Skin hyperpigmentation can be a result of acne scars, excessive exposure to UV light, and ageing.
Geneva-based Horphag Research, the company behind skin health ingredient French maritime pine bark extract, trademarked as pycnogenol, noticed that more skincare brands are launching oral health supplements that could counter skin hyperpigmentation. This is often, on top of their products for topical application.
“The topical anti-hyperpigmentation category is by far the largest market, but oral supplements, beauty-from-within category will be growing. We noticed this indirectly by noticing some trends in the recent years in our sales with companies producing dental supplements with regard to skin, ” said Sébastien Bornet, VP, global product sales and marketing at Horphag Research.
“What we see from our customers is that they are looking for a double approach. Most of them now have both topical and mouth skin care products.
“For example, they could possess a lotion, a cream for topical ointment application and at the same time, they also sell capsules with p ycnogenol inside. They make sure that they approach pores and skin care from a holistic standpoint. ”
He added that will in the past, beauty-from-within products were not as popular because consumers thought that this was akin to “eating cosmetics”. However, today, a lot more consumers understand the connection between beauty, health, and nutrition.
“What we have noticed and what is important is that the particular definition of beautiful skin is usually first plus foremost, related to healthy epidermis. So, beauty is wellness. ”
So much, there are more than 1, 000 finished products, including both skincare and oral supplements that contain pycnogenol worldwide.
Examples associated with brands that will the organization has worked with include GNC and ULife – a direct sales business selling health and beauty products previously under Unilever and later acquired simply by Thai firm RS Group this year.
Within Asia, China, Japan, plus South Korea are the biggest markets regarding anti-pigmentation, but the firm is also seeing fast growth in India, Thailand, as well as newer markets such as Vietnam and Philippines, said Bornet.
Not just skin health
On the other hand, Bornet realized that firms are also adding more functionality, upon top of skin wellness benefits, to their oral products.
“I think most people are not only looking at skin care, they might have other concerns, they might be willing to have a product that furthermore helps intended for heart health, joint treatment, eye wellness, and so on. ”
Of which, he said that women’s health insurance and anti-ageing were the most common combinations that firms would want to address when designing an dental supplement to get skin health.
“If you think about it, skin care originally comes from the anti-ageing or healthy aging category. People want to look good for a longer period of time. So anti-ageing is important and within ageing, you have a number of different issues related in order to ageing, such as joints and mobility, heart wellness, and women’s health. ”
The science
There are four basic mechanisms inside how pycnogenol works, which includes its antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities, its ability to bind to collagen and regenerate hyaluronic acid, and also supporting blood circulation.
As such, research has found that the ingredient not only provides anti-hyperpigmentation benefits, but also helps improve skin hydration, elasticity, reduce inflammation and improve microcirculation.
For instance, the supplementation of pycnogenol for 12 weeks among females aged 55 to 68 many years showed increased hyaluronic acidity synthase levels within the pores and skin by 44 per cent, in turn leading to improved epidermis hydration.
When it comes to skin hyperpigmentation, pycnogenol addresses different forms of skin hyperpigmentation through different mechanisms, according to Dr Franziska Weichmann, manager of scientific communications plus product development at Horphag Research.
For example, the particular ingredient targets acne-related hyperpigmentation via potent activities.
With regard to age and UV-related dark spots, the ingredient works by suppressing tyrosinase activity. Tyrosinase is an enzyme that activates the particular production associated with melanin – the pigment responsible pertaining to skin darkening.
In a clinical trial along with 20 women , the intake of pycnogenol was shown in order to significantly lower UV-induced expression of the color synthesising enzymes tyrosinase-related protein 1 by 75 per cent plus tyrosinase simply by 51 %, which are usually both linked to long-lasting pigmentation.
One of its most recently published trials was a 12-week RCT conducted in The far east.
The participants were ladies who spent long hours outdoors in Beijing and had been exposed to urban air pollution and environmental stress along with seasonal changes within temperature plus humidity through April to November.
From April in order to July, the intervention group reported improved skin elasticity and skin firmness by seven for each cent.
Through July to October, data showed that this intervention team had 14 per cent less transepidermal water loss (TEWL), indicating a significant improvement of skin barrier function. Comparatively, there was just 4. 5 per penny increase in the particular placebo group.
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