An ingredient round-up: five actives worth knowing

An ingredient list is usually the least-read part of a product page, and the most useful. Most people scan it for two or three words they already recognise and skip the rest. This is a short reference for five actives that turn up constantly in certified formulas — what each is actually doing, how strong the evidence behind it is, and who it's worth trying for.

Niacinamide

A form of vitamin B3, and one of the better-evidenced ingredients on this list. At concentrations around 2–5%, it has reasonable clinical support for regulating oil production, improving the look of enlarged pores, evening tone, and reinforcing the skin barrier. It's also unusually well tolerated — genuine reactions are uncommon — which is part of why it shows up in serums, moisturisers, and spot treatments alike. Good for oily and acne-prone skin, and uneven tone. Concentrations above roughly 10% can cause flushing in some people; more is not automatically better here.

Bakuchiol

Usually marketed as "a gentler retinol alternative," which oversells it slightly. Bakuchiol comes from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia and has a smaller, less consistent body of evidence than retinoids — a few trials suggest comparable improvement in fine lines and tone with less irritation, but the studies are small and mostly industry-funded. It's best treated as its own ingredient with a promising, early evidence base, not a drop-in replacement for retinol's much longer track record. Give it months rather than weeks before judging it.

Centella asiatica

Also sold as "cica," a plant used in traditional wound care across South and Southeast Asia long before skincare picked it up. Its triterpenes — madecassoside, asiaticoside — have real support for calming irritation and supporting barrier repair, which is why it clusters in products aimed at reactive or compromised skin: post-procedure, post-breakout, or just easily irritated. It's one of the gentler entries here, which is exactly the point.

Hyaluronic acid

Not an exfoliating acid — a humectant, meaning it pulls in and holds water rather than dissolving anything. It exists at several molecular weights: larger molecules sit on the skin's surface and plump the top layer, smaller ones penetrate further and hydrate more deeply, and a well-formulated product often uses both. It suits essentially all skin types, since dehydration and dryness are different problems and this addresses the first. In a dry climate, seal it under a moisturiser — applied alone with nothing to lock it in, a humectant can pull moisture from deeper skin layers instead of the air.

Peptides

A broad category — short chains of amino acids — and the marketing rarely distinguishes between them. Some peptides have real signalling evidence for supporting collagen production; others are included mostly because the category sounds sophisticated. What they share is a slow timeline: peptides work by influencing processes that take months, not days, so a two-week trial tells you nothing. See how long to give a product before you decide before writing one off.