Squalane Is in a $12 Bottle and a $180 Serum. Here's Why — And What It Actually Does.

Squalane is having a moment. It's in our Face Soothe oil, in Tatcha's bestselling Silk Canvas primer, in a $180 La Mer serum, and in a $12 bottle you can buy from The Ordinary. Its ubiquity across the price spectrum tells you something important: it genuinely works, and it's genuinely accessible.

The markup isn't in the ingredient. It's in everything around it.

Here's what it actually is and why it belongs in your skincare.

Squalane is in our Face Soothe oil. It's in Tatcha's bestselling Silk Canvas primer. It's in a $180 La Mer serum. And it's in a $12 bottle from The Ordinary.
When the same ingredient appears across that entire price range, it tells you something important: it genuinely works, and it's genuinely accessible.

## The biology
Your skin naturally produces squalene — part of sebum, the oil your skin makes to protect itself. Squalene is excellent at preventing moisture loss, has antioxidant properties, and is biocompatible in the truest sense: your skin recognises it and uses it efficiently.

The problem is your skin produces less of it as you age. And the squalene that does exist tends to oxidise, which can contribute to clogged pores.
Squalane is the stabilised, saturated form. Adding hydrogen atoms (that's the "-ane" vs. "-ene" difference) makes it stable. It doesn't oxidise. Doesn't go rancid. Remains effective.

Where ours comes from

Originally, squalene was extracted from shark liver oil. This still happens — there is still shark-derived squalane in global supply chains. Worth knowing.
All of the squalane in Kasandy products is plant-derived, from sugarcane or olive oil. Chemically identical to the shark-derived version. The molecule doesn't know where it came from. But the environmental impact is different, and we have a responsibility to know our supply chain.

## What it does on skin

Squalane is the closest thing in skincare to a universally beneficial ingredient. It:

It's not a miracle. It won't reverse significant sun damage or eliminate deep wrinkles. But as a daily moisturizing ingredient that makes your skin better and the Kasandy one especially, clearer because we make it with Rose Hip oil and Tumeric extract. It's one of the most effective and well-tolerated options available — at any price point.

We put it in The Face Soothe because it belongs there.