BASF: two plant-based actives for skin care

Epigenist can reverse the natural decrease of epidermal innervation. Photo: BASF / Magnus Winter, 2014

With two new actives, Epigenist ™ and Lox-Age ™, BASF focuses on the epidermis. The first one is presented as an epidermal rejuvenator, which stimulates the epidermal innervation (neuritogenesis) to help the skin regain the quality of its youth. According to BASF, when applied on the skin, Epigenist™, which is extracted from bambara pea (voandzeia subterranea), can reverse the natural decrease of epidermal innervation. Nerves grow again and, “the epidermis is thicker and better organised and the proliferation of cells is increased,” claims the supplier of cosmetic ingredients.

Regarding Lox-Age™, an extract of chicory (cichorium intybus) leaves, it is a skin relief perfector. According to BASF, the active is capable of restoring the expression of LOX (lysyl oxidase), a key protein that decreases with age, to a similar level as in young skin. Lox-Age™ contributes to the restoration of youthful skin appearance “with a clinical efficacy similar to retinol”.

Optimal renewal of hyaluronic acid synthesis

With Optim Hyal™, Sederma aims at an optimal of renewal of the hyaluronic acid synthesis. This active contains Glycokines™, specific signaling oligosaccharides that structurally and functionally mimic the hyaluronic fragments found in the skin. According to Sederma, these Glycokines™ have been demonstrated to stimulate the hyaluronic acid synthesis on both keratinocytes and fibroblasts for a visible improvement in skin smoothness, moisture and suppleness in just one month.

Silab: to offset the skin’s nutritional deficiencies

Silab’s Nutripeptides® is a comprehensive anti-aging active ingredient designed to provide a youthful and radiant skin. This active is rich in rice di- and tripeptides that can be rapidly assimilated to offset the skin’s nutritional imbalances, boosts its cellular metabolism and increases its defence mechanisms. Tested in vitro in drastic conditions of nutritional deficiency, the active stimulates defence mechanisms in response to stress, strengthens the barrier function, and increases protein synthesis in the dermal-epidermal junction and extracellular matrix. “The skin is better nourished, toned and radiantly youthful,” claims Silab.

The company is also making a foray in epigenetics, the study of cellular and physiological traits that are heritable by daughter cells and not caused by changes in the DNA sequence. Derived from the calendula flower (Calendula officinalis), Epigenomyl® is a new active that limits modification to the epigenome resulting from the passing of time and external factors. According to Silab, the active allows cutaneous cells to better respond to stress and live longer.

Mibelle: a peptide encapsulated into shea butter

To fight time and environmentally induced ageing, Mibelle is launching PerfectionPeptide P7, a biogically active hepta-peptide that stimulates the skin’s own self-defence mechanisms against oxidative stress at the cellular level. The active is a competitive inhibitor of the Keap1 repression. Consequently, the transcription factor Nrf2 is constantly present in its active form and arms the skin cells for challenges from any stress caused by oxidants or other reactive chemical species.

To fight time and environmentally induced ageing, Mibelle is launching PerfectionPeptide P7

Clinical and cell culture assays have shown the active ability to reduce DNA damage, UV-induced formation of sunburn cells, and the depletion of Langerhans. In order to ensure its stability, the peptide has been encapsulated into a novel soft sphere carrier system that is based on shea butter.