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Po

Polyquaternium-51

Polyquaternium-51Hydrator

A moisturizing ingredient. A close relative of it, paired with hyaluronic acid, raised skin’s water content in one study.

What it does

It dissolves in water and is built from phosphorylcholine, a building block of cell membranes.

The evidence, graded

emergingThe one study Drop cites tested pMPC, a phosphorylcholine polymer, not Polyquaternium-51 itself; Drop reads the two as close relatives. In skin models, pMPC raised water in the outer skin layer most when it was put in microcapsules with hyaluronic acid. A test on 26 volunteers matched the lab results. The abstract gives no numbers.Chrit 2007 · Biopolymers ↗

Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.

Also known as

phosphorylcholine polymer, pMPC

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