3 minute read
Deliver highly effective sebum and shine reduction
The challenges experienced by African consumers when it comes to maintaining clear skin are a powerful reminder of why brands need to customise their formulations to deliver targeted products. Lipotec Active Ingredients, a Lubrizol Life Science company, has taken the concept of customised beauty a step further by expanding the efficacy profile of Matmarine biotech ingredient to include African ethnic skin.
Skin oiliness is a common concern to many people around the world and in Africa. Usually linked to teenage skin, where sebum production increases dramatically, shininess accompanies combination and oily skin types throughout adulthood.
Therefore, many consumers may struggle with a shiny or greasy-looking skin, which is often associated with enlarged pores, blemishes and acne. How this occurs is sebaceous glands secrete sebum to lubricate and waterproof the skin. The majority of sebaceous glands are located in the upper portion of the hair follicle of the pilosebaceous unit, and they are more abundant in the T-zone (being the forehead, nose and chin) and cheeks.
Noticeable facial pores are another skin care concern for many African consumers, especially women. According to a study on ‘the ethnic differences in the structural properties of facial skin’ published in December 2008, in the Journal of Dermatological Science, authors Yoriko Sugiyama-Nakagiri, Keiichi Sugata, Akira Hachiya and Osamu Osanai stated that African Americans showed substantially more severe impairment of the architecture around facial pores than any other racial group.1 Although this data is pertinent to African American skin and not black African skin, this and other published skin care research does show that darker skin types tend to have more enlarged pores when compared to Caucasian and Asian, or lighter skin types.
Sustainable biotech ingredient
In an effort to help consumers get their oily skin under control, Lipotec Active Ingredients developed Matmarine biotech ingredient. This fermentation-based extract obtained from a marine microorganism reduces the protein levels of MC5-C, which is a key promoter found in mature sebocytes. This approach is also considered efficient in treating imperfections related to increased sebum levels such as enlarged pores and shininess.
Matmarine biotech ingredient induces type I collagen synthesis, which reinforces skin’s firmness and cohesion, contributing to reducing pores and, consequently, the secretion of sebum. Genes related to inflammatory response and oxidative processes, induced by increased sebum secretion, are also regulated by the ingredient, confirming its high performance and multifunctional benefits.
The ingredient also has a favourable sustainability profile thanks to its biotechnological factors and its 100% natural origin.
Confirmed effective on dark skin types
To help brands and manufacturers develop skin care solutions aligned to the needs of African consumers, Lubrizol Life Science in vivo tested the skin mattifying and pore reduction efficacy of 3% Matmarine biotech ingredient on South African skin. The study involved 22 South African female volunteers aged between 18 and 45, with combination to oily skin, ranging in phototype from V to VI. The volunteers either applied a cream containing 3% Matmarine biotech ingredient or a placebo cream to half their face, twice a day for 28 days. Thereafter, skin mattification, moisturisation and pore analysis parameters were evaluated.
High resolution digital photographs were taken using the Colorface system while frame scan software was used to analyse the images of the cheek area (close to the nose wing), to determine the coefficient of the visibility of pores after treatment. The results showed that 3% Matmarine biotech ingredient significantly minimised pores in South African skin by 20.1% (see Figures 1, 2 and 3).
Available throughout Southern Africa from Savannah Fine Chemicals, Matmarine biotech ingredient is a truly inclusive technology for diversity-focused skin care products. The ingredient offers multifunctional, high-performance and sustainability benefits as it reduces sebum, maintains proper skin hydration over a long period and is of a 100% natural origin.
These new in vivo results complete the efficacy profile of Matmarine biotech ingredient and reconfirm its capacity to harmonise skin’s complexion.
Key features of Matmarine biotech ingredient
• a great ingredient for all consumers prone to oily skin
• targets MC5-R to decrease sebum levels
• reduces pores for a uniform complexion
• offers immediate and long-lasting mattifying and hydrating effects
• biotechnological ingredient with a short INCI name
• naturality established according to ISO 16128
• 100% natural origin content
• COSMOS approved.
