Panthenol vs pantothenate — only dexpanthenol carries a set percentage
The ingredient list a buyer receives shows one line, Panthenol. Two materials with different activity sit under that line, and calcium pantothenate, which sounds close, is a separate entry. Only one of those names has a percentage attached in Korea.
The INCI name on the label is a single entry, Panthenol, and it covers both D-panthenol (dexpanthenol) and DL-panthenol, which suppliers describe as having half the physiological activity. Calcium pantothenate is a separate INCI entry with a different function class, so substituting it drops the ingredient out of the notified list. The only set percentages in Korea are the 0.2% and 0.5% dexpanthenol in the notified hair-loss-relief combinations.
Panthenol rose 15.7% in two months
In the Oliveyoung ranking data we collect daily (compiled 9 November 2026), comparing 12 September with 7 November, only two of the nine ingredients we track moved up. Panthenol led at 15.7%, hyaluronic acid followed at 11.5%, and the remaining seven fell. Peptide dropped 54.9% and exosome 43.4% over the same window.
What makes the rise worth a second look is its direction. The seasonal read in the same dataset puts panthenol's usual peak in October and the typical mid-September to early-November move at -30.3%. This year that slot produced +15.7% instead, which is hard to file under "a moisturising ingredient rising because winter is coming".
One label line covers two materials
What a buyer gets when reviewing a formula is the ingredient list, and this material does not separate there. COSMILE files a single Panthenol entry covering Dexpanthenol, D-Panthenol, Pantothenyl Alcohol and Pantothenol, with functions listed as antistatic, hair conditioning, skin conditioning and fragrance.
The catch is that more than one substance ships under that name. Suppliers selling DL-panthenol declare the same INCI. The same supplier's data sheet puts the physiological activity of the racemic DL form at half that of the D form while treating the moisturising contribution as equivalent. So the label will not tell you which one arrived; the certificate of analysis will.
| Trade name | INCI | Function class | Set percentage in Korea |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dexpanthenol · D-panthenol | Panthenol | antistatic · hair conditioning · skin conditioning · fragrance | 0.2% · 0.5% in notified hair-loss combinations |
| DL-panthenol | Panthenol | as above | none |
| Calcium pantothenate | Calcium Pantothenate | hair conditioning · skin conditioning (misc.) | none |
The column to read is the last one. Of the two rows sharing an INCI name, only one trade name carries a percentage, and the third row is a different INCI altogether.
"Vitamin B5" pulls in a different material
Both panthenol and calcium pantothenate are introduced as vitamin B5. That is fair enough as consumer copy, but on a purchase order they are separate entries. COSMILE lists Calcium Pantothenate as the calcium salt of pantothenic acid and assigns it its own function class, hair and skin conditioning (miscellaneous).
Where the distinction surfaces in practice is cost work. When a factory proposes switching to the cheaper of the two "because it is the same vitamin B5", a formula using the material purely as a humectant may have room to consider it. A formula carrying a functional claim does not, because the notified combination names dexpanthenol.
The set percentages sit in the hair-loss combinations
There is one place in Korea where this material gets a number attached. When the MFDS put a draft amendment to the Regulation on the Review of Functional Cosmetics out for administrative notice in October 2020, it listed two notified combinations for hair-loss-relief products with percentages included, along with a waiver of safety and efficacy data submission for products using them.
| Notified combination | Ingredients and percentages |
|---|---|
| Set 1 | dexpanthenol 0.2% · salicylic acid 0.25% · l-menthol 0.3% |
| Set 2 | niacinamide 0.3% · dexpanthenol 0.5% · biotin 0.06% · zinc pyrithione solution (50%) 2.0% |
Note that dexpanthenol appears at 0.2% in one set and 0.5% in the other. Change what sits beside it and the number changes with it. Specifying something in between, say 0.3%, matches neither set.
Adding one line moves you to full review
This is where a cost most buyers have not budgeted appears. A Korean regulatory consultancy, answering a question on 19 November 2025 about a formula that added a patented material to the dexpanthenol 0.2% combination, wrote that it is not eligible for the simple report and requires functional registration with clinical work.
So the decision to add one differentiating ingredient changes the whole documentation track. Stay with the notified combination and a report closes it out; add a line and human application testing joins the schedule and the budget. That choice belongs before the sampling brief, not after it. Which ingredients are actually moving on the shelf right now is in today's ingredient signal, and the percentage-and-cost view sits in the product planner.
One caveat worth keeping. The 2020 figures come from a draft at the administrative-notice stage, and the 2025 answer is one consultancy's reply. Check both against the current text of the Regulation on the Review of Functional Cosmetics before placing an order.
Three lines for the purchase order
First, write "D-panthenol (dexpanthenol) 2%, DL form not accepted" rather than "panthenol 2%". Second, ask for the optical isomer to be stated on the certificate of analysis. Third, if the formula carries a functional claim, rule out a calcium pantothenate substitution from the start.
«Summary»
- Panthenol demand rose 15.7% over two months, against a typical -30.3% for the same window. Season does not explain it.
- The single INCI name Panthenol covers both the D and DL forms, and supplier data puts DL activity at half.
- Calcium pantothenate is a separate INCI entry with its own function class. The notified combination names dexpanthenol.
- Dexpanthenol sits at 0.2% and 0.5% in the notified hair-loss combinations, and adding an ingredient forfeits the data waiver.
*Sources: COSMILE Europe INCI entries for Panthenol and Calcium Pantothenate (accessed 10 November 2026) · Lotioncrafter DL-Panthenol product data (INCI Panthenol, CAS 16485-10-2, recommended 1-5%) · Cosmorning, "Data submission waived for hair-loss-relief functional cosmetics" (7 October 2020, reporting the MFDS administrative notice of the draft amendment to the Regulation on the Review of Functional Cosmetics) · ezcos Q&A reply (19 November 2025) · our Oliveyoung ranking collection (compiled 9 November 2026, comparison window 12 September to 7 November 2026)*
Using panthenol in a Korean private label formula
If you want panthenol in your own product, a Korean private label (OEM/ODM) partner can start from a tested base instead of a blank page. We check the grade, the dose that can legally be claimed in your market and the cost per unit before the first sample, so the label and the formula agree.
Korean cosmetics private label — cost, MOQ and timeline →
Start a sample request · Browse ready formulations
Questions people ask
No. The European ingredient database COSMILE files Dexpanthenol, D-Panthenol, Pantothenyl Alcohol and Pantothenol under one name, Panthenol, and suppliers selling DL-panthenol also declare the INCI as Panthenol. Only the raw-material certificate of analysis separates them.
Supplier technical data puts the physiological activity of the racemic DL form at half that of the D form, while treating the moisturising contribution as equivalent. Recommended use sits at 1-5%, supplied as a white crystalline powder. The price gap is why the DL form turns up in low-cost formulations.
It is not. Its INCI is Calcium Pantothenate, filed as the calcium salt of pantothenic acid, with its own function class of hair and skin conditioning (miscellaneous). Both are marketed as vitamin B5, but the Korean notified combination names dexpanthenol, so a swap removes the basis for the functional claim.
In the notified combinations for hair-loss-relief functional cosmetics. Two sets appeared in the October 2020 administrative notice: dexpanthenol 0.2% with salicylic acid 0.25% and l-menthol 0.3%, and niacinamide 0.3% with dexpanthenol 0.5%, biotin 0.06% and zinc pyrithione solution (50%) 2.0%.
It leaves the data-waiver track. A Korean regulatory consultancy answering a question on 19 November 2025 wrote that a formula adding a patented material to the dexpanthenol 0.2% combination is not eligible for the simple report and needs functional registration with clinical work.