Phenylethyl Resorcinol

What is phenylethyl resorcinol?

Phenylethyl resorcinol is a compound developed by the German chemicals company Symrise as a novel active ingredient for skin lightening (R).

Is phenylethyl resorcinol stable?

Phenylethyl resorcinol is not stable in the presence of light, which can make it ineffective when applied topically. However, when samples of phenylethyl resorcinol loaded onto nanostructured lipid carriers were stored at 4°C in the dark and 25°C in daylight, they were found to have excellent physicochemical stability and photostability for at least 3 months (R), with about 90% remaining unchanged (R, R).

Even small amounts of degradation can cause a reddish discolouration, which can be prevented with certain additives such as the chelating agent EDTA and the UV absorber Tinosorb S (R).

Does phenylethyl resorcinol get absorbed?

Phenylethyl resorcinol has been demonstrated to permeate pig skin (R, R, R) and human epidermal membranes (R).