This is a water gelling agent made from a Gram-negative bacteria, similar to xanthan gum.
A 0.001% concentration can thicken up a product quite nicely, which is good because it costs more than $10 000 for a kilo.
Beyond thickening water, it also has moisturizing properties, similar to hyaluronic acid.
Is it better or worth the money? I’m not sure – but if the popularity of this ingredient increases, the cost will go down. Much of the cost is the low yield from production. You can read more about how it’s produced here.
Japanese and Korean suppliers tend to have many unique and interesting raw materials, from my experience.
It’s found in a few commercial products, which are very luxury and expensive (as is to be expected).
- La Mer’s The Treatment Lotion
- Sekkisei’s Radiance Boosting Sheet Mask
- Estee Lauder’s NightWear Plus 3-Minute Detox Mask
- Vie Eau’s Repair Cream
- Albion’s Exage Moisture Milk II.
Have you used a product that had this ingredient in it? Did you like it? Does knowing the cost of the raw material help justify the cost of the product for you?
I hope this is okay, but I’ve quoted you here: http://www.skincaredupes.com/cosmetic-ingredient/alcaligenes-polysaccharides/ If not, let me know and I will remove it 🙂