A promising alternative to retinol as powerful anti-aging cosmetic ingredient
Podium 7
Presented by: Valerie Bicard-Benhamou
Quest for eternal youth remains like ever a crucial topic for women and more and more for men too.
The anti-aging offer on the cosmetic market is huge and it can be sometimes difficult to choose and/or to differentiate between the right ingredients. Retinol still remains the golden anti-aging standard. But it is also known for years that retinol is not always well tolerated by the skin. Redness, itching, stinging sensation may occur upon application of retinol-containing products. Therefore, consumers have to play with multiple parameters like the frequency of use, the concentration, the moment of the day to apply the product etc... Furthermore, the stability of retinol in formulations may be a challenge, so that manufacturing under specific and restrictive conditions (e.g., under inert gas) is necessary. The need to propose an alternative for retinol to the consumer is therefore fully justified.
Our ingredient (RCL) is a nature-identical, multifunctional active ingredient a potent phyto-compound found e.g. in medicinal rhubarb. Readily biodegradable, its production process has been carefully optimized to minimize the carbon footprint. Sustainability is driven by e.g. optimized use of reaction materials, water consumption optimization and eliminating CO2 producing steps. Our ingredient is obtained in high yield and purity. It works on 3 levels, supporting the skin barrier, reducing triggers of inflammaging and protecting key components of epidermis and Extra Cellular Matrix to reduce signs of inflammaging. There are already multiple in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo data available for this ingredient (earlier generated), including in vitro data comparative data to retinol.
We would like to take the opportunity to present the outcome of the new in vivo study that we have conducted comparing RCL to retinol.
A randomized, placebo-controlled double blind in vivo study was done including 40 Caucasian female and male volunteers, aged 45-65 years having visible wrinkles/fine lines on the crow’s feet, having dry to very dry face, loose skin, cutaneous imperfections and diffuse redness.
An emulsion containing 2% of RCL (corresponding to 0.1% the active ingredient) was applied twice per day over 28 days on the hemi face. An emulsion containing 0.2% of retinol was also applied twice per day over 28 days on the hemi face.
Multiple end points were investigated like for instance, the effects on wrinkles (fringe projection), the re-densifying effect with evolution of the epidermis/dermis density, the in vivo collagen concentration, the effect on the cutaneous barrier by measuring the TEWL. The cutaneous irritability using clinical grading by a clinician was assessed. Finally, the illustration of the visual effects as well as visualization of a potential skin redness was conducted.
Preliminary results show that an emulsion containing 2% of RCL induced statistically significant improvements in several anti-wrinkle parameters. Over 28 days treatment, the ratio of non-echogenic surface was also positively affected as well as the thickness of the epidermis and the dermis, showing an improvement in skin density.
Anti-aging results for the emulsion with 2% RCL are comparable to that obtained using the emulsion containing 0.2% retinol.
Furthermore, the cutaneous irritability profile is very good when using the emulsion with RCL
The outcome of this study is very promising and confirms our previous in vitro results obtained with RCL vs. retinol. It positions RCL as a serious alternative candidate to retinol-based topical products.
The anti-aging offer on the cosmetic market is huge and it can be sometimes difficult to choose and/or to differentiate between the right ingredients. Retinol still remains the golden anti-aging standard. But it is also known for years that retinol is not always well tolerated by the skin. Redness, itching, stinging sensation may occur upon application of retinol-containing products. Therefore, consumers have to play with multiple parameters like the frequency of use, the concentration, the moment of the day to apply the product etc... Furthermore, the stability of retinol in formulations may be a challenge, so that manufacturing under specific and restrictive conditions (e.g., under inert gas) is necessary. The need to propose an alternative for retinol to the consumer is therefore fully justified.
Our ingredient (RCL) is a nature-identical, multifunctional active ingredient a potent phyto-compound found e.g. in medicinal rhubarb. Readily biodegradable, its production process has been carefully optimized to minimize the carbon footprint. Sustainability is driven by e.g. optimized use of reaction materials, water consumption optimization and eliminating CO2 producing steps. Our ingredient is obtained in high yield and purity. It works on 3 levels, supporting the skin barrier, reducing triggers of inflammaging and protecting key components of epidermis and Extra Cellular Matrix to reduce signs of inflammaging. There are already multiple in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo data available for this ingredient (earlier generated), including in vitro data comparative data to retinol.
We would like to take the opportunity to present the outcome of the new in vivo study that we have conducted comparing RCL to retinol.
A randomized, placebo-controlled double blind in vivo study was done including 40 Caucasian female and male volunteers, aged 45-65 years having visible wrinkles/fine lines on the crow’s feet, having dry to very dry face, loose skin, cutaneous imperfections and diffuse redness.
An emulsion containing 2% of RCL (corresponding to 0.1% the active ingredient) was applied twice per day over 28 days on the hemi face. An emulsion containing 0.2% of retinol was also applied twice per day over 28 days on the hemi face.
Multiple end points were investigated like for instance, the effects on wrinkles (fringe projection), the re-densifying effect with evolution of the epidermis/dermis density, the in vivo collagen concentration, the effect on the cutaneous barrier by measuring the TEWL. The cutaneous irritability using clinical grading by a clinician was assessed. Finally, the illustration of the visual effects as well as visualization of a potential skin redness was conducted.
Preliminary results show that an emulsion containing 2% of RCL induced statistically significant improvements in several anti-wrinkle parameters. Over 28 days treatment, the ratio of non-echogenic surface was also positively affected as well as the thickness of the epidermis and the dermis, showing an improvement in skin density.
Anti-aging results for the emulsion with 2% RCL are comparable to that obtained using the emulsion containing 0.2% retinol.
Furthermore, the cutaneous irritability profile is very good when using the emulsion with RCL
The outcome of this study is very promising and confirms our previous in vitro results obtained with RCL vs. retinol. It positions RCL as a serious alternative candidate to retinol-based topical products.