Actives dose checker

A studied figure is a number, not a promise

Each active here has a figure a published trial used and a range the supplier suggests. The checker tells you where your percent sits against both and quotes the study design: what dose, how long, how many people, what it was compared with. It does not say what the active did, because a dose in a trial is not a promise about your skin, and a balm is a cosmetic.

Our own doses are stated on the product pages, not here. Velvet Face Renewal carries a true 1% bakuchiol, twice the 0.5% the published trial ran against retinol, and 1.5% oil-soluble vitamin C; the reasoning is in bakuchiol vs retinol and how vitamin C survives in a waterless balm.

Questions we hear

What percentage of bakuchiol should a balm have?

The trial used 0.5% twice a day; the supplier range is 0.5 to 1.0% by weight. Above that is a dose nobody measured.

Can I add vitamin C powder to tallow balm?

L-ascorbic acid needs water and breaks down fast. The oil-soluble form, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, dissolves in the fat; keep the oil phase under 80 C.

How do I dissolve CoQ10?

Warm the oil to about 49 C (120 F) and stir; it melts near 50 C and gives the balm a yellow tint at any working dose.

Is there a studied dose for rosehip?

Not one worth quoting; the human studies are small and mostly unblinded. Suppliers suggest 1 to 5%, and it is a fragile oil, so the shelf-life estimator matters more than the dose.