Supplier of: skin actives, cosmetic ingredients, cosmeceuticals, active ingredients, and skin care ingredients, for DIY skin care and cosmetics, and homemade skin care products.
This lovely, simple, and affordable product has become something I don't want to be without. I am 47, with very sensitive and reactive dry skin. This cream doesn't feel particularly moisturizing and leaves something of a 'dry' finish on the skin after application, but it's had SUCH a positive impact on my face. The redness and papules from my rosacea and seb derm have reduced by a good 90%. It's been a magical barrier restorer and I panicked when it was temporarily out of stock. I would recomme.. ...»
This is the best product I have ever used on my skin and I tried a LOT of expansive brands. It helps with redness and overall skin tone. Please do not ever stop making this stuff... ...»
I am 69 and I have used this product for two years almost every day at a high dose, adding it to my antioxidant day cream, with excellent results. For me it has a very high quality and effectiveness: reduction of wrinkles, hydrated skin, unified color without blemishes ... A product of 10, the same score that I give to John for the quality of the products he sells, his excellent description / use and the bibliographic contribution.En .. ...»
Tried this on my week-old rash from flea bites. Got an almost instant relief and rash healed in 2 days.
Tried it on my daughter who has eczema for a very long time. The rashes calmed down after a few days and her skin is now healing well. Really great product. Just put in order for another jar.... ...»
Really loving this product. I make the best Centella toner and most concentrated ever. 2 g of centella extract dissolved in 10g of alcohol(you have to stir a lot) plus 88 grams of water and you get a very concentrated toner. Creams, toners, ampoules... all have only 0,1% of triterpenes, this toner i make have 1,4%. I am loving it, will see the results. .. ...»
Just recently ordered this and LOVE! Green Tea EGCG truly is one of the most fantastic skincare actives out there. Very difficult to find good quality product (90%) and even harder to actually solubilize it! Love that it comes in pre-dissolved solution. I enjoy adding it at 1% (so 11% sol) to my serum formulations containing Niacinamide 5% + NAG 3%. Excellent for oily acne prone skin.
*Only gripe... because the Pre-Dissolved Solution is SO heavy in propanediol (10 parts Propanediol for 1 part E.. ...»
Wonderful base cream! Only multi-lamellar structured cream I've found on the market. Cream itself is lightweight (no oil) yet very conditioning/hydrating. Easily accepts water-soluble active ingredients as well as oil-soluble ones. I've even pushed the additional ingred % up to 20 (meaning 80% this cream, 20% added) without any separation issues. Ideal base cream for delivering actives. Personal favorite recipe calls for 5% straight Grapeseed Oil with 5% SebumREG oil active + Panthenol 1% + E Ac.. ...»
Any long delivery delays are caused by The Canada Border Services Agency.
I now ONLY offer EMS as a shipping option to Canada.
This appears to have resolved most of the delays caused by The Canada Border Services Agency.
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We sell COSMETIC RAW MATERIALS, which are meant to be used at an appropriate percentage in a cosmetic formulation of your devising. Please do not order our products unless you know how to formulate creams and lotions with it!
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BulkActives has been in business since 2005, we might have disappeared from google search results, but we're still hanging on, just, mainly thanks to the support of some loyal customers.
However, like many, COVID hit us hard, and we're having a lot of trouble recovering.
Right now, we have not restocked many powders, however, are looking at continuing with selling only our flagship products:
seakelp and pre-dissolved powders, and some of the essentials.
Cholesterol is an organic molecule, more precisely a steroid alcohol that is present in animal cells and body fluids, regulates membrane fluidity, and functions as a precursor molecule in various metabolic pathways. Cholesterol is one of three major lipid classes found in the skin, besides ceramides and fatty acids, and plays a major role in maintaining cell membranes structural integrity and fluidity. Due to its role in maintaining and repairing skin barrier and moisturizing topical cholesterol is used in treating a wide variety of dry skin barrier conditions such as xerosis, ichthyosis, various types of dermatitis and other skin manifestations, in regulating sebum excess and as an antidote to skin aging. Usually cholesterol is associated with ceramides and fatty acids in lipid mixtures for an enhanced topical effect, asd the skin's extracellular matrix has a unique composition of 50% ceramides, 25% cholesterol, and 15% free fatty acids. It is recommended that Cholesterol NF is used in combination with Ceramides and Natural Fatty Acids at a ratio of 3:1:1 cholesterols,ceramides and free fatty acids. There are two other main sources of Cholesterol in skin care: Emul oil and Lanolin.
NOTE: To assist you with solubility issues, we now also sell Cholesterol N as a standardized pre-dissolved solution. Just add the liquid to your cream and mix well.
Cholesterol is an organic molecule biosynthesized by animal cells, being an essential structural component of their cell membranes. Its role is mainly to maintain membrane structural integrity and fluidity, enabling animal cells to change shape and move (unlike plants and bacteria which have restrictive cell walls). Cholesterol also serves as a precursor for the biosynthesis of steroid hormones, bile acids and Vitamin D [1]. Cholesterol lays in the composition of the skin surface along triglycerides, fatty acids, squelne, wax esters, diglycerides and cholesterol esters [2].
Stratum corneum is the the external layer of the skin, an actual physical barrier between the body and the environment. Once thought as a passive barrier composed of dead cells, stratum corneum performs at least five functional roles, the most important being: immune response, antioxidant barrier, antimicrobial through certain peptides, photo-damage protection, and permeability maintenance [3].
The major lipids found in the composition of stratum corneum that contribute to the water permeability barrier are ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids. Although the ceramides were once thought to be the key to skin moisturization, studies now suggest that no particular lipid is more important than the others. It appears that the proportion of fatty acids, ceramides, and cholesterol is the most important parameter [4]. It was demonstrated that a topically applied mixture of stratum corneum lipids was incorporated in nucleated layer of epidermis and accelerated the repair of the barrier after being damaged thus showing the efficiency of the ceramide-cholesterol-fatty acids topical treatment by regulating endogenous factors in the epidermis [5]
The importance of concomitant use of cholesterol together with ceramides and fatty acids in a optimized ratio was emphasized in several studies. For instance after altering the water barrier with acetone, the application of a combination of ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol resulted in normal barrier recovery. The study showed the specific requirements of selected stratum corneum lipid mixtures for optimized barrier repair. The use of physiologic lipids according to these parameters could lead to new forms of topical treatment for several skin conditions of heterogeneous origin triggered by abnormal barrier function [6]. A follow-up study revealed that an optimal lipid mixture is capable of accelerating barrier repair following disruption of the barrier by chemical (solvent treatment) or mechanical (tape stripping) damage [7].
Cholesterol in lipid mixtures is an efficient treatment for a wide variety of skin barrier disorders such as: environment-induced dermatitis, environment-induced xerosis, atopic dermatitis, ichthyosis, psoriasis, seboreic dermatitis and others [8]. In a clinical study that aimed to evaluate the protection of normal, healthy skin against detergent-induced dermatitis by monitoring TEWL, cholesterol containing stratum corneum lipid mixtures proved to be an efficient topical measure [9]. Cholesterol alone showed statistically relevant better results than urea in topically treating ichthyosis – a severe skin condition with symptoms as extreme skin dryness and scaling. In an open perspective half-side trial 90% of the subjects showed improvement under 10% cholesterol cream topical treatments [10]. Treating acetone[11] or detergent-scaled[12] skin with stratum corneum lipids improved the water-retention function thus maintaining hydration and moisturization and avoiding the transepidermal water loss process, the main cause for excessive dryness of the skin.
Cholesterol levels content loss also increases naturally with aging and during winter times [13] Dynamic barrier studies have shown that the most profound lipid biosynthetic abnormality in aging was in cholesterol rather than ceramide or fatty acid biosynthesis. It has been shown that a cholesterol-dominant lipid mixture accelerates barrier recovery in aged skin whereas a fatty-acid-dominant mixture delays barrier recovery. In young skin, any of the lipid species can be the dominant lipidand the barrier will recover more quickly [14]. Concluding, it can be stated that supplying lipid mixtures topically could help replenish the lipids to a level necessary for proper water barrier and skin function and implicitly rejuvenate the dermal activity.
Note: It is recommended that Cholesterol NF is used in combination with Ceramides and Natural Fatty Acids at a ratio of 3:1:1 cholesterols,ceramides and free fatty acids
NOTE: To assist you with solubility issues, we now also sell Cholesterol N as a standardized pre-dissolved solution. Just add the liquid to your cream and mix well.
Cholesterol NF Standardized Powder
Assay: 95% INCI Name: Cholesterol NF CAS#: 57-88-5 Synonym: Choleseteryl Alcohol Appearance: White granules or powder Suggested percentage:0.5% to 1% Solubility: Insoluble in water, soluble in ethylhexyl palmitate
Storage: Cool, dry place. Do not freeze. Keep away from light and moisture! Country of origin: China
Cholesterol NF Standardized Pre Dissolved Solution - 10%
Solubility: add to cream Suggested percentages:
11% solution gives 1% Cholesterol NF content in final product.
32% solution gives 3% Cholesterol NF content in final product.
53% solution gives 5% Cholesterol NF content in final product.
Storage: Store in fridge, do not freeze. Country of origin for raw material: China Country of manufacture: Taiwan
[1] I. Hanukoglu, "Steroidogenic enzymes: structure, function, and role in regulation of steroid hormone biosynthesis.", Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology , 43, pp: 779–804, 1992
[2] D.T. Downing, J.S. Strauss, P.E. Pochi , “Variability in the chemical composition of human skin surface lipids”, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, pp: 53-322, 1969
[3] L. Kircik, F. Hougeir, and J. Bikowski, “Atopic dermatitis, and the role for a ceramide-dominant, physiologic lipid-based barrier repair emulsion,” Journal of Drugs in Dermatology , 12, pp. 1024–1027, Sep 2013
[4[ L. Bauman, “Cosmetic Dermatology – Principles and Pactice”, second edition, ISBN: 978-0-07-164128-9
[5] J. Leyden, A. Rawlings, “Skin Moisturization”, pp214-221,CRC Press, ISBN: 13-978-0-8247-4413-7, 2002
[6] M. Mao-Qiang, K. Feingold, C. Thornfeldt, P. Elias, “Optimization of physiological lipid mixtures for barrier repair”, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 106, pp 1096-1101,1996
[7] L. Yang, M. Mao-Qiang, M. Taljebini, C. Thornfeldt, P. Elias, K. Feingold, “Topical stratum corneum lipids accelerate barrier repair after tape stripping, solvent treatment and some but not all types of detergent treatment”, British Journal of Dermatology, 133, pp 679-685, 1995
[8] M. Loden, “Role of Topical Emollients and Moisturizers in the Treatment of Dry Skin Barrier Disorders:, American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, 11, pp 771-788, 2003
[9] L. Coderch, M. De Pera, J. Fonollosa, A. De La Maza, J. Parra, “Efficacy of stratum corneum lipid supplementation on human skin”, Contact Dermatitis, 47, pp 139-146,2002
[10] G. Lykkesfeldt, H. Henrikyer, “Topical cholesterol treatment of recessive X-linked ichthyosis”, The Lancet, 322, pp 1337-1338, 1983
[11] G. Imokawa, S. Akasaki, M. Hattori, and N. Yoshizuka, “Selective recovery of deranged water-holding properties by stratum corneum lipids,” Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 87, pp. 758–761, 1986
[12] G. Imokawa, S. Akasaki, Y. Minematsu, and M. Kawai, “Importance of intercellular lipids in water-retention properties of the stratum corneum: induction and recovery study of surfactant dry skin,” Archives of Dermatology Research, 281, pp. 45–51, 1989.
[13] J. Rogers, C. Harding, A. Mayo, J. Banks, and A. Rawlings, “Stratum corneum lipids: the effect of ageing and the seasons,” Archives of Dermatology Research, 288, pp. 765–770, 1996.
[14] A.V. Rawlings, “Advances in Dry Skin Stratum Corneum Biology and Moisturization”, Cosmetics and Toiletry”, 228, pp:42-52, 2003
It is recommended that Cholesterol NF is used in combination with Ceramides and Natural Fatty Acids at a ratio of 3:1:1 ceramides, cholesterols, and free fatty acids.
BulkActives are DIY skin care suppliers of skin actives, cosmetic ingredients, cosmeceuticals, active ingredients, and standardized botanical extracts for diy skin care products and homemade cosmetics.
DISCLAIMER
We do NOT sell ready-made skin care products!
All our products are powders, liquids, flakes or gels, used for making your own skin care products.
All our products are cosmetic / technical grade only.
We do NOT sell pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs or nutritional supplements.
Any statements about our products have not been evaluated by the FDA.
Our active skin care ingredients are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease
SHIPPING
Please write your correct address:
We take NO responsibility for delivery issues caused by customers entering the wrong address in the checkout page
Delivery
BulkActives is a part-time business. Orders are processed and mailed on Saturdays.
Canadian Customers:
Any long delivery delays are caused by The Canada Border Services Agency.
I now ONLY offer EMS as a shipping option to Canada.
This appears to have resolved most of the delays caused by The Canada Border Services Agency.