Vitamin E

Vitamin E is the collective name for a group of eight related fat-soluble compounds, of which alpha-tocopherol is the form the body uses most readily and the one most often found in skincare. It occurs naturally in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and leafy greens, and the skin holds its own reserves of it, concentrated in the surface lipids where it acts as a first line of antioxidant defence.

On an ingredients list it appears most commonly as Tocopherol, which is the natural form, or Tocopheryl Acetate, a more stable ester that the skin has to convert before use. You may also see Tocopheryl Linoleate and mixed tocopherols. The acetate form keeps better in the bottle but is generally regarded as less immediately active on skin, which is a genuine trade-off rather than marketing.

It plays a double role in most products. As well as being an active ingredient in its own right, vitamin E is widely used to protect the oils in a formula from going rancid, so you will find small amounts of tocopherol near the end of the ingredients list in a great many creams and oils where it is functioning largely as a formula preservative.

Typical active use runs from about 0.5% to 1%, and higher concentrations are used in some facial oils and balms. Pure vitamin E oil is available but is thick, sticky and, for some people, prone to causing congestion, so it is generally better encountered within a formulated product.

It is worth knowing that vitamin E is a recognised, if uncommon, cause of contact sensitivity, particularly in high-concentration products applied to broken or already irritated skin.

Vitamin E is an oil-soluble antioxidant, and that solubility determines where it works. It concentrates in the lipid parts of the skin: cell membranes and the fatty layer that holds the surface together. Those lipids are especially vulnerable to oxidation, a chain reaction in which one damaged fat molecule damages the next, and vitamin E interrupts that chain by donating an electron to stop it propagating.

This is a useful division of labour with vitamin C, which is water-soluble and works in the watery parts of the skin. Between them they cover both environments, which is one reason the two are so often formulated together. The relationship goes further than coverage: once vitamin E has neutralised a free radical it is left in a spent state, and vitamin C is able to return it to its active form. Add ferulic acid, which supports both, and you have the reasoning behind the familiar three-ingredient antioxidant serum.

Vitamin E also has a straightforward physical role. It is an emollient, so it softens and smooths the surface, and it contributes to reducing water loss from the skin. Much of what people notice from a vitamin E product in the short term, skin feeling more comfortable and looking less dry, comes from this conditioning effect rather than from the antioxidant activity, which works quietly and shows up as skin holding its condition over time.

Claims about vitamin E and the appearance of scars are widespread and not well supported. It is a good antioxidant and a good emollient, and expectations are better set around those two things.

Vitamin E is easy to use, and most people are already using it without noticing.

• Look for it in company. Its most useful role is alongside vitamin C and ferulic acid in a morning antioxidant serum, where the three support one another.
• When: morning suits the antioxidant role best, though it is perfectly fine at night for its conditioning effect.
• Order in the routine: as part of a serum, after cleansing and before moisturiser. In an oil or balm, last, over everything else.
• Pure vitamin E oil is heavy. If you want to use it neat, apply a very small amount at night and be aware it can feel sticky and may not suit breakout-prone skin.
• Check the form. Tocopherol is more active; tocopheryl acetate is more stable. Neither is wrong, but they are not equivalent.
• Pairs well with: vitamin C, ferulic acid, squalane, ceramides and hyaluronic acid.
• Patch test high-strength products, particularly if your skin is sensitive. Contact reactions to vitamin E are uncommon but well documented.
• Do not use it on broken skin or open blemishes, where reactions are more likely.
• Sunscreen still comes first. Vitamin E supports sun protection; it does not provide any.