Ascorbyl Palmitate

Vitamin C gets a lot of the skincare glory, so it’s no surprise that chemists have tried to dress it up in fancier outfits. Ascorbyl palmitate is one of those versions: a fat-soluble ester made by attaching vitamin C to palmitic acid, which sounds clever on paper because oils and skin tend to get along nicely. In practice, though, this is a pretty underwhelming way to deliver the usual vitamin C benefits. It can be used in formulas as an antioxidant and preservative helper, but when people ask what ascorbyl palmitate is or what the uses of ascorbyl palmitate are, the answer is mostly “an ingredient that tries to be vitamin C, but not very convincingly.”

The main issue is that its performance on skin is not especially impressive. A study comparing vitamin C derivatives found that ascorbyl palmitate was only similar to pure ascorbic acid in stability, which is not exactly a brag when ascorbic acid itself is famously fussy. Another skin-penetration study found that it did not increase skin levels of active vitamin C, so it’s questionable how much conversion happens once it’s on your face. Because of that, the ascorbyl palmitate benefits for skin are mostly theoretical: it may act as an antioxidant, and one in vitro study suggested it could support collagen production. But there’s no strong evidence that it works like the brightening, collagen-loving vitamin C serums people usually want when they look up how to use ascorbyl palmitate for skin.

There’s also a small plot twist: in one lab study, ascorbyl palmitate showed antioxidant activity, but after UVB exposure it also increased lipid peroxidation and cytotoxicity. That was only on cells, not humans, so it doesn’t prove it’s harmful in real life, but it does explain some of the ascorbyl palmitate controversy. If you’re wondering whether ascorbyl palmitate is safe or whether it’s bad for you, the short answer is that it’s generally considered safe as a cosmetic ingredient and is also used in supplements and vitamins. In those products, it’s often there as an antioxidant too. Still, the evidence for major health benefits of ascorbyl palmitate or ascorbyl palmitate cancer claims is not convincing enough to get excited about. Side effects are not common in cosmetics, but as with any ingredient, sensitive skin can occasionally complain.

So, is ascorbyl palmitate good for you? In skincare, probably not much. It’s not our go-to vitamin C derivative, and if you’re after real vitamin C action, there are better options with much better data. Ascorbyl palmitate may have a small supporting role in formulas, but it’s usually found in tiny amounts, which makes its real-world impact even murkier. If you’re after a dependable antioxidant or brightening ingredient, this one is more side character than star.

A form of skincare superstar, vitamin C. Even though we are massive vitamin C fans,  Ascorbyl Palmitate  (AP) is our least favorite. (Btw, if you do not know what the big deal with vitamin C is then you are missing out. You must go and read our geeky details about it.) 

So, AP is one of the attempts by the cosmetics industry to solve the stability issues with vitamin C while preserving its benefits,  but it seems to fall short on several things.

What's the problem?

Firstly, it's stability is only similar to that of pure ascorbic acid (AA), which means it is not really stable. A great study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology compared a bunch of vitamin C derivatives and this derivative was the only one where the study said in terms of stability that it's "similar to AA". Not really that good.

Second, a study that examined the skin absorption of vitamin C found that ascorbyl palmitate did not increase the skin levels of AA. This does not mean that ascorbyl palmitate cannot penetrate the skin (because it can, it's oil soluble and the skin likes to absorb oil soluble things) but this means that it's questionable if ascorbyl palmitate can be converted into pureVitC in the skin. Even if it can be converted, the palmitate part of the molecule is more than the half of it, so the efficacy will not be good and we have never seen a serum that contains a decent (and proudly disclosed) amount of AP.  We are highly skeptical what effect a tiny amount of AP has in a formula.

Third, another study that wanted to examine the antioxidant properties of AP was surprised to find that even though AP does have nice antioxidant properties; following UVB radiation (the same one that comes from the sun) it also promotes lipid peroxidation and cytotoxicity. It was only an in-vitro study meaning that it was done on cell cultures and not on real people, but still, this also does not support the use of AP too much. 

The only good thing we can write about Ascorbyl Palmitate is that there is an in-vitro (made in the lab, not on real people) study showing that it might be able to boost collagen production.

Regarding the skin-brightening properties of pure vitamin C, this is another magic property AP does not have, or at least there is no data, not even in-vitro, about it.

Overall, Ascorbyl Palmitate is our least favorite vitamin C derivative. It is there in lots of products in tiny amounts (honestly, we do not really understand why), however, we do not know about any vitamin C serum featuring AP in high amounts. That is probably no coincidence. If you are into vitamin C, you can take a look at more promising derivatives here.