Oh glycerin, how do I love thee?
Oh glycerin, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
Just as the Victorian era poet referenced above has influenced our modern vernacular, glycerin has found its way to a multitude of moisturizer formulas, and rightly so. Records show that glycerin has been incorporated into topical formulations since the late 1700’s. It is a proven humectant, with skin benefits supported by decades of skin research. These benefits include improved skin hydration, barrier function and appearance.
How? We will count those ways in the upcoming scripts.
In healthy skin, the outermost layer of the skin regulates skin moisture upon exposure to extreme environments, such as arid winters, using natural moisturizing factors (NMFs). NMFs are made in the skin and attract water molecules to retain natural skin moisture and to reduce loss of water vapor across the skin. Glycerin is an NMF that is made by the skin to maintain skin moisture homeostasis and promote barrier repair.
In fact, glycerin likes water so much that water evaporation slows down in solutions with increasing glycerin concentration. This insatiable attraction between glycerin and water was further reinforced with the observation of negative evaporation at glycerin concentrations approaching 70%, where a net gain in moisture was measured.
Whereas glycerin might be included in the low single digit concentrations for numerous broadly distributed moisturizing products, one study demonstrated the moisturization benefits of a 20% glycerin cream for eczema, a skin condition for which moisture loss across the compromised skin barrier can be double that of healthy skin.
Glycerin is a tried and true skin moisturizing component of staple moisturizers. It has become so commonplace that it has possibly lost its pizzazz. The question is no longer whether or not glycerin is listed as an ingredient; rather, where does glycerin appear in the ingredient lineup and at what concentration.
Wishing you a happy upcoming Valentine’s Day!
Posted February 8, 2026. Ball and stick molecular model of glycerin provided here.