Retinol turning yellow or irritating?
Free retinol oxidises the moment it meets air, light and heat. Encapsulate it, and it stays colourless and potent until it’s rubbed into skin.
Yellowing and browning
A clear serum shifts yellow, then amber, during stability or after opening.
Potency lost on the shelf
Assays show retinol content falling well before the end of the claimed shelf life.
Stinging and redness
Free retinol hits the skin all at once, and consumer panels report irritation.
Retinol is built to react. Your formula gives it every chance.
Retinol’s long chain of conjugated double bonds is what makes it active, and what makes it fragile. Oxygen, UV light, heat and trace metal ions attack that chain, and the breakdown products are yellow.
Antioxidants, chelators and airless packs slow the reaction but don’t stop it, because the retinol is still dissolved in the same phase as everything that degrades it.
And once it reaches skin, free retinol is available all at once: the spike that drives irritation.
Lock the retinol inside a capsule. Open it on the skin.
CelluCap RL holds retinol inside a biodegradable cellulose-based shell, physically separated from oxygen, light and the rest of your formula. The capsules break as the product is rubbed in, releasing fresh retinol at the point of use.
CelluCap RL
BREAKABLERetinol encapsulated in a biodegradable cellulose-based microcapsule. Stays protected through processing and shelf life, and breaks open as the product is rubbed into skin.
Retinol 50C
RETINOLAn alternative retinol format for systems where CelluCap RL isn’t the right fit. Tell us your base and our application lab will recommend the better option.
From brief to stable retinol serum.
Building a retinol serum?
Tell us your base, pH and target claim. Our application lab will help you build a stable encapsulated-retinol formula.
Send us your brief- 01
Share your brief
Tell us your base, pH and target claim, and our application lab will help plan phase order and supporting ingredients.
- 02
Add the capsules late
Add CelluCap RL in the cool-down phase, following the technical data sheet, so the capsules stay intact through processing.
- 03
Mix gently
Low-shear mixing keeps the capsules whole until the consumer rubs them in.
- 04
Scale with support
Our application lab helps you move from bench to pilot to production.
Questions formulators ask
How do I stop retinol oxidising in a serum?
Antioxidants, chelators and opaque airless packaging slow oxidation. Encapsulation goes further: the retinol sits inside a shell, physically separated from oxygen, light and reactive ingredients until application.
How do I stabilise retinol in a formulation?
Use an encapsulated retinol such as CelluCap RL, add it during cool-down with low-shear mixing, and ask our application lab for guidance on supporting ingredients and pH for your base.
Where can I buy encapsulated retinol?
Request a sample directly from Tagra or through your local Tagra distributor. Samples ship with technical data.
Test CelluCap RL in your own base.
Les capacités de Tagra
Plus de 25 ans d'expertise en microencapsulation, plus de 14 brevets accordés, une R&D et une fabrication internes complètes — de l'étude de faisabilité à l'approvisionnement commercial pour les partenaires en sciences des matériaux, sous un même toit.
