Rebalancing African skin

from Pharmaceutical & Cosmetic Review Africa Q4 2020

Think silicones, think clean and safe beauty for all

Developing customised personal care products for African skin is part of BASF’s overall strategy to offer consumer-oriented solutions to the sub-Saharan African beauty industry. We spoke to Dr Torsten Clarius, business development active ingredients, BASF Personal Care and Nutrition, about Bix’Activ – a sebumregulating active ingredient proven effective on dark skin.

HOW IS THE PERSONAL CARE MARKET IN AFRICA DEVELOPING?

Dr Clarius: While the global beauty and care market is dynamic as a whole, this is especially true of Africa. The demand for personal care products is increasing rapidly in this part of the world. This development is driven by several factors, not least of which a growing middle class with access to higher disposable incomes.

It is essential that sebum-regulating actives do not impact

the skin’s natural hydration balance

Over the next few years, Africa is expected to become home to some of the world’s fastestgrowing economies. Furthermore, as the world’s second most populous continent, Africa is projected to account for around 20% of the global population by 2025. This means that a huge number of people need effective personal care products customised to their specific skin needs – and that they are willing and able to pay for it.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that black consumers around the world often feel underrepresented by cosmetic brands, leading to the demand for customised solutions for their skin types.

WHAT CONSTITUTES AFRICAN SKIN?

Dr Clarius: By way of example, African consumers are generally much less susceptible to developing wrinkles than Caucasians. This is likely due to the higher amount of melanin in the epidermis, which offers the dermal structures better protection against damage from UV rays. With this in mind, the anti-ageing segment of cosmetics is rather less lucrative among African consumers.

By contrast, African skin types tend to be less hydrated than others. In response, the skin seeks to compensate for this dryness through an overproduction of sebum, which leads to oiliness and shininess. Common solutions on the market are often not suitable to counteract this concern, and the regulation of sebum secretion tends to result in the skin becoming even drier. For African skin types in particular, it is essential that sebumregulating actives do not impact the skin’s natural hydration balance. Dr Torsten Clarius says there is a demand for customised solutions for dark skin types

WHAT IS BASF’S SOLUTION?

Dr Clarius: BASF offers several active ingredients that target oily skin. However, we recently developed an active ingredient called Bix’Activ, which demonstrates outstanding efficiency. In clinical studies on Asian volunteers, we could prove that just 0.25% Bix’Activ reduced sebum secretion by 46% after four weeks. This effect was more pronounced after eight weeks of application, leading to a 62% reduction. These results far outperformed the placebo formulation – which did not contain the active ingredient.

CAN YOU ENSURE BIX’ACTIV HAS THE SAME EFFECT ON BLACK SKIN?

Dr Clarius: Even though we believe many actives will be effective independent of skin type, we wanted to prove this hypothesis. So, we included cells from black skin donors in our cell culture-based assays for oily skin. These simplified systems help to shed more light on characteristic biological processes in the skin and to avoid failure when proceeding to the clinical study phase.

The skin cells responsible for the production of sebum are known as sebocytes. The lipid droplets

generated by these specialised cells can be volunteers with a lipid index above 100µg/cm2 observed under a microscope. Both the number were considered for the study. and size of these droplets demonstrate their During the four-week study, oiliness role in the hyper-secretion of sebum. We decreased by 44%, which is almost exactly showed that Bix’Activ significantly reduces the the same value achieved in the previously number of lipid droplets in sebocytes of black mentioned study involving Asian volunteers. skin by 28%. The reduction in sebum secretion also visibly Illustrative pictures of skin shininess and oiliness before and after a fourweek treatment with 0.25% Bix’Activ. Left: before treatment (D0). Right: after four weeks (D28) mattified the skin. Gloss decreased by 11%, as These are impressive results – but they measured using a device called a Glossymeter. were obtained on cell cultures. Were you also The Glossymeter correlates directly reflected able to prove the efficacy of Bix’Activ light with gloss. Interestingly, hydration on volunteers? remained unchanged after the treatment period Dr Clarius: Yes. The results encouraged – so Bix’Activ kept skin dryness at bay. us to conduct a placebo-controlled study Bix’Activ was even able to reduce specifically on African skin. The study, irregularities and imperfections. This is which was performed in Mauritius in 2018, clearly visible on digital photographs of the consisted of 29 volunteers aged between 19 and 40. All volunteers had very dark skin, corresponding to a phototype between V and VI, with faces that appeared oily and shiny. This visual evaluation was confirmed by means of an objective measurement. Only volunteers’ faces. The results confirm that Bix’Activ helps reduce sebum production and improves the skin’s mattifying effect while preserving hydration – making it perfectly suited to the specific needs of African consumers.•Buyer’sguideTHE