HYDROLYZED SILK

📋 Quick facts

Description: HYDROLYZED SILK — hydration, smoothing, film-forming.

All Functions: hydration, smoothing, film-forming

Quick Facts:

• Category: humectant

Proven Benefits At A Glance:

• Hydrolyzed silk is a broken-down form of silk protein that can be chemically modified in laboratory settings
• When modified with DOPA (a compound created through enzymatic processes), hydrolyzed silk showed increased ability to neutralize free radicals in controlled experiments
• The research is preliminary and focused on industrial/tissue engineering applications rather than consumer skincare testing

📊 Comedogenicity

🛡️ Safety rating

Safety tier is a starting heuristic from regulatory status and comedogenic rating, not a dermatological verdict — see our Terms for the full disclaimer. Research confidence reflects how many real cited studies back this ingredient, not the strength of their findings.

🌍 Regulatory Status

💧 Skin Type Compatibility

⚠️ Don’t Combine With

📚 Research & Evidence

🔬 The Science

Hydrolyzed silk fibroin (HSF) is silk protein that has been broken into smaller pieces. In a 2024 study published in Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao, researchers explored what happens when hydrolyzed silk undergoes a specific chemical modification called DOPA modification, which was performed using an enzyme called tyrosinase (Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao, 2024). #1: Antioxidant potential—When hydrolyzed silk was modified with DOPA through enzymatic catalysis, it demonstrated enhanced ability to neutralize two types of free radicals (DPPH and superoxide radicals) in laboratory testing, with increases measured at 507.80% and 78.23% respectively compared to unmodified hydrolyzed silk (Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao, 2024).

However, it’s important to note this is a controlled laboratory measurement, not a test on human skin. The research describes this as foundational work for potential applications in tissue engineering and biomaterials rather than finished skincare products. The modification process itself is complex and required immobilized enzymes in the study. The sources provided do not contain human clinical data, consumer efficacy testing, safety studies for topical use, or concentration information relevant to actual skincare formulations. This appears to be early-stage research exploring what’s theoretically possible with modified silk protein rather than evidence that hydrolyzed silk in consumer products delivers these benefits.

📄 Related Research

Matched by search — not necessarily verified support for every statement above.

• Zheng Y et al. (2024). [Heterologous expression of bacterial tyrosinase and its applications in biological hair dyeing and DOPA modification of hydrolyzed silk fibroin]. Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao.

🧴 Products Containing HYDROLYZED SILK

• Byly Sensitive
• Venita Perfect Intensive Color Creme 180 Cyclamen
• primer amino keratina loquay
• Pantene Ampollas tratamiento intensivo Repara & Protege
• keratin protein mask
• Revlon Natural Honey gel de ducha hidratante con aceite de almendras
• Agrado Agrado champu profesional
• Deliplus hidratacion y suavidad desodorante roll-on
• Etos Etos sensitive silk
• Monoprix Gel à raser à l’extrait d’aloe vera
• Palmolive Naturals Antipelliculaire
• Palmolive antiklit
• Tresemme shampoo collagen
• tresemme shampoo
• Three sisters cafe GOLD BOND ULTIMATE healing hand cream Net wt 3 oz (85 9)
• blistex silk & shine
• Milk and honey hand soap
• Unilever, Tresemmé Tresemmé Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray
• Trader Joe’s Nourish Oil-Free Antioxidant Facial Moisturizer
• Palmer Palmer’s Olive Oil Formula Deep Conditioner
• Cationic Hydration Interlink, Chi Deep Brilliance Reconstruct
• Shiseido Complete Cleansing Microfoam
• Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Illuminating Body Wash
• Shea Moisture cirl & shine conditionner
• Shea Moisture Mango & Carrot Kids Extra-Nourishing Shampoo
• Shea Solutions Curl & Shine Shampoo
• ouidad vitacurl gel
• cantu shea butter for natural hair
• prosilk salon essential oil infused moisturizing shampoo
• cien oil care
• Kur professional Repair & Shine Express Pflegespray
• L’Oréal, L’Oreal Consumer products, L’Oréal Paris, Elseve Elseve Nutri-gloss Luminizer Shampooing haute brillance
• unilever, dove DOVE Crème Hydratante Corps Soie Pot 300ml
• Casino Gel à raser peaux sensibles
• Groupe Casino, Ysiance Laque fixation forte brillance
• Ysiance Laque fixation extra forte
• Inell Beauty Dissolvant doux sans acétone
• Dessange Shampoong nutri-lissant
• Dessange Démêlant nutri-lissant "L’art du lissage"
• It Cosmetics Bye Bye Foundation Oil-Free Matte Full Coverage Moisturizer with SPF 50+