Your skin care might not actually contain the Vitamin B it claims. Here’s a quick guide on how to find Vitamin B in skin care, and how to avoid products and brands that either don’t understand their ingredients, or perpetuate the misunderstanding.
A look through most ingredient blog articles, and many skin care product pages, will tell us that the oils in our skin care products is replete with vitamins, same as their plant-life counterparts.
The truth is, any vitamins that the pressed seeds, nuts, plants, and fruits do contain all depends on affinity.
oil or water?
Vitamins are either water or oil soluble, meaning they are composed of, attracted to, and mix thoroughly with water or oil based mediums. Oil soluble vitamins are composed of, attracted to and mix with oil. And water soluble vitamins are composed of, attracted to, and mix with water-based elements.
the myth
Oils pressed from Vitamin B rich fruits, nuts, seeds and plants (such as wheat bran, papaya, avocado, rice bran and sunflower) contain it.
the reality
The B family of vitamins are water soluble. And while B vitamins are abundant in many whole plants, nuts, seeds and fruits, these vitamins are not present in oils pressed from them. So for example, if your cleansing oil says it contains any of the B vitamins (as one very popular cleansing oil claims), it doesn't.
what ingredients DO contain vitamin b
Find it in water-based extracts and juices from vitamin b rich whole plants, fruits and botanicals. Keep in mind that for certain results, the dosage of Vitamin B is lower in extracts and juices than research shows is necessary for some types of skin results, so for supplemental or more speedy effects, look for B vitamins listed on your product labels as Niacinamide (B3), or Panthenol (B5), in addition to whole plant extracts or juices.