Ingredient glossary
Alpha Lipoic Acid
On your shelf ✓What Alpha Lipoic Acid does for your skin, who it suits, and what to watch for.
INCI: Alpha Lipoic Acid · Also: Thioctic acid, ALA
In short: Alpha Lipoic Acid delivers antioxidant and anti-aging support, suits most skin types, and the evidence behind it is emerging. One thing to know: clear it with your doctor if pregnant.
- What it does
- Antioxidant, anti aging
- Best for
- Most skin types
- Watch out
- Clear it with your doctor if pregnant
- Evidence
- Emerging
- How long
- 8–12 weeks
how it was measured
Measured on skin roughness on photoaged facial skin, laser profilometry; measured at the trial's end, so possibly sooner.PMID 14616378
The molecule
The Glow take
Genuinely worth a spot in your routine.
When your goal is softening fine lines and keeping skin firm, Alpha Lipoic Acid pulls genuine weight, though the proof is still catching up to the excitement. Gentle enough that most skin types can reach for it.
— Maya
What it does
- antioxidant
- anti aging
- brightening
emerging evidenceOne randomised double blind split face trial in 33 women applied a 5 percent alpha lipoic acid cream to one half of the face and the same cream without it to…
Why we say this
- One randomised double blind split face trial in 33 women applied a 5 percent alpha lipoic acid cream to one half of the face and the same cream without it to the other, twice daily for 12 weeks.
- Laser profilometry showed roughness falling 50.8 percent on the acid side and 40.7 percent on the vehicle side, so most of the smoothing came from the base cream and the acid added roughly 10 points.
- It has not been replicated, so treat the acid's own contribution as real but small.
- Pregnancy information is limited.
On a label: usually effective at 0.5-5%.
The thiol compound family, at a glance
2 thiol compound entries in the base, Alpha Lipoic Acid among them. 2 of the 2 are an active.
- Cysteamine77 Da
- Alpha Lipoic Acid206 Da
How much do you need?
5%+
The vehicle-controlled trials worked from 5%; no published dose comparison sets a ceiling.
The trials, and what they used
- Floor 5%: It is indicated that 12 weeks of treatment with a cream containing 5% LA improves clinical characteristics related to photoageing of facial skin.
Who it's for, and who should skip it
Tends to suit
- mature
- photoaged
- normal
- combo
Approach with care
- very sensitive
- rare allergy
- Clogs poresLow
- Irritation riskLow
How it fits each skin type
- DrySuits
- CombinationSuits
- OilySuits
- SensitiveTake care
Often chosen for mature, photoaged. Take extra care if any of these apply to you: rare allergy.
Where it fits in your routine
Give it eight to twelve weeks, and possibly less: that is simply when it was measured.
What was measured, and in whom
- Measured on: skin roughness on photoaged facial skin, laser profilometry.
- One randomised double-blind split-face trial, 33 women of mean age 54.4, 5% cream twice daily for 12 weeks against the identical cream without the acid: profilometric roughness fell 50.8% on the treated side and 40.7% on the vehicle side, so the acid's own increment is roughly 10 points on top of a base cream doing most of the work.
- The published result is the 12-week endpoint with no earlier significance reported, so treat this as a ceiling - true onset may well be earlier.
- It has not been replicated, and 5% sits at the very top of the 0.5-5% range consumer products use, so lower-strength serums are not described by it.
Beitner H, 'Randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind study on the clinical efficacy of a cream containing 5% alpha-lipoic acid related to photoageing of facial skin', Br J Dermatol 2003, PMID:14616378 - verified against PubMed; volume and page numbers not asserted.
Light, and how to keep it
Alpha Lipoic Acid breaks down in light. The packaging is doing real work: opaque, and closed between uses.
how it was measured
LA is easily decomposed by photoirradiation resulting in the loss of its characteristic absorption band at 333 nm.PMID 19430609 · abstract
what the source asks of the bottle: opaque
Plays well with
Alpha Lipoic Acid, answered
Is Alpha Lipoic Acid safe during pregnancy?
Clear it with your doctor first. Alpha Lipoic Acid is flagged as use-with-caution during pregnancy and breastfeeding, so check with your doctor or midwife before adding it.
Who should avoid Alpha Lipoic Acid?
Approach Alpha Lipoic Acid with care if any of these apply to you: very sensitive and rare allergy.
What concentration of Alpha Lipoic Acid actually works?
Alpha Lipoic Acid tends to do its job in the 0.5 to 5% range. Much lower and it is likely underdosed.
Does Alpha Lipoic Acid go off?
It breaks down in light, and that is the part that has been measured. LA is easily decomposed by photoirradiation resulting in the loss of its characteristic absorption band at 333 nm. So the packaging is not decoration: opaque, and closed between uses. Heat, air and simple age matter too, and we have not sourced numbers for those, so treat this as one reason a product weakens rather than as a shelf life.
During pregnancy
Treat Alpha Lipoic Acid as a maybe rather than a yes for now. It is flagged as one to use with caution while pregnant or breastfeeding, so it is worth clearing before you carry on.
When in doubt, check with your doctor or midwife. They outrank any website, including this one.When it is worth booking →
Compare Alpha Lipoic Acid with
14 comparisons built, the 1 most looked-up above.
Can you mix Alpha Lipoic Acid with
2 pairings built, the 1 most looked-up above.
This, for every label you own
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Sources & how we reviewed this
- PMID 14616378abstract read, not the full text
What changed on this page
- : the effective dose from trials, the highest dose tested
- : light stability
- : what the EU regulates