In a presentation at this spring’s in-cosmetics Global in Paris, Vik Pandit of Phycus Biotechnologies took on a deceptively simple question:
If glycolic acid is such a foundational skincare ingredient… why hasn’t it evolved?
The answer reveals a much bigger shift happening across the beauty industry.
Glycolic Acid: A Workhorse That Stood Still
Glycolic acid has been a cornerstone of skincare for decades.
It’s the smallest alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), known for its ability to accelerate cell turnover and deliver visible skin renewal. Since the 1970s, it has powered everything from professional treatments to mass-market skincare lines.
But here’s the disconnect: The way glycolic acid is made today hasn’t meaningfully changed since the 1930’s. Most of it is still produced from petrochemical feedstocks, often using formaldehyde-based processes.
At a time when the rest of beauty is evolving rapidly, one of its most important ingredients has remained stuck in the past.
The Clean Beauty Shift Is Forcing a Reckoning
Consumer expectations have changed. Today, the majority of consumers want products that are not just effective, but also transparent and sustainably made.
But this shift has exposed a gap.
“Clean” has become a powerful label, but an inconsistent one. Many consumers still don’t fully understand what it means, while brands struggle to balance performance with perception.
So brands have reached for an obvious shortcut: Position glycolic acid as “natural.”
Why “Natural” Glycolic Acid Falls Short
On the surface, fruit-derived glycolic acid seems like an optimal solution. It aligns with consumer expectations. It supports clean positioning. It feels intuitive.
But technically, it creates new problems. Fruit extracts:
- Contain low concentrations of glycolic acid, limiting efficacy,
- Vary in composition, delivering inconsistent performance,
- Introduce color and odor, complicating formulation, and
- Require large biomass feedstock, reducing sustainability efficiency.
The result? A trade-off between story and performance.
Increasingly, that trade-off isn’t acceptable.
The Real Issue: It’s Not the Ingredient, But How It’s Made
At the heart of the problem is something most consumers never see: the manufacturing process.
There are three primary ways glycolic acid is produced:
- Petrochemical synthesis
- Relies on non-renewable inputs
- Can introduce impurities like formaldehyde derivatives
- Fruit extraction
- Variable purity and performance
- Resource-intensive
- Fermentation
- Bio-based inputs
- High purity
- Lower environmental impact
This is the key shift: The future of clean beauty isn’t just about whatan ingredient is. It’s about how it’s made.
A New Approach: Bio-Based Glycolic Acid
Phycus introduced a fundamentally different way to produce glycolic acid: microbial fermentation using renewable plant sugars and FSC-certified wood.
The result is a glycolic acid that is:
- 100% bio-based,
- Free from petrochemical inputs,
- Produced without formaldehyde, and
- Significantly lower in environmental impact.
And critically: chemically identical to conventional glycolic acid.
No Trade-Off Required
One of the biggest barriers to ingredient innovation is reformulation risk.
If something performs differently, brands hesitate.
But here’s the breakthrough that could catapult over that hesitation. Purolic behaves the same in formulation as traditional glycolic acid, confirmed through identical FTIR spectra and equivalent chemical profiles.
It’s a drop-in replacement. No compromise on performance. No disruption to existing formulations.
Better for Skin, Too
Beyond sustainability, the data points to another advantage: a gentler irritation profile.
Testing shows:
- Comparable exfoliation efficacy to petrochemical glycolic acid, and
- Lower IL-1α response at early exposure (a marker of irritation).
This suggests a subtle but meaningful shift: same results, with a potentially better user experience.
And Better for the Planet
From a lifecycle perspective, the impact is significant:
- Up to 50% lower carbon footprint,
- Fully biodegradable into CO₂ and water,
- Derived from renewable, upcycled inputs.
For brands under pressure to reduce Scope 3 emissions,this isn’t just a formulation decision, but a strategic one.
The Bigger Shift
What this presentation ultimately highlighted wasn’t just a new ingredient, but a new standard.
For years, beauty has focused on natural vs synthetic, and clean vs conventional. But those categories are starting to break down.
The next phase of clean beauty will be defined by something more precise: process, traceability, and proof.
And in that world, ingredients like glycolic acid don’t just need a better story. They need a better origin.
Final Thought
Glycolic acid has always been one of skincare’s most trusted actives. Now, for the first time in nearly a century, it’s being reimagined.
Not by changing what it does. But by changing how it’s made.
