When should you apply Purslane?

Morning or evening. Morning or evening — nothing in the record restricts it to one end of the day, and it does not make skin more sensitive to daylight.

Where do you apply Purslane?

All over the face. Keep it away from your eyes and lips.

Does Purslane make skin more sensitive to the sun?

No. Purslane is not flagged as increasing sun sensitivity.

Is there a cosmetic limit for Purslane?

No. No cosmetic regulator in the United States, Canada, the European Union or Great Britain sets a maximum strength for it. That is a limit on the rules, not a signal to use more.

Purslane — What It Does & How to Use It

What does Purslane do?#

A leave-on serum with purslane — Portulaca oleracea, a low-growing leafy plant eaten as a vegetable across much of the world. On skin it is a conditioning ingredient: it helps skin feel comfortable and hydrated and calms the look of redness.

Benefits

Gentle enough for daily use — it scored zero for irritation in patch testing, and a three-week whole-face study recorded no product-related irritation in a group where most people had sensitive skin
Helps skin feel comfortable and look less flushed
Fine to use every day, morning or evening, with no easing-in period
Layers with acids and retinol without adding to the load — it is not an exfoliant, so there is nothing to stack

How it works

Purslane is a leafy plant that has been eaten as a vegetable for centuries. Regulators list it as a skin-conditioning ingredient, and that is the level the evidence sits at: the published studies test whole creams and masks carrying several calming ingredients at once, so what the purslane itself contributed cannot be separated out. The best-controlled study of the group found the purslane cream well tolerated and improved from where it started — but no better than the cream it was compared against.

What to expect

Most people have no break-in phase and nothing to work through — no sting, no tingle, and feel nothing at all when they start. If a product containing purslane does bother you, that points at the rest of the formula rather than at this ingredient.

How to use Purslane#

Best time
Morning or evening — nothing in the record restricts it to one end of the day, and it does not make skin more sensitive to daylight.
Where it goes
A serum carrying it goes on after cleansing and before your moisturiser.
Where to apply
All over the face, and the eye area is included — that is how it was applied in the study its safety record rests on. Keep it out of the eye itself, as with any leave-on.
How to apply
A thin, even layer. Daily is fine, and twice daily is the pattern the studies used.
Alongside others
It sits alongside acids and retinol without adding to the load, because it is not an exfoliant. In the published studies it is repeatedly the step that comes after the harsher one rather than instead of it.
What to expect
Nothing, and that is the honest answer. Most people have no break-in phase, no sting and no tingle when they start.
What to look for
Names on a label matter here more than usual. The fermented version is a separate ingredient with its own record, and Portulaca pilosa is a different plant that is also sometimes called purslane. In a rinse-off cleanser it appears only as a trace, far below the amounts anyone has studied, so this is an ingredient to look for in something you leave on.
If it doesn't suit
If redness or itching appears, the rest of the formula is the more likely cause. In the one published case of a reaction to a purslane serum, the person was tested against all fifteen ingredients in the bottle: a different one was responsible and purslane was negative. Stop the product, let skin settle, and reintroduce things one at a time.

Discontinue use if unexpected discomfort occurs.

The form you will see it in

Purslane soothing serum

Where it goes: Before moisturizer

Using Purslane with other ingredients

What not to use with Purslane

Nothing flagged. None of the ingredients this wiki covers needs to be kept apart from Purslane — check the label of anything not covered here.

Who should avoid Purslane?#

Six situations change whether Purslane suits your skin right now. Each one is either a reason to skip it, a reason to go slowly, or nothing to watch for.

Maternity & Nursing: Go slowly
Fragile or Sensitive: No caution
Recent Facial or Laser: No caution
Prone to Redness: No caution
Dry or Itchy Patches: No caution
Recent Shave or Wax: No caution

Maternity & Nursing — If you are pregnant or nursing, you may prefer to check with your healthcare provider before use.

Cosmetic strength limits for Purslane where you live#

Region	Most a cosmetic may contain
United States	No explicit cap
The FDA restricts a short list of ingredients and sets no general strength ceiling on the rest. A figure marked "guidance, not law" is the Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel's recommendation. 21 CFR part 700, subpart B — Requirements for Specific Cosmetic Products (FDA)
Canada	No explicit cap
One list does the work — Health Canada's Hotlist of prohibited and restricted cosmetic ingredients. Health Canada — Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist
European Union	No explicit cap
The Cosmetics Regulation's annexes, consolidated to 1 May 2026. A figure marked "guidance, not law" comes from the EU's cosmetic safety committee rather than from the annexes. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annexes II–VI
Great Britain	No explicit cap
Great Britain kept the annexes as its own law and updates them only when it chooses; Northern Ireland follows the live EU Regulation, which is why some rows read differently for each. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 as it applies in Great Britain · Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annexes II–VI
India	No explicit cap
India writes its own standard, aligned to the European rules as they stood in 2012. Mandatory since 9 February 2026. IS 4707 (Part 2):2025 — restricted and prohibited cosmetic ingredients · IS 4707 (Part 3):2025 — preservatives · Cosmetics Rules, 2020, Ninth Schedule
Brazil	No explicit cap
ANVISA rewrote its restricted list in June 2026, and a companion act amended the prohibited list at the same time. RDC 1.029/2026 — restricted ingredients · RDC 529/2021 — prohibited ingredients, as amended by RDC 1.030/2026 · RDC 528/2021 — preservatives
Japan	No explicit cap
Japan's cosmetics standard keeps drug ingredients out of cosmetics, so most of its figures sit in the ministry's list of the ones a cosmetic may still contain. Cosmetics Standards (化粧品基準), Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare · Cosmetics Standards — the ministry's own English translation · Drug ingredients permitted in cosmetics — 2007 notification
South Korea	No explicit cap
One MFDS regulation carries both the prohibited list and the restricted list, in force 18 March 2026. Sunscreens and a few other categories are cleared product by product instead. Regulation on Safety Standards for Cosmetics (MFDS Notification 2026-19) · Regulation on the Review of Functional Cosmetics (MFDS Notification 2025-88)
Kenya	No explicit cap
Kenya's standard applies the EU annexes as they stand rather than copying them, so its ingredient limits are the EU's — including the 2024 additions. A figure marked "guidance, not law" sits outside the annexes and does not carry over. KS EAS 377-1, -2 and -3:2022 — cosmetics safety requirements, published by KEBS · Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annexes II–VI
Namibia	No explicit cap
Namibia sets no ingredient limits at all. Its cosmetic rule is a single line requiring a product to be free of any harmful ingredient. Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Ordinance 18 of 1979, and the regulations under it
Ukraine	No explicit cap
Ukraine's own transposition of the EU annexes, as they stood before the 2024 additions, fully in force since 3 August 2026. A further revision is due on 1 February 2027. Technical Regulation on cosmetic products — Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 20 January 2021
Georgia	No explicit cap
Georgia has no cosmetics rulebook — its register of technical regulations carries no cosmetics entry — so only the general product-safety duty applies. Register of technical regulations — no cosmetics entry
Australia	No explicit cap
Australia writes no cosmetic ingredient list. A figure here is the point at which a substance becomes a medicine or a scheduled substance carrying Caution labelling, so its numbers sit well above other markets'. Poisons Standard — June 2026 · Therapeutic Goods (Excluded Goods) Determination 2018
United Arab Emirates	No explicit cap
The Gulf standard points at the EU annexes as amended, so its ingredient limits are the EU's. A figure marked "guidance, not law" sits outside the annexes and does not carry over. GSO 1943:2024 — Cosmetic products: safety requirements (Gulf technical regulation) · Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annexes II–VI
Kuwait	No explicit cap
The Gulf standard points at the EU annexes as amended, so its ingredient limits are the EU's. A figure marked "guidance, not law" sits outside the annexes and does not carry over. GSO 1943:2024 — Cosmetic products: safety requirements (Gulf technical regulation) · Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annexes II–VI
Hong Kong	No explicit cap
Hong Kong writes no cosmetics rulebook. Its Poisons List (Cap. 138A, Schedule 10) decides which substances may be sold only as medicines, and general safety is judged case by case against whichever overseas standard the enforcer considers reasonable. Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations (Cap. 138A), Schedule 10 — the poisons list · Pharmacy and Poisons Board — Guidance Notes on classifying pharmaceutical products, April 2026
Singapore	No explicit cap
Singapore writes the ASEAN annexes into its own schedule, and its regulator tells companies to check the current ASEAN release as well — which is why a figure here can read "guidance, not law". Health Products (Cosmetic Products — ASEAN Cosmetic Directive) Regulations 2007, Third Schedule · ASEAN Cosmetic Directive annexes — release 2026-1, 22 June 2026
Brunei	No explicit cap
Brunei carries the 2007 ASEAN annexes in its own schedule and has not updated them since, so it reads differently from Singapore on several ingredients. Medicines (Cosmetic Products) Regulations (Cap. 285 Rg 1), Schedule 1 — revised edition 2024
Jordan	No explicit cap
Jordan's cosmetic rules defer to "the approved references" and name none of them, so there is no Jordanian figure to read. The only number in the instrument governs the ingredient list on the pack. JFDA instructions on cosmetics and pharmaceutical cosmetics, 2026
Trinidad & Tobago	No explicit cap
Trinidad and Tobago has had the power to set cosmetic standards since 1960 and has never used it. The regulations made under the Act cover food and drugs, with no cosmetics part; what binds is the Act's general rule against selling a cosmetic that may injure the user. Food and Drugs Act, Chap. 30:01 · Food and Drugs Regulations

No cosmetic regulator in the 20 markets above sets a maximum strength for purslane. That is the state of the rules, not a signal to use more: how much goes into a product is the formulator's decision.

Open a market to see the rulebook its figure comes from. Those notes describe each market's own rules as we read them, current to August 24, 2026; the linked documents are the authority, and nothing here is legal advice.

Common questions about Purslane#

When should you apply Purslane?: Morning or evening. Morning or evening — nothing in the record restricts it to one end of the day, and it does not make skin more sensitive to daylight.
How often can you use Purslane?: Daily.
Where do you apply Purslane?: All over the face. Keep it away from your eyes and lips.
Does Purslane make skin more sensitive to the sun?: No. Purslane is not flagged as increasing sun sensitivity.
What should you not use with Purslane?: Nothing flagged. None of the ingredients this wiki covers needs to be kept apart from Purslane — check the label of anything not covered here.
Who should avoid Purslane?: Go slowly with Maternity & Nursing.
Is there a cosmetic limit for Purslane?: No. No cosmetic regulator in the United States, Canada, the European Union or Great Britain sets a maximum strength for it. That is a limit on the rules, not a signal to use more.

Aloe Centella Asiatica Beta-Glucan Hyaluronic Acid Green Tea Extract

How we check this#

Everything on this page traces to the sources listed below — regulators' own publications and published studies. Where the evidence does not answer a question, it is left unanswered.

Some sources below are medical studies. This ingredient has been studied in conditions a doctor treats, and the record cited here includes findings that did not favour it. We use those studies for their safety and handling detail only. A cosmetic product is not a medicine and is not intended to treat, cure or prevent any condition.

Some sources below are the official product information for prescription medicines — some contain this ingredient at higher strengths, others are cited for how they interact with it. We use them for their safety and handling detail only. A cosmetic product is not one of those medicines and is not intended to treat any condition.

Our review is AI-assisted and is not a named expert's opinion. Last reviewed September 3, 2026.

Think something here is out of date or wrong? Email us at wiki@skinintelligence.ai with your reasoning and where you read it. We read what people send, and we update the page when the sources support it.

Regulators and official bodies · 13

Studies and references · 24