Derived from Vitamin B5, D-Panthenol gel is simply fabulous in natural hair care and skin care products. It is deeply conditioning and softening, and lends a wonderful feel to skin and hair products.

In skincare, panthenol acts as a humectant by drawing water from deeper layers of the skin into the upper layers of the skin, giving a plumper and more hydrated look and feel. It helps with softness and elasticity, and stimulates skin re-generation.

In hair care, panthenol is able to penetrate the hair strands, providing hydration and increasing elasticity, reducing static, dryness and breakage, and making hair shinier, softer and more conditioned. No wonder it is a favourite in shampoos!

D panthenol is really easy to work with - let’s find out more:

Solubility

Panthenol comes as a viscous gel and is water soluble. You will not be able to use it in anhydrous body and hair butters (without an emulsifier at least). Make sure you include it in spritzers/toners, moisturisers and serums containing water to get the benefits.

pH

Panthenol typically has a pH of around 8-9 but you will be bringing this down to more skin friendly levels of 4-5.5 when formulating products.

Usage

The recommended usage rate is 0.5-1%. More than that and things may start to feel a little sticky.

As mentioned, panthenol is water soluble so you need to add it to your water phase. It is also heat sensitive so I advise adding it to your cool down phase, dissolving it in a little water taken from the water phase.

Other Ingredients That Work Well With Panthenol

Panthenol is a pretty friendly ingredient and doesn’t clash with anything.

Being a humectant, panthenol naturally works well with other humectants such as hyaluronic acid, glycerine and propanediol.

It works well with other vitamins such as A, C and E.

It goes well with all other water based ingredients, but to use it with oils you will need to use an emulsifier.

Products Containing D Panthenol

D panthenol is most commonly found in hair care products, but I love it in skin care products as well. You can use it in serums, moisturisers, and anything containing water to get that conditioned and hydrated feel.

Tips To Working With It

Some of our customers contact us in surprise when they see how thick the D panthenol is, asking how to work with it.

This is how I do it: I get two chattaway spatulas, scoop some panthenol out the jar with one and then manipulate it off with the other. It’s not too hard actually! Then add it to a small amount of water taken from your water phase to dilute it so it incorporates better into your formula.