64
Tapping paradise for that “lit from within” skin tone
Philip Ludwig, Senior Research Chemist; Francesca Muia, Commercial Marketing Manager, Suellen Bennett, Global Manager, Technical Marketing; James V. Gruber, Ph.D., Director of Research & Market Development, Lonza, discuss their search for skin luminosity
There are many facets that contribute to the appearance of aged skin. It has been noted that there are seven signs of ageing: smooth skin texture, even skin tone, surface dullness, fine lines and wrinkles, appearance of pores, appearance of blotches and age spots, and dry skin. The first three aspects all contribute to skin luminosity. Skin luminosity could be defined as the glow of one’s skin. Luminous skin is desired across ethnicities, from dark to light skin tones. All skin types can have smooth, even, glowing skin. Three factors that contribute to skin luminosity are the amount of collagen, hemoglobin and bilirubin, and melanin in the skin (1, 2). Hemoglobin and its degradation product bilirubin both contribute to the skin’s colour and luminosity. Especially under the eyes where the skin is thin and blood can pool, bilirubin can be more easily seen than in other parts of the face, adding to a person’s dark under-eye circles. Bilirubin also contributes to the appearance of the face and body, giving a sallow tone to the skin.
Bilirubin is commonly found in most animals but not in plants. In 2009, a group of researchers discovered that some plants belonging to the Strelitzia family produce human equivalent bilirubin (3). The Bird of Paradise flower, often used in exotic flower arrangements, is one species in this family. Although the biochemical pathway that the plant uses to produce bilirubin has not yet been elucidated, we postulated that because the plant would contain the mechanism to produce bilirubin, it too might have a pathway or mechanism to degrade bilirubin to ensure the proper concentration of bilirubin within its tissue. Strelitzia nicolai arils, a structure on the seeds that gives them an appearance of having a head of bright orange hair, were used to create an extract. A bilirubin solution was created to be run on HPLC, sampling every hour for 24 hours. The S. nicolai aril extract was added at 2% to one of the bilirubin solutions to see if the extract could potentially cause an increased rate of bilirubin degradation. Through an unknown mechanism, the arils solution was able to cause rapid degradation of the bilirubin solution. This promising data led to an in vivo study.
18% __________________________________________________________________ 16% __________________________________________________________________ 14% __________________________________________________________________ 12% __________________________________________________________________ 10% __________________________________________________________________ 8% __________________________________________________________________ 6% __________________________________________________________________ 4% __________________________________________________________________ 2% __________________________________________________________________ 0% __________________________________________________________________
Improvement in skin tone and radiance
Decrease in under eye circles
Treatment targets Figure 1. In Vivo Improvement of Three Skin Targets Measured by Professional Evaluation of Clinical Photographs
In a 40 person in vivo study, participants were given either a placebo or 2% aril extract to apply twice a day to their entire face. Skin tone, under eye puffiness and under eye circles were observed at day 0 and day 60. We found a statistical significant improvement in all three parameters (Fig. 1). Through viewing the study participant photos at day 0 and day 60, it was immediately apparent that skin luminosity was highly improved, along with a decrease in under eye puffiness and a decrease in dark under eye circles. In conclusion, through the use of a
Decrease in under eye puffiness
n Placebo n 2% Vivillume
Figure 2. Day 0
Strelitzia nicolai aril extract, we were able to demonstrate that the solution could degrade bilirubin. This led us to further discover that topical application of the extract could reduce multiple signs of aged skin, leading to a more luminous, youthful complexion.
Lonza Personal Care, Stand R60
Figure 3. Day 60
1) Na R, Stender IM: Autofluorescence of human skin is age- related after correction for skin pigmentation and redness. J Invest Dermatol 116(4): 536-540
2) Moncrieff M, Cotton S, Claridge E, Hall P: Spectrophotometric intracutaneous analysis: a new technique for imaging pigmented skin lesions. Br J Dermatol 146(3): 448-457
3) Prione C, Quirke JM, Priestap HA,Lee DW: Animal pigment bilirubin discovered in plants. J Am Chem Soc 131(8): 2830
Percent improvement
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197