The chemistry sheet
What 84% actually means — and why most labels won’t tell you
OCHRE Journal — March 2026
Percentages have become the currency of skincare marketing. A number on a label promises rigour, potency, a guarantee of results. But what does that number actually measure?
Formulation chemistry is more opaque than most labels admit. When a product declares “10% active complex”, it rarely means 10% of the pure molecule. Often it describes a pre-diluted supplier blend, or a named complex in which the active ingredient is a minor fraction of the whole.
We rejected that convention. Every percentage on an OCHRE label refers to the ingredient itself, measured by volume, before any supplier blending. There is no complex to unpack and no fraction to estimate.
Consider lipid retention. The skin barrier depends on a precise ratio of ceramides, cholesterol, and free fatty acids. Disrupting that ratio, even with a well-intentioned ingredient, can compromise the barrier rather than repair it.
“Transparency isn’t a marketing choice. It is a structural requirement for trust.”
Pressed Oil №1 required an unusually high concentration of functional lipids to meaningfully reduce transepidermal water loss. The result is not an emulsion, and it is not a carrier oil lightly touched with actives.
That figure is the measured mass of sea buckthorn extract in the finished oil. The remaining 16% is stability compounds and the minimum solvent needed to keep the formula fluid at room temperature.
We publish this figure as a baseline, not a boast. Understanding the chemistry is a precondition for trusting the result, and a label that will not show its working is not one we would want to wear.
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