Seppic launches “bio-inspired” moisturizer amid natural ingredient trend

11 Jun 2020 --- A natural skin moisturizer called Hydrachrysum arrives as the latest addition to Wesource, Seppic’s active ingredient portfolio of personal care solutions. It provides “intense skin hydration” by increasing pro-resolving mediators, such as lacunae, which are visual markers of hydration. Seppic affirms that this new moisturizer helps break the vicious cycle between skin inflammation and dryness, which the company coins as “Inflamm’dryness.”

“Hydrachrysum is a bio-inspired moisturizer. We have been inspired by the ability of Helichrysum stoechas to naturally fight against dehydration and linked the plant resources to skin biology and product efficacy,” Aude Le Grand, Wesource Product Manager tells NutritionInsight.

Seppic explains that dry skin is characterized by tightness, itching, lack of elasticity and overall discomfort. The altered barrier function leads to dehydration, impaired lipid production and an inflammation signaling cascade. Recent scientific progress has linked skin dryness to inflammation, which is the Inflamm’dryness phenomenon, the company states.

To break this cycle, Hydrachrysum induces a decrease of pro-inflammatory and an increase of pro-resolutive mediators to allow a return to homeostasis and improved barrier function. Moreover, the moisturizer increases the number of lacunae, which act as extracellular water tanks and represent up to 40 percent of the volume of the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of the epidermis. 

This interest in natural products is also combined with the need for efficacy, says Le Grand.Final consumers are aware of the physical problem of skin irritation due to dry skin and understand the importance of the barrier function to maintain hydration, says Le Grand. However, she affirms that the fact that inflammation plays a key role to maintain dehydration is a new phenomenon only known by scientists. “We are the first ones talking about and offering a solution to tackle this phenomenon,” she says.

Hydrachrysum has scientifically shown that it can boost skin moisturization after only five days by increasing the number of lacunae by 82 percent compared to no treatment. Seppic’s research has also demonstrated that Hydrachrysum improves long-term skin hydration by 47 percent after 21 days.

Environmentally sustainable technology
The Wesource moisturizer was developed using the company’s Celtosome biotechnology. It uses hydrophilic and lipophilic molecules derived from the dedifferentiated plant cells and specific ones secreted in the medium. Hydration is a priority in the cosmetic world, however, Le Grand affirms that innovating in this market is a difficult task. 

“To develop Hydrachrysum we used our Celtosome technology, which offered many advantages that clearly meet consumers' concerns about sustainability, ecosystem preservation and control of external conditions, such as growth in sterile environments without pollution or contamination. Moreover the new step, high pressure homogenization, reinforces Seppic’s commitment with a lower energy consumption and a zero waste of raw material due to the obtention of a lysate of active molecules. Being able to demonstrate new ways of actions requires many years of intense research,” Le Grand underscores.

Short ingredient lists for the win
Hydrachrysum contains water, glycerin and Helichrysum stoechas, a maritime foliage plant. Keeping the ingredient list short taps into the growing trend for natural, recognizable ingredients in beauty products. The clean label trend has also shifted to the mainstream for consumers conscious of what they are putting in and on their bodies. Alongside halal certification, Hydrachrysum is also Cosmos- and NaTrue-approved, ensuring responsible natural resources. 

“The demand for natural ingredients is getting higher. It may allow a nice storytelling or give confidence to consumers by referring for exemple to a plant that they already know. But it is clearly not sufficient. This interest in natural products is also combined with the need for efficacy. To have a detailed phytochemistry of the product and also dedicated ways of actions is even more important than the origin of the product,” Le Grand affirms. 

Moisturizers are on the move, as made evident by a slew of industry innovation in the personal care sector. Moreover, sustainability and clean label continue to drive NPD in personal care as much as in nutrition. Cannabidiol is increasingly incorporated into topical creams, as witnessed by NUYU Wellness earlier this year. Meanwhile, personalization and technology go hand-in-hand in the progression of the personal care’s naturality trend.

NutritionInsight also covered another of Seppic’s nutricosmetic ingredients, Sepibliss, which is dedicated to soothing skin sensitivity via the oral route.

By Anni Schleicher