Actives glossary
Azelaic acid
A dicarboxylic acid sold at 10% as a cosmetic and at 15% and 20% as a drug, which is the whole story of the category.
- INCI name
- Azelaic Acid
- Also called
- nonanedioic acid
- Family
- Acid
- Range seen on labels
- 10% over the counter, 15% and 20% by prescription
- Sits well with
- niacinamide, ceramides
- Needs care with
- glycolic-acid, salicylic-acid
Azelaic acid occupies an awkward position. At 10% it is a cosmetic ingredient sold freely. At 15% and 20% it is a prescription product in the United States, which means the strengths with the most published clinical work behind them are the ones a shelf product cannot legally match.
Reading a 10% product honestly
A 10% cosmetic azelaic product is a real formulation, and it is not the thing the prescription literature studied. Copy that borrows the findings from a 20% prescription product to describe a 10% cosmetic is doing something this site counts as a claim failure, and it is common.
Texture
Azelaic acid is poorly soluble, which is why so many formulas are grainy or thick, and why suspension quality varies more here than in most categories. A gritty texture is a formulation consequence rather than a defect, but it is worth knowing before buying.