The most healing ingredients can sometimes come from the most surprising places. Take allantoin for example: a humectant that works as an intensive calming agent for distressed skin... is formed as a chemical reaction from uric acid when purines are broken down in most animals. But have no fear—chemists today circumnavigate allantoin’s excretory origins and typically derive the compound from plants like comfrey, sugar beets, chamomile, and most commonly, wheat sprouts. What makes vegan allantoin such a superstar ingredient is that it goes above and beyond the functions of your typical skincare soothing agent by speaking directly to your skin’s natural cellular ability to heal itself. But how?
“Allantoin is actually used in skincare quite often for addressing concerns with wound healing, scarring, or wounds that can occur in acneic or eczema-affected skin,” says Youth To The People’s Senior Manager of Field Sales + Education, North America, Jacob Tomás del Rosario. “It helps speed up a process called desquamation, which is the natural shedding of our skin cells, most commonly after there's an internal or external wound.”
This trauma could look like a rough patch of skin, an acne scab or scar, or even skin experiencing environmental damage such as exposure to excessive sun, extreme cold, or wind-chapped skin. Allantoin is an exceptionally functional, tried and true ingredient found in lots of skincare formulas due to its restorative capabilities. It’s included in YTTP’s ultra-hydrating Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream as well as the Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Mask. But when allantoin is used extra-strategically, like in the Superclay Purify + Clear Power Mask, that’s when it really shines.
When asked about the way allantoin functions in the Power Mask, Del Rosario uses words like “beautiful” and “unique.”
“Typically when we talk about detoxification-focused masks, they tend to get the reputation of being depleting to the skin,” he explains. “Having allantoin in this formula makes it so that even though the mask exposes the skin to ingredients which can traditionally be more drying—with the intention of pulling impurities and toxins out of the skin—the allantoin anchors it. It’s actually helping with the recovery aspect within the same product.”
While the mask’s triple clay blend purifies the skin and salicylic acid clears it, kombucha black tea ferment is nourishing its moisture barrier.
“You’re getting this cyclical pull of the impurities and the toxins and then the push of all these beneficial, skin-loving ingredients,” Del Rosario adds.
As a result of being formulated with ingredients that replenish the skin while purifying it, the mask is unique in its ability to serve a range of skin types. Allantoin protects the skin and offsets any of the harsh effects that would typically arise from standalone ingredients like clay and BHAs.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see,” del Rosario muses. “It’s going to open up doors for a lot of different skin types to utilize a product that they've maybe thought that they couldn't use prior.”
Written by Kaitlyn McNab for Youth To The People
