Bisabolol

Bisabolol is a sesquiterpene alcohol and the principal active constituent of German chamomile essential oil, where it accounts for much of the plant's traditional reputation for calming irritated skin.

How it works

Bisabolol is understood to act on inflammatory signalling rather than on the visible symptom. Laboratory work associates it with reduced activity of inflammatory mediators including certain interleukins, which is a different mechanism from an ingredient that simply cools or occludes.

It is also studied as a penetration enhancer, meaning it appears to increase how readily other compounds cross the stratum corneum. That has a practical implication worth knowing: in a formula containing actives, bisabolol may be doing two jobs at once.

Alpha-bisabolol and the two forms

The form used in cosmetics is alpha-bisabolol, which exists as two mirror-image structures. The levorotatory form, written (-)-alpha-bisabolol, is the one found in chamomile and is generally considered the more active. Synthetic bisabolol is often a mixture of both.

Ingredient lists rarely distinguish between them, so the INCI name alone does not tell you which you have.

Source

Bisabolol is obtained from German chamomile, from the Brazilian candeia tree, or produced synthetically. Candeia-derived material has raised sustainability concerns because the tree is slow-growing and harvesting is destructive, which has pushed much of the industry toward synthetic and fermentation routes.

In formulation

Used at low concentrations, typically well under one percent. It is oil-soluble, which suits it to emollient and oil-phase products, and it is frequently included in formulas where the cleansing or active step might otherwise cause irritation.