Youth facial care: the contribution of coenzyme Q10

Every cell in our body produces a small orange compound that serves as its fuel: coenzyme Q10. It powers energy production in the mitochondria and, in parallel, acts as a shield against oxidative damage. The problem is that its quantity peaks around the age of twenty, then declines. The epidermis, which has a high demand for fuel, is one of the first places where this becomes visible. Here's what this active ingredient actually does in a skincare product, how to recognize it on a label, at what concentration, in what order to apply it, and what it doesn't do.

A compound the body produces itself

It's not an exotic ingredient imported from a rare plant. It's a substance we produce ourselves, present in almost all cells — hence its other name, ubiquinone, from "ubiquitous," meaning found everywhere. It's found in the liver, muscles, kidneys, and of course in skin tissues.

Its workplace is at the heart of the mitochondria, those tiny compartments that textbooks call the cell's powerhouses. This is where the respiratory chain takes place, a series of reactions at the end of which the cell produces its universal fuel, ATP. Ubiquinone acts as a transporter here: it circulates electrons from one link of the chain to the next. Without it, the chain seizes up and efficiency drops.

This function is far from insignificant for a tissue that is constantly renewing itself. In the epidermis, keratinocytes are born deep down, migrate to the surface, transform, and desquamate. This cycle is expensive. A keratinocyte that produces less ATP renews itself more slowly, synthesizes its barrier lipids less effectively, and retains water less efficiently. The visible consequence comes later, but it does come: duller complexion, less even skin texture, a feeling of discomfort upon waking.

Ubiquinone or ubiquinol: two faces of the same active ingredient

On labels, two names circulate and cause confusion. They are actually the same active ingredient in two electronic states.

Ubiquinone is the oxidized form. This is the most common version in cosmetics: stable, deep orange, easy to work with in an oily phase.

Ubiquinol is the reduced form, the one that has already captured electrons. It is more fragile to air and more delicate to stabilize in an emulsion or serum. Some high-end formulations use it, with appropriate packaging — opaque bottle, airless pump.

Inside the cell, the two versions interconvert constantly: it is precisely this back-and-forth that allows electron transport. For a consumer, the distinction is less important than the rest of the product — base, concentration, packaging. Ubiquinone well protected from light is better than ubiquinol in a transparent jar opened twenty times a day.

Where the active ingredient is located in the tissues

The distribution is not uniform. Work by Prahl and colleagues (BioFactors, 2008) showed a significantly higher concentration in the epidermis than in the dermis, and a decrease in both compartments over the decades. The epidermis being the area most exposed to radiation and pollution, this high concentration makes sense: this is where oxidative stress strikes first.

This localization also explains the interest of a topical treatment. Applied to the surface, ubiquinone is deposited and then diffuses into the upper layers, where demand is highest. Knott and co-authors (BioFactors, 2015) measured, after repeated application of an emulsion containing it, an increase in skin levels and a reduction in surface oxidation markers.

Why the level decreases over the years

The twenties peak

Endogenous synthesis does indeed exist, but it follows a curve. It rises during childhood and adolescence, reaches its maximum around 20 years old, then gradually declines in most tissues. This is what Kalén, Appelkvist, and Dallner described in Lipids in 1989, by measuring the compound in different human organs according to age.

Several factors combine. The synthesis machinery — a long enzymatic chain — becomes less efficient. The needs, however, do not decrease: the respiratory chain must still be fueled and free radicals neutralized. The gap between supply and demand slowly widens, decade after decade.

What exposure adds on top

To this natural decline is added accelerated consumption. Every sunbath, every day in a polluted atmosphere, every too-short night generates reactive oxygen species — what the general public calls free radicals. Our active ingredient is among the molecules mobilized to neutralize them, and it is consumed in the process. The available stock therefore decreases for two simultaneous reasons: less is produced, and more is spent.

This is why two people of the same age can show very different appearances. The calendar counts, but cumulative exposure counts at least as much. Dermatologists distinguish intrinsic aging, that of the biological clock, and extrinsic aging, which the environment adds on top. The latter is, in large part, a matter of daily habits.

Milestones by decade

The table below is not a diagnosis: it is a reading grid to pinpoint the priorities of a routine. The described evolutions are common to the entire population, with significant individual variations.

Two functions in one active ingredient

First function: energy production

As we have seen, it is a link in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Its presence conditions the efficiency of ATP production. A well-supplied cell performs its basic functions: renewal, lipid synthesis, maintaining cohesion with its neighbors.

This point deserves to be stated precisely, because this is where marketing often goes off track. A topically applied treatment does not inject energy into your cells like recharging a battery. It deposits, in the superficial layers where it diffuses, an additional fat-soluble antioxidant. The observable benefit is related to appearance and comfort: a more even complexion, features that appear rested. Not biological rejuvenation.

Second function: shield against oxidation

It is a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant. In concrete terms, it is capable of donating an electron to a free radical to neutralize it before it damages a neighboring structure — cell membrane, barrier lipid, protein.

Its fat-soluble nature determines its playing field: it watches over cells and especially their lipid membranes, where water-soluble substances like ascorbate cannot reach. This is exactly why we talk about a network rather than a miracle active ingredient: each component covers a different compartment, and one sometimes regenerates the other.

Free radicals, UV, and pollution: where wear and tear comes from

To understand the benefit of a defensive active ingredient, one must look at what it works against. Normal metabolism constantly produces reactive oxygen species: this is an inevitable byproduct of cellular respiration. As long as neutralizing systems keep up, balance holds. Oxidative stress becomes problematic when damage consistently exceeds defense capabilities.

Three sources dominate in everyday life.

Ultraviolet radiation. UVA penetrates deeply and triggers chain reactions all the way to the dermis. They are primarily responsible for environmentally related wear and tear. They pass through clouds and windows, which explains why daily sunscreen makes a difference even without clear skies.

Air pollution. Fine particles settle on the surface and carry compounds that promote oxidation. Gentle cleansing in the evening is not a minor detail: it prevents sleeping eight hours with this deposit.

Lifestyle. Tobacco, chronically insufficient sleep, prolonged periods of tension, or a diet very low in vegetables increase the oxidative load. No cosmetic product, however well designed, can compensate for these parameters. It accompanies them.

The hierarchy is therefore clear, and it contradicts the order in which one usually fills their basket: first reduce exposure, then create a barrier, finally work on appearance. A defensive active ingredient applied to skin never protected from the sun is a bandage on an open door.

How to read a label correctly

Three simple habits are enough to seriously evaluate a product before buying it.

1. Look for the INCI name. The ingredient list is standardized at the European level. Look for "Ubiquinone," possibly "Ubiquinol." Marketing mentions have no regulatory value; only this list is authoritative, and it must appear on the packaging.

2. Check its position in the list. Components are listed in decreasing order of concentration up to 1%. An active ingredient used between 0.05% and 1% normally appears in the last third: this is normal, it is not a defect. However, if it appears after perfumes and preservatives, the dose is probably symbolic.

3. Observe the color and the bottle. Ubiquinone is naturally orange. A serum containing an active dose of it almost always has a yellow to orange tint. A perfectly white product claiming a high content deserves questioning. Regarding packaging, an opaque bottle or an airless pump limits damage from light and oxygen; a wide jar opened daily is the worst configuration.

The defensive network: who does what, at what dose, at what time

This is the table we would have liked to find when we started working on our own recipes. It brings together, for each component of the network, its solubility — and thus where it acts — the concentration range actually used in cosmetics, the most logical application time, and its behavior in the presence of CoQ10.

One key takeaway from this table: ubiquinone does not compete with other components; it fills a gap that others leave empty—the fat-soluble gap, that of cell membranes. A routine that layers three water-soluble substances and no fat-soluble ones leaves a blind spot.

Our 28-day protocol

This protocol is what we recommend for introducing CoQ10 into an existing routine without stressing the epidermis. It is deliberately gradual: most irritations don't come from one active ingredient, but from three active ingredients introduced on the same day. Doses are indicated in drops, wait times in seconds or minutes.

Why 28 days? Because that's the approximate duration of an epidermal renewal cycle in young adults—it lengthens with age. Judging a defensive active ingredient before the end of a full cycle is like rating a book on the third page.

And why two photos rather than a memory? Because the eye gets used to what it sees every morning and doesn't register slow changes. Three conditions make the comparison honest: the same light source (a window, never a ceiling light), the same time of day, and no makeup. If you want to be even more rigorous, take the picture before cleansing rather than after: freshly applied products alter shine and skew the reading.

The layering order, step by step

The general rule is simple: from thinnest to richest, from aqueous to oily. A fat-soluble active ingredient is applied after aqueous phases and before pure oils.

Two mistakes are systematically repeated. The first is applying a water-based serum over an oil: the oily phase creates a barrier and the product stays on the surface. The second is not waiting between two layers: a still-wet product mixes with the next instead of penetrating, and the benefit of both is lost.

The specific case of the eye contour

The periorbital area is the thinnest and the first to show fine lines. It deserves two adjustments rather than an overpriced dedicated product.

The first concerns the dose: a rice grain-sized amount is enough for both eyes. Any more and the excess migrates during the night, causing tingling upon waking, which is mistakenly attributed to intolerance.

The second concerns the application technique: tap with the ring finger, from the outer corner to the inner corner, without ever stretching. The tissue there is too delicate to withstand daily friction. Count about ten taps, no more. And if your day product is well-tolerated and fragrance-free, it can often be used in this area: dedicated products mainly differ in being ophthalmologist-tested and in their texture, rarely in their ingredient list.

Coenzyme Q10 and prickly pear seed oil: why this combination

We have been working with prickly pear seed oil since the very beginning of our brand, and that's where our interest in this active ingredient comes from. Both work on the same ground: lipids.

Prickly pear seed oil stands out for its remarkable content of tocopherols and a rich omega-6 profile, one of the constituent lipids of the skin's film. Applied as the last step in the evening, it provides two things: an additional fat-soluble defender, and an oily support that limits the evaporation of water retained in the upper layers.

The logic of the routine then becomes clear. In the morning, we create a barrier: a fat-soluble active ingredient followed by UV screen, to limit damage and neutralize some of what gets through. In the evening, we nourish and seal: the oil closes the day and works during the hours when the epidermis is no longer attacked. The two are not redundant; they occupy two moments and two functions.

A word on origin, as the question often comes up. It takes about a ton of fruit to obtain one liter of prickly pear seed oil: the seeds are tiny and low in fat. This yield explains the price, and it's also why an oil sold at the price of sunflower oil deserves suspicion. A cold press, an amber bottle, and a legible best-before date are worth all the poetic mentions on packaging.

Hesitating between a defensive routine in the morning and a nourishing routine in the evening? Our free 2-minute diagnostic guides you to one or the other based on your answers.

Which texture for which skin type

Since the active ingredient is fat-soluble, the question is not "can I use it?" but "in what vehicle?". Combination skin does not need the same vehicle as very dry skin, while ubiquinone itself is identical.