Plant power for “beauty-from-within”: SternLife develops anti-aging phyto ingredient powders

02 Dec 2019 --- Functional nutrition and food supplements company SternLife has developed a range of powder-format phyto ingredient-based products for the beauty-from-within market. Epigenetics have uncovered the potential of polyphenols and phytonutrients for the ingestible skincare market and the company is tapping into the trend. The three new “beauty-from-within” products are offered as powders in distinctive colors – pink for beautiful skin, yellow for “sunscreen from within” and green for healthy, strong hair. Trends such as clean beauty and naturality in ingredients are driving innovation in this space, as consumers seek natural, yet effective, personal care solutions.

“Thanks to epigenetics, we now know that outside influences like nutrition, stress and environmental factors affect the body much more than previously thought. It is also now known that certain plant substances can assist the body’s protective mechanisms, resulting among other things in firmer skin and healthy hair,” says Antje Wetzel, Product Development Director of SternLife. 

Ingestible beauty is having a moment and several major players have realized the trend’s potential. Innova Market Insights has pegged “Eat Pretty” as one of its top ten trends of 2020. According to a 2019 Innova Consumer Survey, one in three Chinese consumers increasingly opt for food and beverages that support physical appearance. Recently, NutritionInsight reported how phytochemistry can harness plants’ beneficial compounds and how clean beauty is a major rising trend. 

Applications in beverages
The new powders from SternLife dissolve easily in water for a comfortable ingestion. “Our product concepts are complete powder products – food supplements – that support skin, hair and cell protection. They are suitable for the preparation of drinks and contain special plant extracts in combination with essential nutrients. Our beauty powders are for companies, who want to establish or expand their beauty from within offerings,” Wetzel tells NutritionInsight.

Beauty products that meet the “beauty from within” trend are showing positive growth globally, the company notes. In Japan, China and Korea, the trend is already pronounced with innovative NPD and even high-end brands releasing ingestible beauty concepts. In the US and Europe, however, the trend is just now gaining traction. 

The product concepts are complete powder products that support skin, hair and cell protection.Nutritional supplements for beauty are in the fast lane, according to SternLife. Products with activating beauty substances are no longer offered only as lozenges or capsules, but also as gummies, shots and shakes. 

“Generally, customers show increased nutritional awareness. We all pay attention to what we eat, which ingredients we supply our bodies with, including cosmetics. Food and cosmetics turn more toward natural ingredients and fewer chemical ingredients. So our beauty-from-within products fit perfectly into this theme,” a SternLife spokesperson tells NutritionInsight.

Science advances ingestible beauty
Beyond topical applications, scientific discoveries have raised the level of innovation. Genome research and epigenetics have led to the understanding that certain plant ingredients have anti-aging properties and beneficial effects on skin and hair – coming from within. These discoveries are providing a new impetus for the nutritional supplement market and a new generation of beauty food, with significant market potential, according to Innova Market Insights.

For some time, nutritional supplements for youthful skin and healthy hair consisted of micronutrients like vitamin C, biotin and zinc. With epigenetics and the decoding of DNA, plant substances and ingredients have become the focus of attention. These substances include polyphenols in green tea, phytonutrients in kale, chard and broccoli, as well as key chemicals in spices like ginger and turmeric. For its new beauty concepts, SternLife also uses wheat and millet extract, collagen, hibiscus and melon extract. 

Deconstructing the concepts
The company uses several plant ingredients to achieve the new range’s ingestible beauty potential. Hibiscus is also a powerful plant beauty extract, the company notes. This natural anti-aging substance has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It helps skin maintain elasticity and relaxes the facial musculature. SternLife uses hibiscus in combination with collagen or wheat extract in its anti-skin-aging products. 

“Collagen is the most important structural material in the skin and is known to decrease with age. Various kinds of environmental influences aggravate this process,” says Wetzel. “With a special collagen peptide, our new product contributes to firmer, smoother skin with fewer wrinkles.” The plant-based alternative to this is a wheat extract, which SternLife uses in a pure, gluten-free format. It contains a high concentration of phytoceramides, which restores the skin’s natural protective barrier and therefore, minimizes wrinkle formation.

“Sunshine might be balm for the soul, but it is poison for the skin,” the company states. Melon extract is an active antidote. The SternLife “Sunscreen From Within” product uses this yellow extract to strengthen the skin’s own UV protection and protect the skin from oxidation stress and inflammation. 

SternLife also uses millet extract and vital mushrooms for healthy hair. The millet extract strengthens hair roots and gives individual strands greater stability and volume. Moreover, reishi and cordyceps mushrooms have anti-aging effects. While reishi boasts antioxidative effects, cordyceps helps to protect against hair loss, boosts cell protection and is known for many other beneficial properties. Both ingredients have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. 

By Kristiana Lalou