Ascorbyl Palmitate

What it is

Ascorbyl palmitate is the ester of ascorbic acid - vitamin C - and palmitic acid. That pairing changes how it behaves in a formula: it is soluble in alcohol and vegetable oils and only slightly soluble in water, which is the reverse of plain ascorbic acid, so it can sit in the oil phase where the acid cannot. It is a white to yellowish-white powder with a citrus-like odour, and it is the only ester in its group that the ingredient dictionary also lists as a fragrance ingredient. Its reported cosmetic functions are antioxidant and fragrance ingredient.

What it does well

• An oil-soluble form of vitamin C that gets into skin

  Where ascorbic acid is water-soluble, ascorbyl palmitate is soluble in alcohol and vegetable oils and only slightly soluble in water, so it can be carried in parts of a formula the acid cannot reach. The assessment behind it also notes that it appears to readily enter skin - which is the first of the two things a vitamin C derivative has to do, and the easier one.

  Moderate evidence

• Assessed as safe, and non-sensitising in human testing

  The Expert Panel concluded that the ethers and esters of ascorbic acid are safe in the present practices of use and concentration described in the assessment. Human data sit behind that for this ester specifically: 26 subjects tested with 0.2% in an eye cream showed no adverse reactions or signs of sensitisation, and a modified Draize assay in 106 subjects classified it non-sensitising at 1 to 5%, with no reactions at all at the 3% step.

  Moderate evidence

Worth knowing

• Entering skin is not the same as working in skin

  The assessment is unusually direct about this. Although ascorbyl palmitate appears to readily enter skin, its conversion to L-ascorbic acid may be inefficient; it also appears to remain on the extracellular surface of cells, and there too the report says it may not be readily converted to L-ascorbic acid. Arriving in skin is one thing and becoming vitamin C once there is another, and it is the second that the evidence is thin on. So a mask listing this ester is not the same proposition as one listing ascorbic acid, and the case that it delivers vitamin C's own effects is weaker than the front of a pack usually implies. It is a real antioxidant in the formula either way, which is part of why it is there.

  Matters most toAnyone buying a mask specifically for vitamin C rather than for the rest of the formula.

• In cultured cells it cut one kind of UVB damage and increased another

  In human keratinocytes, ascorbyl palmitate at 1-25 µM inhibited oxidation of a probe dye after UVB exposure, which the authors read as antioxidant activity. At 300 µM the same ingredient strongly promoted UVB-induced lipid peroxidation, c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation and cytotoxicity; they suggested its lipid component generated oxidised metabolites toxic to epidermal cells, and that it may intensify skin damage after physiological doses of UV despite its antioxidant properties. Two things keep this in proportion. The harmful dose was more than ten times the highest helpful one, and the Panel reviewed this study and still concluded the group is safe as used. A face mask is also not a sunscreen and is not generally worn in the sun.

  Matters most toNobody using a mask indoors; this is a note about the laboratory picture rather than about wearing a mask.

Where the EU stands

Sources (2)

Every link goes to the original: a journal, a PubMed record or an EU document.

1. [1]
   Safety Assessment of Ethers and Esters of Ascorbic Acid as Used in Cosmetics

   Cosmetic Ingredient Review, International Journal of Toxicology 41(2_suppl) · 2022 · doi:10.1177/10915818221093545

   The published conclusion for the group of seven that includes this ester: the Panel "concluded that the ethers and esters of ascorbic acid are safe in the present practices of use and concentration, as described in this safety assessment". The ingredients "collectively function as antioxidants, skin-conditioning agents, skin protectants, fragrance ingredients, and skin bleaching agents". Checked 21 August 2026.

2. [2]
   Safety Assessment of Ethers and Esters of Ascorbic Acid as Used in Cosmetics (report of the assessment)

   Cosmetic Ingredient Review, Expert Panel for Cosmetic Ingredient Safety · 2016

   The document carrying the underlying data. Definition: "Ascorbyl Palmitate is the ester of Ascorbic Acid and palmitic acid." Properties: a white or yellowish-white powder, molecular weight 414.54, citrus-like odour, "soluble in alcohol and vegetable oils; slightly soluble in water". Table 1 gives its functions as antioxidant and fragrance ingredient - it is "the only ingredient with the additional reported function of fragrance ingredient". Sensitisation: no adverse reactions or signs of sensitisation in a 26-subject maximisation test at 0.2% in an eye cream, and "Ascorbyl Palmitate was classified as non-sensitizing at concentrations of 1% to 5%" in a 106-subject modified Draize assay with no reactions at 3%. Delivery: "It was noted in earlier publications that although Ascorbyl Palmitate appears to readily enter skin, its conversion to L-ascorbic acid may be inefficient. Furthermore, Ascorbyl Palmitate appears to remain on the extracellular surface of cells and may not be readily converted to L-ascorbic acid." The UVB work in keratinocytes: at 1 to 25 µM it "effectively inhibited DHR oxidation in a dose-dependent manner", while at 300 µM it "strongly promoted UVB-induced lipid peroxidation, c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation, and cytotoxicity", the authors suggesting it "may intensify skin damage following physiologic doses of UV radiation, despite its antioxidant properties". Checked 21 August 2026.