How Panthenol (B Vitamin) Leads to Amazing Hair
Once you learn the cleanly little secret of this strange-sounding ingredient, you will always be looking for it in skincare lines. This neat moisturizer is a provitamin with anti-inflammatory properties and naturally occurs in quite a few of the foods we eat.
What Exactly is Panthenol?
Panthenol comes in two forms. L-panthenol and D-panthenol. Both are great for moisturizing, but D-panthenol is the more bioactive form. Both are a B vitamin. Technically, panthenol is a substance that converts in the body to pantothenic acid and is provitamin B5 and a must-have ingredient in any hair or skincare product.
How Provitamins Affect Us
To best understand the benefits of panthenol, we need to know why being a provitamin is important. A provitamin is a substance that the body can convert into a vitamin once absorbed. Another example of a provitamin is beta Carotene.
Beta Carotene is an antioxidant often found in fruits and veggies. You can tell when it’s in the fruit or veggies when you see a bright yellow, orange or green. Because our bodies can convert Beta Carotene in the liver, we get the anti-aging and anti-inflammatory benefits. The same thing happens with panthenol. But panthenol turns into vitamin B5.
Provitamins are precursors that are converted into bioavailable, active forms of vitamins and our bodies can readily take advantage of them. They help deliver the benefits of the essential vitamins more effectively. In this instance, the amazing effects of vitamin B5.
How B Vitamins Help Out Our Hair
It is becoming more well-known that B vitamins have the ability to carry nutrients to our scalp. They aid in delivering the energy needed to grow hair, repair it, and moisturize it. An example of one B vitamin many people love for hair growth is biotin.
But biotin alone is not responsible for all things hair growth. It works in combination with other nutrients (ahem...panthenol or pantothenic acid). Yes, biotin does stimulate keratin production.
Let's break down the benefits with two practical examples.
Example 1. Plenty of us are exposed to the sun, maybe not in the winter, but we all want to soak up the sunshine on those sunny days, especially if we can get to the beach.
While sunlight is great for us, overexposure could dry out the hair. So, to protect our growing hair, panthenol steps in to help. It retains the moisture in our scalp and hair, keeping the damage from weather to a minimum. The great news is if you battle with chronic dryness, panthenol could be the key to hydrating your hair, so other nutrients do not go to waste on hair that refuse to shine.
Example 2. Using a blow dryer blasts heat straight onto your scalp. It aggressively sucks away hydration. Eventually, your hair winds up damaged. However, things like avocado butter (which contains an ample amount of provitamin b5) make all the difference in combatting dryness.
Humectant, Emollient, Shine Expert
We have all experienced the negative consequences of dehydrated skin and hair. Our hair becomes brittle, flat, dull, and sometimes it breaks off... It is super annoying to say the least. However, vitamin B5 can save the day.
One of the more technical terms to describe panthenol is by saying it is a humectant. The simplest way to explain what a humectant does is by saying it retains moisture.
It surrounds itself with moisture both from deep in the skin and from the surrounding environment. Humectants are used as a hydrating agent in foods, cosmetics, and even medicines.
But how do we maintain that moisture? Vitamin B5 is also an emollient. Emollients improve skin barrier function, keeping the body’s newfound moisture intact. They help reduce dryness, itching, and other inflammation. So, they give moisture and help you retain it. And those are not the only benefit. They also soften skin (and hair).
For hair, that means the all-annoying problem of out-of-hand frizz is finally tamed and you can get some better combing in. It also means added shine for that glorious (and now manageable) head of hair.
That is the little secret of how this special B vitamin leads to amazing hair. It combats water loss while also adding shine, improving elasticity, and softening hair.
The Other Agent Helping Panthenol
Panthenol is not the only thing in our collection helping strengthen your hair health. Day after day, your hair will continue to be revitalized when paired with things like:
- Nettle (boosting hair growth)
- avocado butter (deep conditioning hair)
- keratin (from sheep wool)
- lavender (balancing the pH of your hair and preventing the overproduction of testosterone on the scalp)
- jojoba (adding shine)
- hydrolyzed quinoa (moisturizing and coating the hair with protective amino acids)
We have carefully sourced our natural ingredients from clean places for our hair care products. We do not want any toxins creeping in while nourishing the scalp and repairing hair damage.
We have worked hard to formulate recipes that combat flaky scalps and ready-to-crack strands, paving the way to better hair.
Do not use the store-bought shampoos that keep you exposed to harmful chemicals, deteriorating your locks. Show your hair and scalp some love by using ingredients that strengthen with protective coats, hydrate, add volume, and shine all while allowing the hair to naturally grow.
If you want a closer look at each of our ingredients, we have them listed on the ingredient page as well as on each product page. See for yourself how clean and natural our list is. And check out just how safe and effective they are (we have the EWG rating listed next to each ingredient for transparency into our process)!
Ingredients with Naturally Occurring B5
These are some of the anti-inflammatory and anti-aging foods and plants in our hair care products that all contain naturally occurring provitamin B5.
Nettle. We love using nettle to improve hair growth and it has even been used for many other creative effects (as noted in our post on it!).
Avocado butter is another with B5. Along with the fat content, which helps deliver the panthenol more effectively and directly, it helps deep condition the hair for moisturized locks. (*Tip: leave our conditioner in for at least 5 minutes to really reap the benefits of that combo.)
Jojoba oil is yet another wonderful ingredient containing both provitamin B5 and vitamin E. This is a powerful team for moisturizing and combatting oxidative stress. In our line, we use jojoba esters. That is jojoba oil broken down with water. Why do we do that? Treating jojoba oil with water makes it easier to work with. When jojoba is more adaptable, it makes it that much better for us to use it in combination with other natural substances, giving you even more benefits.
Argan oil contains many vitamins, and yes, that includes pantothenic acid. Argan oil is an ancient Morrocan beauty secret, great for repairing weather damage and conditioning hair. It is an anti-aging wonder, soothing skin irritation and improving our skin barrier.
These were just some of our ingredients with panthenol in it. We have more, and each is not only safe but offers amazing benefits to your health.
Start ditching your old, toxic personal care items and replace them with our powerful natural line of personal care products. Join us in our mission to give you and the planet a little more Wellnesse each day.
Resources
Yang, M., Moclair, B., Hatcher, V., Kaminetsky, J., Mekas, M., Chapas, A., & Capodice, J. (2014). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of a novel pantothenic Acid-based dietary supplement in subjects with mild to moderate facial acne. Dermatology and therapy, 4(1), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13555-014-0052-3
Camargo FB Jr, Gaspar LR, Maia Campos PM. Skin moisturizing effects of panthenol-based formulations. J Cosmet Sci. 2011 Jul-Aug;62(4):361-70. PMID: 21982351.
Stettler H, Kurka P, Lunau N, Manger C, Böhling A, Bielfeldt S, Wilhelm KP, Dähnhardt-Pfeiffer S, Dähnhardt D, Brill FH, Lenz H. A new topical panthenol-containing emollient: Results from two randomized controlled studies assessing its skin moisturization and barrier restoration potential, and the effect on skin microflora. J Dermatolog Treat. 2017 Mar;28(2):173-180. doi: 10.1080/09546634.2016.1214235. Epub 2016 Aug 2. PMID: 27425824.