Helen Frankenthaler Foundation

Anti-sagging cosmetic ingredient

asap N20 Peptide Complex ingredients (Explained)

asap N20 Peptide Complex

A serum combines 20% niacinamide (vitamin B3) with next generation antioxidant technology to help strengthen the skin barrier, promoting a balanced and bright complexion. Enriched with powerful peptides, this oil-free formulation soothes, intensely moisturises, and reduces the appearance of wrinkles and hyperpigmentation.

Uploaded by: dont_forget_me_2009 on 07/01/2025

Ingredients overview

Aqua, Niacinamide, Propanediol, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Acetyl Zingerone, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Glycerin, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-40, Panthenol, Xanthan Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate

Highlights

Alcohol Free

Fragrance and Essential Oil Free

Skim through

Ingredient namewhat-it-doesirr., com.ID-Rating
Aquasolvent
Niacinamidecell-communicating ingredient, skin brightening, anti-acne, moisturizer/humectantsuperstar
Propanediolsolvent, moisturizer/humectant
3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acidantioxidant, skin brighteninggoodie
Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juicesoothing, moisturizer/humectantgoodie
Acetyl Zingeroneantioxidant, chelating
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acidmoisturizer/humectantgoodie
Glycerinskin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant0, 0superstar
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymerviscosity controlling
Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extractsoothing, antimicrobial/antibacterial, emollient, perfuming
Acetyl Hexapeptide-8cell-communicating ingredient, moisturizer/humectantgoodie
Acetyl Tetrapeptide-40
Panthenolsoothing, moisturizer/humectant0, 0goodie
Xanthan Gumviscosity controlling
Phenoxyethanolpreservative
Ethylhexylglycerinpreservative
Citric Acidbuffering
Sodium Citratechelating, buffering

Ingredients explained

Aqua

Also-called:Water |What-it-does: solvent

Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.

It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.

Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.

One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.

Niacinamide
  • A multi-functional skincare superstar with several proven benefits for the skin
  • Great anti-aging, wrinkle smoothing ingredient used at 4-5% concentration
  • Fades brown spots alone or in combination with amino sugar, acetyl glucosamine
  • Increases ceramide synthesis that results in a stronger, healthier skin barrier and better skin hydration
  • Can help to improve several skin conditions including acne, rosacea, and atopic dermatitis
Propanediol

Propanediol is a natural alternative for the often used and often bad-mouthed propylene glycol. It's produced sustainably from corn sugar and it's Ecocert approved.

It's quite a multi-tasker: can be used to improve skin moisturization, as a solvent, to boost preservative efficacy or to influence the sensory properties of the end formula.

3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid

Also-called:Form of Vitamin C, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbate, EAC;Ethyl Ascorbic Acid |What-it-does: antioxidant, skin brightening

A very stable and promising form of the skincare superstar, Vitamin C. If you do not know why Vitamin C is such a big deal in skin care, you can catch up here. In short, Vitamin C has three proven magic abilities: antioxidant, collagen booster, and skin brightener. The problem, though, is that it's very unstable, turns brown and becomes ineffective in no time (after a few month) and the cosmetics industry is trying to come up with smart derivatives that are stable and have the magic properties of pure Vitamin C.

Ethyl Ascorbic Acid or EAC for short is an "etherified derivative of ascorbic acid" that consists of vitamin C and an ethyl group bound to the third carbon position. This makes Vitamin C very stable and soluble in both water and oil.

However, for a Vitamin C derivative to work it's not enough just to be stable, they also have to be absorbed into the skin and be converted there to pure Vitamin C. We have good news regarding the absorption: on top of manufacturer claims, there is some data (animal study) demonstrating in can get into the skin, and it seems to be better at it than Ascorbyl Glucoside, another vitamin C derivative.

Regarding conversion, we can cite only a manufacturers claim saying that EAC is metabolized in the skin into pure ascorbic acid (and the ascorbic acid content of EAC is very high - 86,4% - compared to the usual 50-60% Vitamin C content of other derivatives).

As for the three magic abilities of Vitamin C, we again mostly have only the manufacturer's claims, but at least those are very promising. EAC seems to have both an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect, and it's claimed to be able to boost the skin's collagen production. The strong point of EAC though is skin brightening. On top of manufacturer claims, there is also clinical in-vivo (tested on real people) data showing that 2% EAC can improve skin tone and whiten the skin.

Overall, Ethyl Ascorbic Acid is a very promising but not a fully proven Vitamin C derivative. It's worth a try, especially if you are after Vitamin C's skin-brightening effects.

Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice

Aloe Vera is one of today’s magic plants. It does have some very nice properties indeed, though famous dermatologist Leslie Baumann warns us in her book that most of the evidence is anecdotal and the plant might be a bit overhyped.

What research does confirm about Aloe is that it’s a great moisturizer and has several anti-inflammatory (among others contains salicylates, polysaccharides, magnesium lactate and C-glucosyl chromone) as well as some antibacterial components. It also helps wound healing and skin regeneration in general. All in all definitely a goodie.

Acetyl Zingerone

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid

Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is a low molecular weight, chemically chopped up version of the naturally big molecule and current IT-moisturizer, Hyaluronic Acid (HA).The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) found in the skin that acts as a sponge helping the skin to retain water, making it plump and elastic. As HA is a polymer, the subunits can be repeated many times (as a high-molecular-weight version), or just a few times (as a low-molecular-weight version).

We wrote in detail at HA about how different molecular weight versions do different things both as a component of the skin and as a skincare ingredient, so click here and read about all the details.Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid can also come in different molecular-weight versions with different properties:

  • 100-300 kDa version: apart from moisturizing, this size might also help the skin to repair itself by increasing its self-defense. It is also claimed to boost the wound healing process and is especially helpful for sensitive skin types (acne, rosacea, inflammation-related skin diseases).
  • 50k Da version: this is the size that is claimed to be able to absorb into the skin and plump up wrinkles, so it is used mainly as an "anti-aging ingredient"
  • below 50k, around 10k Da version: there is a Japanese version trade named Hyalo-Oligo that has only a 10k molecular weight and is claimed to penetrate the skin very well, have a unique touch and give deep and long-lasting moisturization. Based on the Evonik-research and the natural role of LMW-HA in the body working as a pro-inflammatory signal molecule, this ultra-low molecular weight version is a controversial ingredient.

If you wanna become a real HA-and-the-skin expert, you can read much more about the topic at hyaluronic acid (including penetration-questions, differences between high and low molecular weight versions and a bunch of references to scientific literature).

Glycerin
  • A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
  • A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
  • Not only a simple moisturizer but knows much more: keeps the skin lipids between our skin cells in a healthy (liquid crystal) state, protects against irritation, helps to restore barrier
  • Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
  • High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer

This long-named, polymer molecule (big molecule from repeated subunits) is a helper ingredient that's good at emulsifying and stabilizing oils into water-based formulas.It also acts as a thickening and gelling agent that creates nice, non-sticky and supple textures.It works over a very wide pH range (3-12)and can be used to thicken up low-ph formulas, such as exfoliants. Its recommended u