active
Allantoin
The quietly indispensable barrier-soother — naturally found in comfrey, urea, and snail mucin; cosmetically synthesized for purity. Allantoin's keratolytic-at-high-doses, soothing-at-low-doses dual mechanism makes it the workhorse of every well-built sensitive-skin cream from Cetaphil to La Roche-Posay to virtually every K-beauty cica formulation. 2025's clean-formulator playbook treats allantoin as a non-negotiable in barrier products.
Benefits
- soothes irritation and supports re-epithelialization
- mild keratolytic — improves skin texture without acid sting
- exceptionally well-tolerated across all skin types and ages
Example uses
- sensitive-skin moisturizers
- diaper and post-procedure creams
- cica and barrier formulations
Mechanism of action
A diureide of glyoxylic acid that acts on two mechanisms simultaneously. At low concentrations it accelerates re-epithelialisation by stimulating fibroblast proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis, while binding to and sequestering irritant carbonyl compounds via Schiff-base formation. At keratolytic concentrations (>2%) it weakens the intercellular cement of the stratum corneum without acid sting, by chelating divalent cations involved in corneodesmosome integrity.
Clinical evidence · Moderate
Multiple controlled wound-healing and barrier-recovery studies, an FDA OTC monograph entry for skin protectants, and a long European pharmacopeia tradition. Most data is supportive but at low effect sizes.
Effective concentration range
0.1–2% (saturation ~0.5% in water; micro-crystalline suspension extends release)
Formulation notes
Effective at 0.1–2%. Solubility-limited (~0.5% in water at room temp); often used at saturated concentration with the rest as suspended micro-crystals for sustained release. Pairs with virtually anything — panthenol, ceramides, niacinamide, centella, urea.
Watchouts
Essentially none at cosmetic concentrations.
Controversies & overclaims
None of consequence. The closest thing to a debate is the cosmetic-vs-comfrey-derived sourcing question, which is purely a marketing choice — synthetic allantoin is chemically identical and trace-impurity-cleaner than plant extraction.
Market positioning
Almost never the hero on a label, despite being the molecule doing much of the soothing work in sensitive-skin classics from Cetaphil to Avène. The market positions it as a supporting actor; in formulation reality it earns top billing it rarely receives.
Comedogenicity
0 / 5
Sensitisation risk
Low
INCI & aliases
Allantoin
5-ureidohydantoin
Clean beauty perception
Universally trusted.
Products using Allantoin
Related ingredients
Graph relationships
Timeline