Ingredient glossary
Madecassoside
On your shelf ✓What Madecassoside does for your skin, who it suits, and what to watch for.
INCI: Madecassoside · Also: Centella Triterpene, Cica Triterpene
In short: Madecassoside delivers anti inflammatory and repair, suits dry and sensitive skin best, and the evidence behind it is moderate.
- What it does
- Anti inflammatory, repair
- Best for
- Dry, Sensitive skin
- Evidence
- Moderate
- How long
- Never measured
The molecule
The Glow take
The first thing I would drop if skin turns reactive.
Your skin gains nothing from Madecassoside beyond the scent, and fragrance is one of the most common triggers for irritation. If your skin is calm, it is usually fine.
— Maya
What it does
- anti inflammatory
- repair
- anti aging
- barrier support
moderate evidenceClinical trials combining five percent vitamin C with zero point one percent madecassoside show long term improvements in wrinkles hydration elasticity and elastic fiber structure in sun damaged skin.
On a label: usually effective at 0.1-0.3%.
Who it's for, and who should skip it
Tends to suit
- sensitive
- dry
- compromised barrier
- photoaged
Approach with care
No specific group flagged to avoid it.
- Clogs poresLow
- Irritation riskLow
How it fits each skin type
- DrySuits
- CombinationNeutral
- OilyNeutral
- SensitiveSuits
Often chosen for compromised barrier, photoaged.
Where it fits in your routine
Nobody has published how long this takes to work.
What is known, and what is missing
Measured on: Wrinkle score and elastic fibre network in photoaged skin, clinical grading plus histology.
The only long human study applied 5% ascorbic acid together with 0.1% madecassoside to 20 women for six months and reported improvement in deep and superficial wrinkles, firmness, hydration and elastic-fibre structure at the six-month read. Vitamin C at 5% is an active in its own right, there is no madecassoside-only arm and no interim timepoint, so none of that timing belongs to the triterpene. Its soothing use rests on whole centella extract data, not on the purified molecule.
PMID:18503551 (Exp Dermatol 2008)
Plays well with
- vitamin c
- ceramides
- niacinamide
Madecassoside, answered
Is Madecassoside safe during pregnancy?
Yes. Madecassoside is considered safe to use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. As with anything, if you are unsure it is worth a quick word with your doctor or midwife.
Who should avoid Madecassoside?
No specific group is flagged to avoid Madecassoside. It is well tolerated by most skin. Still, introduce anything new one product at a time.
What concentration of Madecassoside actually works?
Madecassoside tends to do its job in the 0.1 to 0.3% range. Much lower and it is likely underdosed.
Can you mix Madecassoside with
This, for every label you own
One ingredient is easy. A full label is where it gets confusing. The Ingredient Decoder reads any product and tells you the honest truth, ingredient by ingredient.