What it is
Benefits
Concerns
Salicylic Acid (also known as beta hydroxy acid or BHA) is one of the most well-known ingredients for treating skin that struggles with blackheads and acne. It helps to exfoliate the skin's surface and pores, and also acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.
Unlike AHAs which are water soluble, Salicylic Acid is oil soluble. This means that it's able to exfoliate the inside of pores and reduce blackheads.
Concentrations of 0.5-2% are recognized by the U.S. FDA as an over-the-counter topical acne product.
It can cause irritation and/or dryness if one's skin already has a compromised moisture barrier, so it's best to focus on repairing that before introducing a Salicylic Acid into your routine.
In general, Salicylic Acid is a great ingredient for oily acne-prone skin.
If you are looking for the ingredient called BHA or Butylated Hydroxyanisole, click here.
Salicylic Acid is a somewhat common cosmetic ingredient, with about 6.9% of the products in our database containing it.
What it does:
Community Data
1194 people from our community have liked or disliked this ingredient.
Users who like it 💖
Often have the following skin types:
Usually have one or more of the following skin concerns:
Users who dislike it 💔
Often have the following skin types:
Usually have one or more of the following skin concerns:
Where it's used
Salicylic Acid is most often found as ingredient number 11 within an ingredient list.
Of the 137 products in our database that have a known concentration of Salicylic Acid, we've seen concentrations from 0.2% to 150% specified within their ingredient lists.
These are the categories of products that use Salicylic Acid the most:
References
Products with Salicylic Acid
CosIng Data
- CosIng ID: 37595
- INCI Name: SALICYLIC ACID
- INN Name: salicylic acid
- EC #: Â 200-712-3
- Ph. Eur. Name: acidum salicylicum
- All Functions: Antidandruff, Hair Conditioning, Keratolytic, Masking, Preservative, Skin Conditioning
