentation spots, restores skin elasticity, provides relief for skin problems like eczema & rosacea, and that it is suitable for almost every skin type. If you have very sensitive skin and you’re not sure if it’s suitable for you, it’s always better to test it out first and try a sample.

My personal review

I started using squalane several weeks ago. In the beginning, I mainly noticed that my skin was better hydrated and I had less dry patches, which I tend to get in the colder winter months. My skin was also super soft and didn’t look or feel oily, which it tends to whenever I use very hydrating products or oils.

So this was definitely a plus for me. Something else I noticed after several weeks, is that I had in general way less redness and blemishes on my skin than I used to.

So if this article gained your interest, I would say, give it a shot if you haven’t tried this amazing product already. So far it has done wonders for my skin and I think that we will see this ingredient in more and more products in the upcoming year.