Women's Health April 14, 2026 0 Comments

This Everyday Korean Skincare Hack Could Secretly Save Your Life—Here’s How!

Ever wonder if that soothing, miracle-infused Korean skincare ingredient you swear by could pack a punch beyond just making your skin glow? Well, strap in—madecassic acid, a star player from Centella Asiatica plants that’s rocked serums and creams for years, might just be the underdog in the battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. As someone who’s seen trends come and go, and algorithms flip like a pro wrestler, this one caught my eye—not just because it’s skincare, but because it’s potentially a secret weapon in a world where antimicrobial resistance is knocking hard on our door. Could this humble plant compound really help us step up our antibiotic game? Hold onto your hats, because the science is unfolding, and it’s both promising and full of “not so fast” warnings from the experts. Ready to dig deeper into this fascinating crossroad of beauty and medical science? LEARN MORE

4 min read

New research suggests that a popular ingredient in Korean skincare may have some antimicrobial properties.

This discovery comes at a time when antimicrobial resistance is considered an urgent public health threat, so the more antibiotics we have, the better.

Experts say that if we ever see madecassic acid used as an antibiotic, it will likely be a chemically modified version. They also caution that “90% of antibiotics that enter clinical trials fail,” so more research is needed.

If you’re a K-beauty fan, you probably already know about madecassic acid. This popular ingredient, found in Centella Asiatica plants, appears in creams, serums, and balms and can help soothe, repair, and hydrate the skin. But a new study suggests the ingredient may have uses that go beyond skin-deep.

New research published in the journal RSC Medicinal Chemistry found that madecassic acid may have antibacterial properties, specifically against antibiotic-resistant E.coli. The findings are preliminary, and we’re a long way off from doctors recommending that you use madecassic acid for infections or seeing it in healthcare settings. But the study highlights that the potential uses for madecassic acid may go a little deeper than previously thought—and couldn’t have come at a better time. Here’s why.

Meet the experts: Christopher Serpell, DPhil, study co-author and associate professor of Drug Discovery at University College London; Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security; and Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York.

What did the study find?

For the study, scientists used a mix of computational screening and lab experiments to dive into the antimicrobial power of madecassic acid. Researchers found that madecassic acid binds strongly to the respiratory protein complex cytochrome bd, which is essential for the survival of bacteria during an infection. When madecassic acid binds to cytochrome bd, it stops the complex from functioning normally, which can then inhibit or kill the bacteria.

The team also isolated madecassic acid from a plant extract in Vietnam and modified it to create three different variants. All of these variants inhibited cytochrome bd and shut down bacterial growth. One variant in particular also killed E. coli when administered at higher concentrations.

“Madecassic acid has been shown to have a range of medicinal properties,” explains Christopher Serpell, DPhil, study co-author and associate professor of Drug Discovery at University College London. “While none of these are particularly powerful, the compound can be produced sustainably through farming, and the medicinal properties can be improved through chemical modification.”

Why are new antibiotics so important?

Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria, but a growing number of pathogens are becoming resistant to them, making infections harder to treat.

Antimicrobial resistance happens when bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens no longer respond to medications designed to treat them, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). While the WHO currently identifies antimicrobial resistance as one of the top global public health and development threats, developing new antibiotics to outpace resistance isn’t as straightforward as you might think.

“Resistance to antibiotics is an ever-increasing global problem, and something which threatens our ability to treat all kinds of infection, or even perform surgery safely,” explains Serpell. However, since any “new” antibiotics wouldn’t be used en masse but rather reserved as a last resort to avoid further resistance, drug companies aren’t super incentivized to develop them.

But experts agree that more needs to be done. “The antibiotic pipeline needs to be robust given the constant evolution of microbes to develop resistance mechanisms against antibiotics,” says Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Thomas Russo, MD, a professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York, agrees. “There are so many bacteria now that are extensively drug-resistant,” he says. “We are running out of antibiotics that are safe and effective to treat these bacteria.”

Developing and testing new antibiotics takes years, so discoveries like this can be especially useful in the fight against antimicrobial resistance—even just as a starting point for researchers and scientists to investigate further.

What’s the takeaway?

While madecassic acid may have some antimicrobial properties, it doesn’t mean that you should rely on it to clean any scrapes or prevent infection. You should still wash any cuts with soap and water, according to both Serpell and Russo. “This is an early study and doesn’t mean cosmetic-grade madecassic acid can be used as an antibiotic,” Adalja says. “Further studies will be needed to determine how this works in humans, its dosing, and myriad other topics before it becomes a commercial antibiotic.”

Russo adds that there is “a long way to go between finding something in a test tube that can kill bacteria to being used on humans. It has to be safe, adequately absorbed, and reach the site of infection. It’s a whole process that takes many years, eventually coming to market.”

For now, research on the antimicrobial impact of madecassic acid is ongoing. Serpell adds that while he would be “very excited” for madecassic acid products to advance far enough to be prescribed or used in hospitals one day, it might not be that simple.

“It is more likely that any successful product would be a chemically-modified version of madecassic acid,” he says. “We also need to be realistic–90 percent of antibiotics which enter clinical trials fail, so we must not put the cart before the horse.”

Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.

Carina Hsieh, MPH, is the deputy features editor of Women’s Health. She has more than a decade’s worth of experience working in media and has covered everything from beauty, fashion, travel, lifestyle, pets, to health.

She began her career as an intern in the fashion closet at Cosmopolitan where she worked her way up to Senior Sex & Relationships Editor. While covering women’s health there, she discovered her passion for health service journalism and took a break to get her Masters in Public Health. Post-grad school, she worked as a freelance writer and as The Daily Beast’s first Beauty, Health, and Wellness Reporter.

Carina is an alum of the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Yale School of Public Health. She and her French Bulldog, Bao Bao, split their time between Brooklyn and Connecticut. She enjoys reformer Pilates, (slow) running, and smelling the fancy toiletries in boutique fitness class locker rooms.