Divina
Home/Ingredients/Amino Acids and Sodium PCA

Amino Acids and Sodium PCA

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Several of them, with sodium PCA and betaine, make up much of the natural moisturising factor that keeps the skin's surface supple.

On a list as
Serine · Glycine · Glutamic Acid · Alanine · Lysine · Arginine · Threonine · Proline · Sodium PCA · Betaine
What it does
Humectants: part of skin's natural moisturising factor
Where it comes from
Usually made by fermentation
Vegan?
Depends on the source

Why it’s in a formula

They are humectants: they attract and hold water. In a lash or brow serum they help condition the hairs and the skin they grow from.

  • Amino acids can come from animal proteins, but cosmetic grades are usually made by fermentation. The list doesn't say which; we count them as non-animal, as we do glycerin.

Read from each piece’s published ingredient list. One piece.

Le Sérum Cils

Le Sérum Cils

Lash & Brow Serum — 6g

$48

Listed as Betaine, Sodium PCA, Serine, Glycine, Glutamic Acid, Alanine, Lysine, Arginine, Threonine, Proline

Vegan, going by its list

Do amino acids make eyelashes grow?

There's no good evidence that they do. They are there to moisturise and condition.

What is sodium PCA?

The salt of pidolic acid, one of the skin's own moisturising molecules. It is a humectant that helps skin hold water.

How we know: every ingredient list on this site is the manufacturer’s own, read piece by piece and shade by shade, and the pieces above are worked out from those lists each time the site is built. Ingredient names and functions follow the EU’s CosIng database. This page describes cosmetic ingredients; it isn’t medical advice.