Allantoin Powder

Allantoin powder offers several skin benefits, including moisturizing, soothing irritated skin, promoting cell regeneration, and gently exfoliating dead skin cells, leading to smoother, brighter, and more radiant skin.
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the benefits:

Moisturizing and Hydration:
Allantoin is a humectant, meaning it helps the skin retain moisture, preventing dryness and promoting hydration.

Soothing and Anti-Irritant:
It has calming properties that can soothe irritated or inflamed skin, making it suitable for sensitive skin types.
Promotes Cell Regeneration:
Allantoin stimulates skin cell turnover, which can help improve skin texture and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Gentle Exfoliation:
Allantoin acts as a keratolytic agent, meaning it helps to gently exfoliate dead skin cells, leading to smoother and brighter skin.
Wound Healing:
It can promote wound healing and accelerate the skin's natural regeneration process.
Anti-aging:
By promoting cell regeneration and hydration, allantoin can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, contributing to a more youthful complexion.
Protects against Environmental Stress:
Allantoin can help strengthen the skin's natural protective barrier, making it more resilient to environmental stressors.
Reduces the appearance of scars:
Allantoin can help reduce the appearance of scars.
Benefits and uses for allantoin for skin

Kollipara notes many people have been using — and potentially benefiting from — products with allantoin for years. Since it may be soothing and has few known risk factors, nearly anyone can use it.

That said, Frank most often suggests it to people with specific skin problems.

“[I recommend it for patients] with inflamed skin or dry or irritated skin, particularly from using active ingredients like retinol or glycolic acid,” Frank says.

Frank says you can find glycolic acid in many acne products, toners, facial cleansers, and moisturizers.

You’ll likely hear about many purported benefits to using products with allantoin. Research supports some of these claims, while others rely on anecdotal evidence.
For moisturizing

Moisturizing is one of the top reasons why people seek out allantoin, Kollipara says.Trusted Source

A 2016 reportTrusted Source on the evolving role of skin care noted that allantoin is found in many moisturizers today. Ulta First Aid Beauty Repair Cream is a popular option.

A 2016 research reviewTrusted Source notes that while allantoin is often marketed for its moisturizing benefits, there’s still not much evidence to support the claim.

But Kollipara believes it’s helped her patients.

“It prevents moisture lock for the skin, [meaning] it helps water stay within the skin and not just evaporate,” she says.
For exfoliation

There aren’t any peer-reviewed studies to back claims that allantoin helps exfoliate.

Still, it’s found in some products for exfoliation.

Kollipara has seen improvements in skin cell turnover after patients used products with allantoin.

“It’s very good for…removing dead skin cells and [helps] with dull or dry skin,” she says. “Unlike physical exfoliation, it’s very gentle.”

Kollipara says products containing allantoin can brighten skin tone by exfoliating the face and body.

Try Versed The Shortcut Overnight Facial Peel.
For acne

Though there’s not much research around the use of allantoin for acne treatments, Kollipara says the ingredient’s purported moisturizing benefits can help people prone to breakouts.

“Preventing moisture lock on the skin is helpful in controlling [acne],” Kollipara says. “It’s also helpful in calming down the irritated areas.”

The American Academy of Dermatology doesn’t specify that moisturizers with allantoin will help with acne treatment. However, the organization agrees that people with the condition should moisturize because the body produces more oil when the skin is dry, which can then clog pores.

Kollipara has also noticed that the potential soothing benefits of allantoin products may reduce acne-related skin irritation.
For wrinkles and aging skin

We start losing collagen before we even notice it — our late 20s and 30s, Kollipara says.

As a result, our skin begins losing elasticity, and wrinkles and fine lines eventually appear. Though reduced collagen is inevitable, Kollipara says using products with allantoin can help.

“It’s a good ingredient, even as a baseline for prevention and to treat wrinkles and fine lines by increasing collagen in the skin,” she says.

Kollipara adds that the purported exfoliation benefits can also improve texture, reduce dullness, and create the appearance of younger-looking skin, though the evidence for this is still lacking.
For scars

Allantoin is found in several scar gels, and there’s some evidence to suggest the inclusion of this ingredient is a good thing.

An older study from 2010Trusted Source indicated that topical application of gels that contain allantoin, allium cepa, and pentaglycan twice per day for 24 weeks helped improve skin lesions.

“It may decrease some inflammation in scars,” Frank says.

Still, he notes it’s not a cure-all, and some scars require steroid injections.
For hyperpigmentation

According to Anna Chacon, MD, a Florida-based dermatologist with MyPsoriasisTeam, hyperpigmentation is a challenge to treat, and there isn’t any peer-reviewed evidence to support claims allantoin can help.

Chacon typically recommends other treatments, such as a combination of:

hydroquinone
tranexamic acid
glycolic acid
topical retinoids
azelaic acids

Talk with a dermatologist to determine the best treatment for you.
For sensitive skin

Chacon says people who experience sensitive skin often have a challenging time finding products that work for them.

“They may experience burning and redness when applying something on the skin or may notice stinging when using something topically,” she says.

Because allantoin reduces irritation and typically doesn’t cause it, Kollipara often recommends it to patients with sensitive skin.

“It’s very good at soothing the skin because it prevents damage to the skin,” Kollipara says.
For wound healing

When patients have wounds, they often want to know how to heal them as quickly as possible, for both comfort and aesthetic reasons.

Because allantoin may reduce inflammation, Frank says products with the ingredient can aid wound healing.

A 2017 report concluded there isn’t enough evidence to support these claims yet, though. Kollipara recommends it to patients for scars, not wounds.
For skin lightening and whitening

Chacon says people may want a skin lightener because they have conditions like melasma and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. They may personally prefer the appearance of fairer skin.

Still, there’s no medical reason to try to whiten skin or research to support allantoin as a skin lightener.

Chacon says it’s difficult to whiten the skin in the first place but hasn’t used allantoin extensively for this purpose. She says trying it is low risk, though.