Clariant has re-launched its skin defender against pollution and ageing, RedSnow, after skin explant and clinical tests demonstrate its efficacy to combat the significant negative effects of air pollution on skin.
Environmental pollution is a major agitator to skin, impacting its homeostasis and facilitating breakdown of the vital construction of the dermis and epidermis, causing dryness and irritation, and resulting in premature ageing. While skin is an efficient biological protective barrier against pollutants, it can be overwhelmed by too many aggressors. Pollutants from automotive and industrial emissions - including various sizes of particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10) from heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and greenhouse gases - can penetrate deeper layers of the skin. Such pollutants trigger various biological responses. One such response - the Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) - once activated, indirectly induces noxious reactive oxygen species (ROS) promoting cellular damage. Pollutants also stimulate the production of ROS through the so-called NADPH oxidase (NOX) activation pathway. Both routes to ROS result in harmful oxidative stress, causing activation of the irritation pathway, collagen breakdown, leading ultimately to the acceleration of premature aging.
The aptly named RedSnow is extracted from the red Camellia japonica flower, or “rose of winter” which unusually blooms while there is snow on the ground. Harvested on Jeju Island - a protected UNESCO biosphere reserve of Korea - the red flower is rich in protocatechuic acid, a polyphenol known for its antioxidant properties.
The capacity of RedSnow to prevent pollution effects on skin was successfully demonstrated in a study conducted by Clariant Active Ingredients and its South Korean partner BioSpectrum. RedSnow’s very positive broad spectrum anti-oxidant properties against the highly destructive impact of PM2.5 and PM10, heavy metals and PAH have been shown. Another study additionally investigated not only how the biological response AhR was influenced by RedSnow’s ingredient composition, but in a unique and an innovative approach, also looked at the impact on the NOX pathway.
In a further clinical study undertaken over a 4-week period, participants living in the high-pollution area of Seoul, South Korea, applied a product containing 2% RedSnow twice daily over a half-face area against a placebo. Skin parameters including texture, dermal density and hydration were measured after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment. At the trial’s conclusion, the following average results were recorded: a 19% reduction in roughness; 10% reduction in the appearance of wrinkles and improvements in dermal density of 5.6% and hydration of 8%. With a seemingly relentless increase in population density and urbanisation, air pollution and its long-term effects on health, lifestyle and beauty aspirations have become a major concern for consumers.
“RedSnow is a genuine breakthrough in the development of innovative ingredients to protect skin from the ever increasing threat of air pollution”, commented Alexandre Lapeyre, global technical marketing manager, Clariant Active Ingredients Business. “It will contribute significantly to the production of state-of-the-art skin care products, offering end consumers a solution to help counter the aging effects from modern day aggressors in the atmospheric environment.”
RedSnow can be formulated for a wide variety of protective face care products, including anti-pollution facial mists and anti-ageing / anti-wrinkle creams, serums, lotions, masks and toners.
