PoreWise One finding · Official ingredient listing
Document title
PubChem
- Kind of evidence
- Official ingredient listing
- Measured outcome
- Skin effect
- Year
- Who was studied
- Sample size
- Measured outcome
- Glycerin is classified as a humectant in cosmetic ingredient databases: its role in a formula is to hold water.
- Certainty
- High
- Who was measured
- Cosmetic formulas generally. · Ingredient database · GLYCERIN
- Study limits
- Skin effect of to the stratum corneum comes from a separate review of the literature. · Ingredient database · GLYCERIN
Where it comes from
- PubChem
Published by National Center for Biotechnology Information · Last checked 2026-10-12
- CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database
Published by European Commission · Last checked 2026-10-12
Ingredients it was measured on
Other findings on the same ingredient or concern
- Skin effectCombined effects of glycerol and petrolatum in an emollient cream: A randomized, double-blind, crossover study in healthy volunteers with dry skin
In a randomized, double-blind, four-arm crossover study of 51 healthy volunteers with dry skin, an emollient containing glycerol and petrolatum raised corneometry-measured skin moisture significantly above its vehicle (P < 0.0001) over 12 hours. The authors attributed the hydration gain to the glycerol component and the lower water loss to the petrolatum component.
Human trial · 2020 · 51 people · healthy volunteers with dry skin (Kligman score 2 or 3) · Corneometry (skin moisture) and transepidermal water loss over 12 hours after one application. · Measured on the forearms. The significant hydration result comes from the full emollient containing both glycerol and petrolatum.
- Skin effectGlycerol and the skin: holistic approach to its origin and functions
Topical glycerol improves stratum corneum hydration, barrier function and skin mechanical properties. The review also reports reduced irritation response and faster wound healing, and traces the effect to aquaporin-3 transport and to glycerol's own presence in the skin.
Review article · 2008 · Humans in the cited studies, plus animal and in-vitro work on mechanism · Leave-on products. The review discusses both healthy skin and skin with dry or barrier-impaired conditions such as atopic dermatitis. · A narrative review. It compiles mechanisms and results from other studies.