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hello and welcome to ASCP and the Rogue Pharmacist with Benjamin Knight Fuchs. In each episode, we'll explore how internal and external factors can impact the skin. I'm Maggie Stasik, ASCP's program director. And joining me is Ben Fuchs, skincare formulator and pharmacist. Hi, Ben.
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Hello, Maggie.
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Ben. Urea keeps showing up in creams and serums lately, and I know it's also naturally present in the skin. People are curious about what it actually does. Can you explain how urea works in the skin and why it can act as both a hydrator and an exfoliator?
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Hmm, interesting, interesting question. So urea's got a long history. It was actually one of the first organic molecules that was, that was synthesized in like 1820 or something when organic chemistry began. It's a very simple molecule. It's founded, it's found in the body, as you mentioned. This is what gives urine the name. Urine. It's a waste product, actually, and the body's very economical. Sometimes it uses waste things that are waste products. It makes them functional. And urea has a lot of functionality, as you point out, particularly in the skin. It's part of what's called the natural moisture factor. I think we've talked about the natural moisture factor before, and it, it's very hygroscopic. Hygroscopicity or hygroscopic means it absorbs water. So being part of the natural moisture factor, it helps pull water in from the, from the atmosphere, which is kind of an interesting concept. You know, a lot of people don't realize that the skin is designed to yank water in from the atmosphere. Like when you come to Colorado from Miami or New York or someplace where there's a lot of ambient humidity and your skin's dry, the, the skin cells, proteins in the skin cells, one particular protein, the skin cells will actually upregulate itself so that you can pull more water in from the atmosphere, which is why you want to be very careful about occluding the skin with a moisturizer when you have dry skin, because that suppresses that the skin's ability to pull water in from the atmosphere. Urea is part of that natural moisture factor. But urea's got other benefits as well. In pharmacy, we use it as a debriding agent. It's also, it's keratinolytic. It dissolves protein, so you can use it. Urea solutions have been used for dry heels. You could actually use it for peels because it's an exfoliating agent. It's a little bit unstable, so it's hard to formulate with. There's a. There's a. A balance between instability and high risk capacity. Sometimes when a molecule absorbs a lot of water, it tends to break down quickly. And urea does tend to break down quickly. So you don't see it too much in skincare products. Although there are stabilized versions of urea, I don't particularly like using urea because it's very alkaline and the skin is acidic, and so I tend to like ingredients that are more acidic. Alkaline ingredients can pull up the PH of the skin. And high PH in the skin is associated with dermatitis and eczemas and various skin conditions. So I don't use it as much. But it's along the same lines as sodium pca, which I'm sure you've heard of, and lactate, sodium lactate and lactic acid, and these hygroscopic molecules. Reductions in a protein called filagrin. Have you heard of this protein called.
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I have, yeah.
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Reductions in filagrin are associated with barrier disruption and. And certain skin sensitivities. Urea has a tendency to upregulate filagrin production. So that's another benefit of urea and urea in topical products. So in addition to the fact that it's hygroscopic and it's keratinolytic, it breaks down keratin. It also can help support filaggrin production. And filaggrin deficiency is not that uncommon. Filaggrin is a complex protein that gets broken down to form the natural moisture factor, and it also plays a role in the strength of the barrier. So under conditions of filagrin disruption, the skin tends to be dry, eczematic sensitive, et cetera. And using urea can upregulate filagrin production. So that's another. That's an added benefit. Urea also, by virtue of its keratinolytic effect, can be used on things like corns on the feet, like calluses on the feet, or. Or hard tissue, much like salicylic acid is used that way. Salicylic acid is probably a little more skin friendly than urea because urea's got that high pH. But topically, topical urea can. It can be beneficial, but it's hard to put it in products, and that's why you don't see it a lot in products. Although, as I say, the stabilized versions of urea are a little bit. Are a little bit more formulation Formulation friendly at high. In order to get the keratinolytic, the keratin dissolving effects of urea, you really need high concentrations like 15, 20%. And that's almost, you're never going to see that in a standard product. But you can have a pharmacist make it for you. The compounding pharmacist like myself can make it. Or you can actually buy urea and you can make your own solutions of urea. It's very, very water soluble. So it's really easy to make. So you can buy it probably on Amazon urea crystals and then put it in, put it in water and make a little solution and then dab it on hard skin. If you want to dissolve hard tissue like on your feet or on your heels, estheticians can do it in the salon or in the spa. They can keep some urea in there and then make up the make up fresh solutions as well. But urea is a very interesting ingredient. Old time skin ingredient. You don't see it a lot but it does have some functionality. And as I say if I was an esthetic would certainly I would think about keeping some crystals in there and making some fresh urea solution to just dab onto hard skin. For example in the feet or in the toes or something like that, like for corns and calluses. It can sometimes be used in high concentrations to reduce itch, itchiness, but that's again that's gonna be in high concentrations. Typically the itches that are associated with eczema or super dry skin cirrhosis. By virtue of its ability to improve the barrier by upregulating flagran and then improving hydration via its hygroscopic properties, it can be used to reduce itch. And the barrier supporting benefits are really, really interesting. By upregulating flyn. So for folks who are having barrier issues and barrier issues are very underappreciated, you won't know necessarily you have a barrier issue. They're not always dramatic enough to cause eczema. But things like melasma can sometimes be associated with barrier issues, barrier dysfunction. So somebody has severe skin problems and melasma, that might be something that, that might be something that you want to think about using urea for and then also for acne. For folks who have acne blemishes dabbing on just a, just a little bit of urea with a, with a Q tip onto a blemish that may help support the exfoliation, the healing of that blemish. Although I'd be a little bit careful about using urea all over the face because it's so darn alkaline.
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Are there ingredients that urea works best with or maybe shouldn't be mixed with?
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No, it's just really because it's alkaline, it's going to destabilize acidic molecules. Alpha hydroxy acids, e.g. salicylic acid or vitamin C, it'll contribute to neutralization of acids. But no, there's no contraindications in terms of other ingredients. And then also urea is great for the entire body. If you want to have some exfoliation on the body. Urea, urea cream or urea solution or even a urea spray can be good for exfoliating the body. But again, because it's alkaline, you don't want to use it too much and it can be a little bit irritating.
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What about Fitzpatrick or skin types? Because you've mentioned dermatitis and eczema, who should not be using this?
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There's really no contraindications to using it. Regardless of Fitzpatrick types. If you use super high concentrations and you use it on large areas, it can. It can potentially be a little bit irritating. So I wouldn't use it like on people who have super sensitive skin head to toe, but to dab it on parts of the skin that have hard. That are hard, like corns or calluses or even. Even blemishes, dabbing it on is nice. The hands tend to respond more effectively to urea. And urea hand creams are popular in some places because the hands have thick stratum corneum and that's really where you want to really. Urea will shine is on thicker stratum corneum areas like the hands or the back or the. Or the heels. Because of its keratinolytic properties, I wouldn't use it on delicate more I'd be careful about using on delicate skin.
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Are you going to actually see skin peeling from urea?
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Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you'll see it's very keratinolytic. In other words, it dissolves keratin. Means it dissolves keratin. And yes, you will definitely see a keratin coming off. That's why you want to be careful about thin skin like on the face. Because if you don't have a lot of keratin or you don't have a thick stratum corneum, it can be a little bit more irritating, especially at high concentrations. But harder skin like on the heels or on the hands or in the back that's really where it shines.
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That concludes our show for today, and we thank you for listening. But if you just can't get enough of Ben Fuchs, the ASCP's rogue pharmacist, you can find him@truthtreatment.com for more information on this episode, or for ways to connect with Ben Fuchs, or to learn more about asap, check out the show notes.