We just bottled one of nature's most powerful forces
Meet Zoned In, our first activated ozone serum. It's formulated to calm redness, clarify congestion and restore a luminous, balanced glow. Ozone is one of nature's most potent forms of oxygen, and we found a way to hold it in a bottle.
You already know ozone by scent. It's that clean, sharp, slightly metallic smell in the air right before a storm breaks. Your nose is a surprisingly great ozone detector, and it can pick it up at levels measured in parts per billion. The word even comes from the Greek ozein, "to smell," because that's the first thing anyone notices about it.
We are plant and nature nerds at Wildling, and this product has an incredible story. Here's what ozone actually is, why lightning is only one of the ways nature makes it, how a gas that doesn't stick around ends up in a bottle, and more importantly, what this can do for your skin.
What is ozone? Oxygen that's been charged
The oxygen you breathe is O2, two atoms, happily bonded. Ozone is O3, three oxygen atoms in a bent shape, with a bond angle of about 117 degrees. The electrons get shared across all three atoms (chemists call it a resonance hybrid), and that setup is a little tense. Tense molecules want to relax, so ozone is quick to hand one of its atoms off to whatever it bumps into.
That eagerness is measurable. Ozone has a standard reduction potential of about 2.07 volts, which is chemist speak for "very reactive." It's also why we call it activated oxygen: O3 is oxygen that's been given extra energy and is ready to get involved.
Making it takes a jolt of energy, and nature has a few ways to deliver one:
Lightning and electrical discharge. The spark splits O2, and the loose atoms grab onto other O2 molecules. This is the famous one, and the reason storms smell the way they do.
Ultraviolet light. Way up in the stratosphere, roughly 6 to 30 miles above the surface, short wave UV does the same job. That's the ozone layer.
Everyday electrical arcing. Motors, copiers and other equipment make tiny amounts too.
Lightning is just the most dramatic example of something that happens all the time.
One more thing, because it matters for everything that follows: ozone gas doesn't stick around. Left alone, it falls back into regular oxygen (2 O3 becomes 3 O2). In perfectly still, dry, clean air it takes about a day for half of it to disappear, and in a real room, with humidity and surfaces to react with, much faster. Also, ozone gas is not something you want to breathe. It irritates the lungs. Nobody is asking you to inhale anything. Here's how the chemistry gets around that.
A short history of ozone (it's not a new idea)
Ozone is not a wellness trend. It has a paper trail going back more than two centuries.
1785. Dutch scientist Martinus van Marum notices a strange smell near his electrostatic machine as it sparks above water. He has no idea he just made a brand new molecule.
1839 to 1840. Christian Friedrich Schönbein isolates the gas and names it ozone, from the Greek for "to smell." (Sources disagree on whether it was 1839 or 1840.)
1857. Werner von Siemens builds the first practical ozone generator, basically a controlled spark that makes ozone on purpose.
1906. The French city of Nice builds what is described as the first ozone drinking water treatment plant.
That last one is where ozone's reputation as a powerful cleanser comes from. It's been used to treat water for more than a century.
Zoned In is a cosmetic, so we're not making medical claims about ozone or about our serum. What we are doing is borrowing the chemistry. And the chemistry came with a problem we had to solve first.
So how do you bottle ozone?
You give it something to react with, and it turns out olive oil is a great partner.
Ozone loves carbon double bonds (C=C). Olive oil is full of them: its main fatty acid is oleic acid, which makes up roughly 55 to 83 percent of the oil depending on the cultivar, region and harvest, and each oleic acid molecule has exactly one double bond in the middle of its chain.
When ozone is passed through the oil, a three step reaction called ozonolysis kicks in:
Ozone slides across the double bond and forms an unstable intermediate called a molozonide.
The molozonide splits into two pieces, one of which is a carbonyl oxide (the Criegee intermediate, if you want to impress someone).
The two pieces recombine into a ring shaped molecule called an ozonide, which is relatively stable.
That last step is the whole trick. The oxygen that used to be a fleeting gas is now held inside the structure of the oil, which is why ozonated olive oil can sit in a bottle instead of vanishing. The oil doesn't just contain ozone. It's been chemically changed by it, and chemists track how far that change has gone with measurements like the oil's peroxide value and its iodine value (which drops as double bonds get used up).
The starting oil matters too. Zoned In is built on organic olive oil from Galicia, Spain. Fun fact: oleic acid is also a natural part of the lipids on your own skin, and olive oil has been used in skin care for a very long time.
Ozone skincare: what it means for your skin
Zoned In is formulated to calm the look of redness, clarify congestion and bring back a luminous, balanced glow. It's dermatologist tested, it carries the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance, and it's made from 100 percent natural and organic origin ingredients.
We also asked real people to try it. In a 2 week consumer study:
93% agreed their skin felt more clear
92% agreed their skin felt more balanced
100% saw a decrease in appearance of blemishes
All participants agreed it did not irritate their skin
How to use Zoned In: the ritual (and a word about the scent)
Activated oxygen deserves a ritual to match:
Cleanse. Use Starnectar Barrier Protect Marshmallow Jelly Cleanser to gently cleanse the skin
Hydrate. Mist your face with Empress Hydrasoothe Face Mist.
Activate. Take a few drops of Zoned In, breathe in slowly, and press it into your skin.
Sculpt and clear. Follow with Empress Stone to sculpt, lift, and de-puff.
Zoned In smells like ozone, that same clean, sharp note you catch after a storm. Some people are surprised by it at first, and a couple of our testers told us it grew on them the more they used it. If you're sensitive to fragrance, start with the patch test.
Frequently asked questions:
What is an ozone serum?
An ozone serum is a facial oil that has been infused with ozone. In Zoned In, ozone is passed through organic olive oil from Galicia, Spain, in a process called ozonolysis. The ozone bonds into the oil's structure, so what you get is ozonated olive oil, not ozone gas.
What is ozonated olive oil?
Ozonated olive oil is olive oil that has been reacted with ozone. Ozone attacks the carbon double bonds in oleic acid, the oil's main fatty acid, and forms relatively stable ring shaped molecules called ozonides. That is how a gas that doesn't stick around ends up in a bottle.
Is ozone in skincare the same as the ozone layer?
It's the same molecule, O3. The ozone layer is ozone formed high in the stratosphere when UV light splits oxygen. Ozone also forms near the ground during thunderstorms, when lightning splits oxygen, and that is the clean, sharp smell you notice around a storm.
Is ozone safe to use on skin?
Ozone gas is a lung irritant and isn't something to breathe, which is why Zoned In uses ozone bonded into olive oil rather than gas. Zoned In is dermatologist tested and carries the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance. As with anything new, patch test first: dab a little on your inner arm and wait 24 hours before it goes on your face.
Does Zoned In smell like ozone?
Yes. Zoned In smells like ozone, that same clean, sharp note you catch after a storm. Some people are surprised by it at first, and a couple of our testers told us it grew on them the more they used it.
How do I use Zoned In?
Zoned In is step two of the ritual. Mist your face with Empress Mist, take a few drops of Zoned In, breathe in slowly and press it into your skin, follow with Empress Jade to sculpt, and finish with a closing breath.
Zoned In, activated oxygen in a bottle
The next time you smell rain coming, you'll know exactly what you're smelling: oxygen, briefly activated by a spark of energy. We found a way to hold that chemistry in organic olive oil from Galicia, and Zoned In is the result. The calm after the storm, in a bottle.
Sources
Facts about ozone's structure, formation and history were checked against these pages:
Ozone, Wikipedia: bond angle, reduction potential, formation, half life, health effects of breathing ozone gas, van Marum 1785 and Schönbein 1839
Ozonolysis, Wikipedia: molozonide, Criegee intermediate, relatively stable ozonide
Olive oil, Wikipedia: oleic acid range of 55 to 83 percent
Ozone history, Ozcon: Schönbein 1840, Siemens 1857, Nice 1906
A brief history of ozone technology, Otek: van Marum 1785 and Schönbein 1839
Zoned In is formulated to calm the look of redness, clarify congestion and bring back a luminous, balanced glow. It's dermatologist tested, it carries the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance, and it's made from 100 percent natural and organic origin ingredients.
