Centella isolate
What is Asiatic acid?
Asiatic acid is another of the compounds isolated from centella asiatica. It is a triterpene and dissolves poorly in water, so a formula carrying it needs a solvent or a solubiliser to keep it in the mix. It goes in at small amounts and sits low on an ingredient list, usually next to the other centella isolates.
Which products use it?
Of the 178 products whose labels we have read, 4 put this one on the front.
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Inteca Soothing Cream
We checked 5 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. One of them holds up. The rest are only partly right or have nothing behind them.
1backed2likely1overstated1no evidence
See the label check (5 lines)
Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.
- Functional cosmetic (brightening, wrinkle improvement) review completion status under the Cosmetics Act: functional cosmetic
Korean original
화장품법에 따른 기능성화장품(미백, 주름개선) 심사 필 유무: 기능성화장품
- A non-comedogenic moisture cream that helps rapid soothing with 10,000 ppm of concentrated centella
Korean original
1만 ppm의 농축 병풀 성분으로 급속 진정을 돕는 논코메도제닉 수분크림
- Core ingredients: InTECA (TECA) 10,000 ppm, triple hyaluronic acid
Korean original
핵심 성분: 인테카(TECA) 1만 ppm , 3중 히알루론산
- It is an ingredient stabilised by applying a patented method to TECA, the core component of centella. It holds as much as 10,000 ppm (1%) of the concentrated active ingredient at nano size, maximising absorption into the skin.
Korean original
병풀의 핵심 성분인 테카(TECA)에 특허 공법을 적용해 안정화시킨 성분입니다. 농축된 유효성분을 나노 사이즈로 1만 ppm(1%)이나 담아 피부 흡수력을 극대화했습니다.
- A product that completed a non-comedogenic clinical study, proving it does not clog pores and has a sebum reduction effect
Korean original
논코메도제닉(Non-comedogenic) 임상을 완료하여 모공을 막지 않고 피지 감소 효과가 입증된 제품
Mediheal
Madecassoside Moisture Sun Serum Trace Repair
We checked 3 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. None of them hold up on their own. They are partly right at best.
1likely1overstated1says nothing
See the label check (3 lines)
Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.
- Light, as if you did and did not apply it! UV protection, definite!
Korean original
바른 듯 안 바른 듯 가볍게! 자외선 차단은 확실하게!
- A moisture sun serum with a light and moist feel that can block UV for 24 hours
Korean original
24시간 자외선 차단이 가능한 가볍고 촉촉한 사용감의 수분 선세럼
- The sun serum of the great pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong
Korean original
대투수 양현종의 선세럼
Round Lab
Pine Soothing Cica Lotion
We checked 4 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. None of them hold up on their own. They are partly right at best.
1likely1partly backed1no evidence1says nothing
See the label check (4 lines)
Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.
- Moisture soothing that fills freshly
Korean original
산뜻하게 채우는 수분 진정
- It is a soothing lotion that softly cares for skin texture and fills moisture freshly.
Korean original
피부 결을 부드럽게 케어하고, 산뜻하게 수분을 채우는 진정 로션이에요.
- For all skin types
Korean original
모든 피부용
- Round Lab focuses on clean, natural raw materials as they are.
Korean original
라운드랩은 깨끗한 자연 그대로의 원료에 집중합니다.
Torriden
Balanceful Cica Pore Cleansing Foam
We checked 5 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. One of them holds up. The rest are only partly right or have nothing behind them.
1backed2partly backed1overstated1says nothing
See the label check (5 lines)
Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.
- Balanceful Cica Pore Cleansing Foam
Korean original
밸런스풀 시카 포어 클렌징 폼
- Balanceful Cica Pore Cleansing Foam
Korean original
밸런스풀 시카 포어 클렌징 폼
- Functional status: not applicable
Korean original
기능성 여부 해당없음
- All skin types
Korean original
모든피부타입
- Balanceful Cica Pore Cleansing Foam
Korean original
밸런스풀 시카 포어 클렌징 폼
What does the research actually show?
Two lists, taken from published studies on this ingredient. The first is what those studies support. The second is what they do not, which is where advertising most often runs ahead of the evidence.
What the evidence supports
- Collagen I synthesis in human skin fibroblasts, in vitro.
- Demonstrated directly and comparatively (ASA-S1).
- Ascorbic acid raised the level of collagen I secretion for each component, so the assay condition matters (ASA-S1).
- Sources: 1
- Protection of keratinocyte collagen I against glycation stress, in vitro.
- Asiatic acid pretreatment maintained collagen I expression and reduced three MMPs under an AGE challenge (ASA-S3).
- Sources: 3
- Formulation can raise in vitro membrane permeation several fold.
- Transfersomal gels outperformed both non transfersomal gels and a hydroethanolic solution on percentage penetration and flux (ASA-S2).
- Sources: 2
- Nothing above is a human skin outcome.
- No source in this corpus reports a controlled human topical trial of asiatic acid.
What the evidence does not support
- Claim: asiatic acid firms skin or builds collagen in humans.
- The collagen evidence is fibroblast culture (ASA-S1) and keratinocyte culture under a glycation challenge (ASA-S3).
- Sources: 1, 3
- Claim: asiatic acid is the stronger or purer form of asiaticoside.
- Contradicted by the one head to head assay.
- Tested separately, the individual components stimulated collagen I synthesis to a similar extent, and the source concludes that "the sugar moiety of the molecule does not seem to be necessary" for this activity (ASA-S1, 12 words).
- Sources: 1
- Claim: asiatic acid absorbs well into skin.
- Contradicted by the reason the delivery literature exists.
- Low bioavailability due to poor solubility is stated as the limit on practical application (ASA-S4), and a plain hydroethanolic asiatic acid solution in gel achieved 1.18% penetration against 8.53% for the transfersomal gel in the same experiment (ASA-S2).
- Sources: 4, 2
- Claim: results for asiatic acid derivatives belong to asiatic acid.
- The anti photoaging result frequently associated with asiatic acid was generated with AAGS, asiatic acid compounded with glucosamine, introduced explicitly as a highly bioavailable form because plain asiatic acid's solubility is limiting (ASA-S4).
- Sources: 4
- Claim: asiatic acid is anti-inflammatory or soothes skin.
- The retrieved abstract does not state the route, but mg/kg body weight dosing is a whole animal exposure and not a defined topical dose.
- Claim: asiatic acid is a proven cosmetic ingredient with an established safe use level.
- No dedicated cosmetic safety assessment for isolated asiatic acid was located, and the Centella expert panel document covers 9 plant derived ingredients only, not the isolated triterpenes.
These lines are quoted from a reading of the published literature on this ingredient, not from testing we ran. Every source is listed below with its DOI or PubMed identifier so you can read it yourself. Findings about treating a medical condition are outside what a cosmetic page covers and are left out.
Do the ad lines about it hold up?
We checked the one advertised line that names this ingredient.
| How it read | Ad lines |
|---|---|
| likely, not proven | 1 of 1 |
The count is of advertised lines, not products. One product can advertise the same ingredient in several lines, and each line was read on its own against the ingredient list and public documents.
What is it usually paired with?
Ingredients that other products put on the front of the label together with this one.
Which studies is this based on?
Every source cited above, in the order it first appears. Identifiers link to the publisher record or the PubMed entry.
- 1Bonte F, Dumas M, Chaudagne C, Meybeck A. Influence of asiatic acid, madecassic acid, and asiaticoside on human collagen I synthesis. Planta Med. 1994;60(2):133-135.DOI 10.1055/s-2006-959434PMID 8202564
- 2Opatha SAT, Titapiwatanakun V, Boonpisutiinant K, Chutoprapat R. Preparation, Characterization and Permeation Study of Topical Gel Loaded with Transfersomes Containing Asiatic Acid. Molecules. 2022;27(15):4865.DOI 10.3390/molecules27154865PMID 35956816
- 3Wang ZH. Anti-glycative effects of asiatic acid in human keratinocyte cells. Biomedicine (Taipei). 2014;4(3):19.DOI 10.7603/s40681-014-0019-9PMID 25520932
- 4Huang J, Tu T, Wang W, Zhou G, Zhang W, Wu X, Liu W. Asiatic Acid Glucosamine Salt Alleviates Ultraviolet B-induced Photoaging of Human Dermal Fibroblasts and Nude Mouse Skin. Photochem Photobiol. 2020;96(1):124-138.DOI 10.1111/php.13160PMID 31483870