Quillaja in Skincare

Quillaja, Quillaja saponaria, is the soap bark tree, native to central Chile. Its inner bark is one of the richest natural sources of saponins known, which is why quillaja extract turns up in places most cosmetic ingredients never reach.

Not only a cosmetic ingredient

Quillaja saponins are used as a food-grade foaming agent in beverages, and a purified quillaja saponin, QS-21, is used as an adjuvant in human vaccines. That is worth knowing not because it makes quillaja better for skin, but because it means the ingredient has been characterised and scrutinised far more thoroughly than a typical botanical extract.

What it does in a cleanser

Quillaja produces a fine, stable lather at low concentrations, which makes it the most efficient of the three saponin plants Africology uses. In a facial cleanser that matters more than in a body wash, because the face is where over-cleansing does the most visible damage: tightness, flaking, and the rebound oiliness that follows a stripped barrier.

Africology products with quillaja

• Purifying Cleansing Gel, alongside soapwort, rosemary and lavender

See the full cleanser collection, or read about yucca and soapwort, the other two saponin plants in the range. All Africology botanicals are listed here.