The Beauty & Personal Care Brand Builder Series

Ingredient Deep Dive

Hydroxyacetophenone

The Beauty & Personal Care Brand Builder Series

Ingredient Deep Dive

Hydroxyacetophenone

The Antioxidant Soothing Booster

Hydroxyacetophenone is a multifunctional ingredient valued as an antioxidant and soothing agent that also supports a formula’s preservation and stability.

It helps defend the look of skin and the formula itself against oxidative stress, calms the appearance of stressed skin, and boosts the efficiency of the preservative system.

Quick Insights

Ingredient Rating:

GOOD

Type of Ingredient:

Antioxidant and Soother

Intended Function:

A multifunctional antioxidant and soothing agent that also supports preservation and stability.

Common Applications:

Used across skincare and treatment formulas.

Target Audience:

Brands wanting a gentle antioxidant/soothing multitasker that reinforces preservation.

Also Known As:

Hydroxyacetophenone, 4-Hydroxyacetophenone

Benefits of Hydroxyacetophenone

An antioxidant, soothing and stability-boosting multitasker.

Antioxidant: Helps protect skin’s appearance and the formula from oxidative stress.
Soothing: Helps calm the look of stressed, sensitive skin.
Preservation Support: Improves the efficiency and robustness of the preservative system.
Stability: Helps keep formulas stable over shelf life.
Gentle: Well tolerated across formats.

How It Works

Hydroxyacetophenone is a radical-scavenging antioxidant: it neutralizes reactive oxygen species that drive both skin stress and formula degradation, while its stabilizing action supports the preservative system. This combination makes it a popular soothing, protective multitasker.

Formulating with Hydroxyacetophenone

Hydroxyacetophenone is water-soluble and added to the water phase at low levels as an antioxidant, soothing agent and preservation booster. Observe good manufacturing and preservation practice.

Safety Analysis

Hydroxyacetophenone is well tolerated at typical use levels. As always, substantiate the finished product’s safety (e.g. patch / HRIPT testing) in line with MoCRA requirements.

References

https://incidecoder.com/ingredients/hydroxyacetophenone

https://cosmeticanalysis.com/cosmetic-ingredients/hydroxyacetophenone

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