Licorice root does not announce itself. It rarely gets headline billing the way vitamin C or retinol do, yet it quietly shows up in cleansers and brightening formulas because it does something genuinely useful for uneven tone — gently.
What licorice root actually does
The active most studied in licorice is glabridin. It works on the same pigment pathway as the better-known brighteners: it inhibits tyrosinase, the enzyme that drives melanin production, and it does so while also calming inflammation (Nerya et al., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2003; licorice root review, 2025). A second compound, liquiritin, helps disperse pigment that has already formed. Together they nudge tone toward even without the harshness of stronger agents.
Why "gentle" is the whole point
Brightening has a built-in trap: many aggressive approaches irritate skin, and irritation itself can trigger more pigment. Licorice sidesteps that. Its anti-inflammatory side means it works on tone while calming the skin rather than provoking it — which makes it well suited to sensitive or reactive skin that cannot tolerate harsher brighteners. We unpack that tension in how to fade dark spots without bleaching your skin.
Why it belongs in a cleanser
A cleanser is a short-contact step, so it is the wrong place for a high-strength active that needs to sit on the skin. It is the right place for a gentle, well-tolerated brightener like licorice: a daily, low-irritation touch of tone support that sets up the rest of the routine without overworking the skin. Brightening, in other words, can start at the very first step.
How to read it on a label
Look for licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) root extract, or the named actives glabridin or liquiritin. It pairs naturally with other gentle tone ingredients like niacinamide, and with calming botanicals — the kind of low-drama brightening stack that suits reactive skin.
The Sorrel approach
Our Daily Cleanser uses licorice and mushroom extract to bring a gentle brightening and calming touch to the cleanse step, rather than treating cleansing as a purely strip-and-rinse job. It is the quiet first move in a routine built around even-looking tone, ahead of a dedicated step like the Glow Serum.
Not sure whether uneven tone is your main concern, or whether something else deserves the first move? The Skin Plan maps your routine in about thirty seconds — no email required.
References
- Nerya O, et al. Glabrene and isoliquiritigenin as tyrosinase inhibitors from licorice roots. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2003. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf020935u
- Potential of licorice root extract (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) for the treatment of hyperpigmentation: literature review. Cermin Dunia Kedokteran. 2025. https://cdkjournal.com/index.php/cdk/article/view/2043