Sea Monkeys, Plastics, iPods and More: Forging the Future in Cosmeceuticals

Posted: February 13, 2008

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Some natural skin-lightening agents, active by such means as tyrosinase inhibition, reduction of reactive oxygen species, inhibition of melanosome transfer and skin, and turnover acceleration, included: grapefruit; a mix of the Ayurvedic natural herbs Lithuania somnifera, Glycyrrhiza glabra and Phyllanthus emblica; squid, reportedly a natural source of chitin that inhibits tyrosinase; soy; wheat germ and Indian cress petals.

Some natural skin conditioning agents were noted, including: wheat germ oil that contains high amounts of natural tocopherol; wild pansy that is rich in oligosaccharides and stimulates synthesis of aquaporins to boost levels of hyaluronic acid in skin; sesame seeds to reinforce cohesion of the SC; water cress that stimulates GAGs and retains water in the etracellular matrix; aloe vera that hydrates and provides anti-inflammatory and anti-irritant effects; and prickly pear, rich in materials that provide skin conditioning.

Lamberty, discussed some of the challenges of using naturals—supply and availability issues, investigating to make sure the material is not a threatened or endangered species, consistent and measurable active compounds evaluated from internal analytical data, not the vendor’s, color that can vary, odor that can vary, preservation, safety—just because they are naturals does not mean they are safe, and short- and long-term stability. Companies are in the area of naturals because it is a huge market—people are looking toward the trend for health and wellness. Naturals are currently a US$6.1 billion market in personal care and projected to reach US$8 billion by 2010. Rebecca James Gadberry of YG Labs then presented new ingredient trends in non-drug cosmeceutical skin care, explaining that “Nondrug does not mean nonefficaceous or nonactive, it just means it is not recognized by the FDA as an OTC material,” said Gadberry. “These materials still give benefits and biochemical results.”

After a brief review of DNA and the genetic helix, Gadberry explained that with aging, the DNA ladder “rungs” no longer fit together. Current products she described that address DNA damage and aging included Laboratoires Sérobiologiques’s DN-Age (INCI: Cassia alata leaf extract) which protects cells from photoaging. Another material, Heliomoduline (Gossypium hirsutun (cotton) extract) from Silab, is a low molecular weight peptide from cottonseed that upregulates protein by 91% and is specific to damaged areas within the nucleus. It works through “excision repair” of DNA, explained Gadberry, taking the DNA spiral and separating out the damaged part of the ladder. The protein “cuts out” the damaged part of ladder, and a template is formed to inject into the part that is missing half of its rung. GP4G (Artemia salina  brine shrimp extract, or “sea monkeys”) from Vincience/ISP is said to reduce DNA damage and enhances DNA repair by controlling overexpression of p53 and assisting DNA repair, reducing apoptosis by 30%.

Gadberry covered two antioxidant categories; one being the direct, commonly known antioxidant and the other, a new category—i.e., endogenous antioxidants, or what she referred to as indirect antioxidants. The difference between the two is that direct antioxidants directly scavenge free radicals whereas the indirect stimulate the body’s own free radical scavenging resources. As one example, Venuceane from Sederma/Croda (Thermus ferment) is an extremophile, exisiting only in extreme conditions, and stimulates the body’s natural antioxidants during heat exposure; repairing and protecting against UVA damage.