ABSTRACT
From the bark of trees to the human stratum corneum, salicylic acid (SA) has followed a unique, now legendary, trajectory. Early and pragmatically recognized by dermatological masters as a valuable help in disorders of hyperkeratinization, SA progressively became a standard. As a russian doll, from therapy to research, SA offered successive and intricate developments, being both a therapeutic agent and a tool of research as well. More recently, since it is well tolerated by the human skin, SA logically entered the cosmetic field as a major skin care agent. The rationale of its introduction in this application, with other molecules such as α-hydroxyacids (AHAs), retinoic acid, etc., is mostly grounded in their so-called keratolytic action, a property that leads to skin softening which, in turn, improve the aspect (hue, color) of the consumer’s skin.
