Better skin care from nature’s building blocks

 Therefore, it is no surprise we seek innovation in personal care as well. So how can we recognise these developments once they are found? In many cases, such developments occur through careful examination of nature as it exists undisturbed. As an example, consider the development of our understanding of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the molecular blueprint of life. Within the long strands of DNA are elements which encode essential genes, but far more prevalent are long stretches of DNA which were, until recently, termed ‘junk DNA’. Not surprisingly, recent developments have shown that this ‘junk DNA’ does in fact have a purpose.1 As with many scientific advances, discoveries and progress are rooted in our ability to better understand, and many times to emulate, nature. Our ability to discern nature with new and better tools leads to ever greater levels of understanding. Therefore, the discoveries of tomorrow will be based upon a more thorough understanding of mechanisms and components which have been in place for millennia. It is from this premise that Floratech developed L22. The name L22 both describes the material and presents an aspirational and compelling narrative which speaks to why this material was developed in the first place. The ‘L’ represents ‘lipid’ and the ‘22’ refers to the target age of 22 years. Specifically, the new product is the botanical equivalent of a healthy 22-yearold’s skin lipids. It delivers the combination of lipids, in type and ratio, of those observed on the skin of a healthy 22-yearold female.2 These lipid types include: triglycerides, free fatty acids, wax esters, squalene, sterol esters, and sterols (see Fig. 1). These human skin lipid components have rough analogues in the plant kingdom. Our history and expertise in the area of botanical emollients generally, and jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) specifically, uniquely positions us to deliver such an advance to personal care formulators. Especially noteworthy is that the jojoba plant is the only known botanical source of liquid wax esters, which account for a significant portion of human skin lipids, and therefore of the new botanical emollient base. The literature indicates that the various types and ratios of lipids present on the skin of men and women vary with age2 (see Fig. 2). It also indicates that the excretion rate of these lipids onto the skin varies with age.2 The new product was designed to deliver the types and ratios of the lipids typically found on a healthy 22-year-old female and may easily be included as the lipid phase of various cosmetic and personal care products. Consumers can be confident that the lipid phase of these products is based upon a material designed specifically to deliver the skin lipid profile present at 22 years of age. The new botanical emollient base is a carefully constructed combination of botanically-sourced lipids which is elegantly simple in its approach. It was developed from various botanical sources which include jojoba, macadamia, and olive (Fig. 3). Jojoba, the only known botanical source of liquid wax monoesters, contributes this important component to the new product. In addition, macadamia provides the triglyceride component while olive provides the squalene component to the material (see Fig. 4). A careful rearrangement of fatty acids between the jojoba oil (wax monoester) and the macadamia oil (triglyceride) results in wax monoesters and triglycerides, each with carbon chain lengths more closely resembling those of the corresponding human skin lipid components.

Dermophilic

The search for personal care and cosmetic ingredients which hew more closely to the nature of human skin – sometimes termed ‘dermophilic’ – is not new. Graham Wulff, the late, legendary inventor of Oil of Olay Beauty Fluid understood this in the 1950s as he sought a product which was: “… as close as possible to skin sebum. Something that would penetrate rapidly, be compatible with the skin, remain stable, restore and hold moisture, while protecting the skin and leaving the surface with a supple, matte finish, ten minutes after application.”3 What Wulff knew, and what was later borne out through the success of Oil of Olay, was that a material which holds characteristics similar to human skin surface lipids would result in an effective and aesthetically pleasing product.