ppm vs percent: how to read ingredient amounts on skincare

The short answer

ppm means parts per million, and 10,000 ppm is 1%. To turn ppm into a percentage, move the decimal point four places to the left. Once you can do that, ask three things of any figure on a skincare page: which material does the number describe, what is it a percentage of, and is it one ingredient or a sum.

What ppm means, and how to convert it

ppm stands for parts per million. One ppm is one part in a million parts, which is 0.0001%. Skincare brands tend to use ppm for small amounts because “400 ppm” is easier to read than “0.04%”. The conversion never changes: divide ppm by 10,000 to get a percentage, or multiply a percentage by 10,000 to get ppm.

These are real figures from VVBETTER product pages, written both ways:

Two patterns show up in that table. The six-digit ppm figures, 530,000 to 730,000, are all bases: plant waters and one centella extract that stand in for purified water. And bakuchiol appears twice with different amounts, 1% (10,000 ppm) in the PDRN serum and 0.1% (1,000 ppm) in the Eye Cream. Both are right; they are different products with different jobs, so compare like with like.

Why write a number at all? “High-strength” cannot be checked, but a figure in percent or ppm can be set next to another product on your shelf. That only works if you know what the figure refers to, which is what the three questions below are for.

Question 1: Which material does the number describe?

A percentage without a material name is not information. On Vita C TRX Serum the biggest number is 72%, and it describes the sea buckthorn fruit water that forms the base. The main active is tranexamic acid at 3% (30,000 ppm), and vitamin C appears only as a derivative at 100 ppm. Reading 72% as the amount of vitamin C would be a mistake; the full explanation is in Vita C TRX is not 72% vitamin C.

Fruit water, a plant extract, a complex of several ingredients and a single pure active are four different kinds of thing. Plant waters make this concrete: aloe vera leaf water at 60%, bamboo water at 60%, green tea water at 73% and sea buckthorn water at 72% all describe the base, not an active. A good product page names the material beside every figure. If it does not, that is the first question to ask.

Question 2: What is the number a percentage of?

Most figures describe a share of the finished product. Some describe a share of a raw material complex that a supplier sells as a single ingredient.

The PDRN in our serum is the clearest case. The Firming Bakuchiol PDRN Serum contains AIO MARINE PLANT PDRN at 2% (20,000 ppm), and that 2% is the amount of the patented vegan PDRN complex, made from marine plants rather than salmon. It is not a claim that 2% of the bottle is any one molecule inside that complex. The Rejuvenating Squalane Mask uses the same complex at 2,000 ppm (0.2%), also counted as the complex raw material. Other complexes work the same way: the patented MELAWAY™ in Vita C TRX is 1% (10,000 ppm) of its complex, and ACZERO™ in the Succinic serum is 0.1% (1,000 ppm) of a complex of seven plant extracts.

On the ingredient list, a complex appears under the names of what it contains, not under its brand name, so you cannot always match a marketing name to one line. That is why the product page states the basis of the figure. Our article on the PDRN complex goes deeper, and the marine-plant PDRN page explains where it comes from.

Question 3: Is it one ingredient or a sum?

Some pages give a “combined” figure. A combined number is only useful if you can see what was added together, so check that the page shows its arithmetic. Here is how three of ours work out:

The sums show what a number includes and what it leaves out. The 65,100 ppm on Vita C TRX leaves out the 400 ppm of adenosine, because adenosine is listed separately. The 0.62% on the toner is a low total by design, a daily-use amount rather than a peel, and it is spelled out as 0.45% + 0.07% + 0.1% so you can verify it.

Pairs deserve a second look too. Some VVBETTER materials quote one figure for two ingredients together: 40,000 ppm of succinic acid with niacinamide on the Succinic Serum, 25,000 ppm of niacinamide with alpha-bisabolol on Vita C TRX, and 20,400 ppm of adenosine with niacinamide on the Bakuchiol PDRN Serum. The first two split cleanly using the amounts above (20,000 + 20,000, and 20,000 + 5,000), so a big-looking pair is a sum of moderate amounts. If a pair matters to your choice, ask us for the split.

Check the figure against the ingredient list

Some ingredient lists print the amount beside the name, so you can confirm what the product page says. The AHA Boosting Toner list shows Lactic Acid (4,500 ppm) and Glycolic Acid (700 ppm); the PDRN serum list shows Bakuchiol (10,000ppm). When page and list agree, you can trust the page. When they disagree, ask us rather than guessing.

Because ingredients are listed from the largest amount to the smallest down to about 1%, a ppm figure also tells you where an ingredient sits. Succinic acid at 20,000 ppm is the eighth ingredient on its serum’s list; citric acid at 2,700 ppm is the thirteenth. Our ingredient list walk-through shows that list in full.

What a number cannot tell you

• How the product feels. Texture, pH and the other ingredients decide that.
• Whether more is better. A higher figure is not automatically a better product, and a low one is not automatically weak. The right amount depends on the ingredient and on your skin. VVBETTER’s own phrase is “a balanced blend of ingredients”, not one record-sized number, and every product goes through at least six months of development so that its amounts are chosen as a set.
• How your skin will respond. Patch-test on the jawline for two nights, especially with acids.

Quick answers

How do I convert ppm to a percentage?

Divide by 10,000. So 1,000 ppm is 0.1%, and 25,000 ppm is 2.5%.

Does 1,000 ppm mean a weak product?

No. The same amount can be meaningful for one ingredient and trivial for another. Compare like with like, such as one niacinamide figure with another, not an acid with a plant complex.

Why do some labels say percent and others ppm?

It is a writing choice. Both describe the same fraction. Small amounts are easier to read in ppm, large ones in percent.

Where to go next

• Dark Spot Solution Vita C TRX Serum — every active listed with its amount.
• Firming Bakuchiol PDRN Serum — bakuchiol and the PDRN complex, each with its basis.
• AHA Boosting Toner — an acid total you can add up yourself.
• Compare the three serums — the figures side by side.
• How to read a formula’s base — what the 60% and 72% figures describe.