Su
Succinic Acid
Succinic Acid
A small acid sold for acne. It slowed acne bacteria in lab dishes and calmed them in mice, but hasn’t been tested on people.
What it does
It’s a small acid sold in spot products and acne serums. It hasn’t been tested on people with acne, so how it compares with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide is unknown.
The EU’s ingredient database lists it as a pH adjuster (sets how acidic the product is).European Commission, CosIng (© European Union, CC BY 4.0) · uses put in plain words by Drop ↗
The evidence, graded
emergingSuccinic acid, made when the skin bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis ferments glycerol, slowed the growth of the acne bacterium in lab dishes. Put on the skin of mice, it calmed inflammation the bacterium had caused. No study Drop has read tested it on people with acne, or measured sebum.Wang 2014 · Applied microbiology and biotechnology ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
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