Does azelaic acid help dark spots?
What Is Azelaic Acid?
Azelaic acid is a saturated dicarboxylic acid containing 9 carbon atoms. Because AzA is highly similar to the English name of azalea, "AzAlea", it is also called azalea acid in China. Azelaic acid, like fruit acid and salicylic acid, is also a natural organic acid that exists in plants such as cereals, wheat, rye and barley. Azelaic acid is very stable and has various effects such as acne removal, whitening, fading acne marks, and oil control. Azelaic acid also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, regulates skin keratinization, inhibits oil secretion and inhibits abnormal cell proliferation. It can be used as a functional cosmetic or a medicine to treat skin diseases such as acne and chloasma.
What Are The Functions Of Azelaic Acid?
1.Anti-inflammatory and acne removal
Azelaic acid can directly inhibit and kill bacteria on the skin surface and in the hair follicles, especially Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis. It can inhibit the production and action of active oxygen free radicals, reduce the release of pro-inflammatory factors, and has a good anti-inflammatory and improvement effect on redness, swelling and acne.
The acne removal effect of azelaic acid is mainly carried out from two aspects:
(1)Oil control
Excessive oiliness of the skin and frequent acne breakouts are actually related to the imbalance of hormones in the body.
When the hormone level is disordered, male hormones will increase and combine with 5-α-dihydrotestosterone to secrete excessive sebum, leading to clogged pores, causing blackheads, acne, acne, and even keratinization of pores.
Azelaic acid can inhibit 5α-reductase to prevent it from converting testosterone into active 5-α-dihydrotestosterone, which indirectly inhibits sebum secretion.
Azelaic acid can also penetrate deep into the pores and dissolve the oil that has been secreted.
(2)Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory
Azelaic acid is very good in this regard. It can directly inhibit the production and action of anaerobic bacteria, aerobic bacteria and reactive oxygen free radicals on the skin surface and in the hair follicles, achieving antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, thereby inhibiting the growth of acne. It is especially suitable for controlling acne-type acne and inflammatory red and swollen acne. Moreover, azelaic acid has basically no drug resistance, so it can be used for a long time to improve acne skin.
2.Whitening and lightening
Azelaic acid can inhibit the activity of tyrosinase, inhibit DNA synthesis and mitochondrial activity, reduce the proliferation of abnormal melanocytes, and build a checkpoint in almost every key step of melanin production, thereby reducing the production of melanin. It is often used to treat chloasma and post-inflammatory pigmentation.
After research, it was found that 20% azelaic acid and 4% hydroquinone have almost the same whitening effect, with less side effects; and compared with 2% hydroquinone, 20% azelaic acid is more effective in dealing with pigmentation. It has a better effect on lightening acne marks, chloasma, etc. Moreover, azelaic acid only attacks cells with abnormal melanin and does not interfere with normal melanocytes, so it has a significant improvement effect on relieving acne marks and chloasma caused by skin inflammation.
3.Improve closed comedones
Azelaic acid can inhibit the synthesis of filamentous keratin and prevent excessive keratinization of hair follicles. At the same time, it can also competitively inhibit 5α-reductase and reduce dihydrotestosterone, thereby reducing skin oil secretion and the occurrence of closed comedones.
In addition to the above effects, weakly acidic azelaic acid can also gently exfoliate, reduce the synthesis of filamentous keratin, and prevent excessive keratinization of hair follicles and keratinization around the hair.
What Is The Application Of Azelaic Acid?
In addition to its application in cosmetics, azelaic acid is also suitable for the following industries:
Industrial use: Azelaic acid is commonly used in industrial fields such as lubricants, emulsions, solvents, synthetic resins, and synthetic fibers. It can increase the gloss of products, improve product texture, and adjust product viscosity.
Daily necessities: Azelaic acid can be used in detergents, shampoos, soaps, cosmetics, etc. It has thickening, wetting, and antibacterial functions, which can improve the quality and use experience of products.
Agricultural field: Azelaic acid can be used as one of the ingredients of pesticides, which can protect crops and increase yields.