Ingredient · INCI listed
Licorice Root Extract
A botanical whose active, glabridin, slows pigment production and calms inflammation — useful for fading dark spots and quieting redness. A gentle brightener, often paired with stronger tone-correctors rather than used alone.
Evidence — Promising
Data summary
Products containing
48
Most common in
14 products
serums
Typical pairing
Hyaluronic Acid
Evidence level
Promising to well-established. Glabridin is the active component with the strongest pigmentation research. Extract standardization matters enormously — crude extracts vary widely in glabridin content, so branded standardized extracts tend to perform more consistently.
Verified reviewer
In the catalog
Licorice Root Extract by the numbers.
The DermFND database tracks 200 products formulated with licorice root extract, most often in serums (42 products) but also across moisturizers and toners. Formulations carrying it score 73/100 on average (above the catalog norm); the strongest is By Wishtrend Mandelic Acid 5% Skin Prep Water at 90/100.
Of those, 53 products score 80 or higher in our analysis. It co-occurs most with Hyaluronic Acid (62 shared formulas) and Niacinamide (51 shared formulas). The median price of a licorice root extract product here is $32.
Where it shows up
