Stress relief in a jar


SKIN CARE The beauty industry is working hard behind the scenes to bring scientific proof to


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THE FUTURE OF ANTI-STRESS


stress-relieving skin care. What’s coming next?


tress affects the skin: it’s a widely known fact. But what if we could tell that a tough Tuesday could affect the microbiome a day or two day later, resulting in a skin reaction by the weekend – and that we could intervene by using a certain skin care product to lessen the impact? What if the feel of a skin care product could be proven to provide instant stress- relief? It is questions like this that brands are working on in a rising number of scientific studies. Unilever’s current research with University of Liverpool’s Microbiome Innovation Centre and Brain & Behaviour Laboratory is finding out if it is possible to develop products that can make the skin microbiome more resilient before its balance is upset by the impact of stress. “We believe we can ground the link between emotional and biochemical mechanisms in science and show how the microbiome affects psychological as well as physical wellbeing,” says Dr Timo Giesbrecht, Consumer Scientist at Unilever. “This project is the first step of that journey of exploration.” No7 Beauty Company is stepping up its research in the area by partnering the University of Nottingham in a fully funded doctorate research project to develop the understanding of the sensory properties of topical skin care and the emotional response of consumers. Skin care brand Tatcha partners neuroscientists to clinically test for both skin and emotional benefits of its skin care formulas when used in an intentional ritual. In 2022, it conducted a study on 50 participants using eye trackers and EEG scanners to monitor electrical activity in the brain, focusing on theta waves to evaluate stress levels, and alpha waves to measure relaxation levels throughout the ritual. Until now, the psychodermatology conversation has largely focused on the negative impacts the


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brain has on skin, but this is only one side of the conversation, says the brand in the 2022 Tatcha Report on Skincare and Self-Care. The science of the skin-mind connection reveals an opportunity to care for skin inside and out through the essential combination of mindful rituals and multifunctional formulas, it says.


“Science is finally catching up with what Eastern medicine practitioners have understood for centuries,” Rose Sparacio, Tatcha’s Global VP of Product Development, tells Cosmetics Business. “We’re finally able to apply research to the multitude of mental and physical benefits that can be delivered through natural ingredients, and how those ingredients are received by our body. “The Tatcha Research Institute in Japan continues to push in this direction and consistently expand our understanding of how skin care can impact so much more than our skin. We’ve dedicated many hours to uncovering new actives or understanding new benefits of familiar ingredients,” says Sparacio.


Dr Katerina Steventon is a consultant at Independent Skincare Consultancy, who in May 2022 carried out an academic workshop funded by Southampton University in an attempt to scientifically underpin the connections between the skin and mental wellbeing. She argues that while R&D departments have been exploring the links between skin care and stress for years, there has been an absence of consumer products that are backed by science: “Wellbeing, happiness and stress reduction has been used for decades to work alongside skin care, and I feel now that it’s the first time that real science is coming behind it.” One of the reasons for this is the role that Covid has had on global attitudes towards health and a focus on a more preventative approach. “I think it gives companies in this space massive opportunities because skin care is a tool to health and wellbeing. I would argue that companies always need a couple of years to review how they work and perhaps also invest in technologies and the clinicals – so they are just now coming out with this,” says Steventon.


An ingredient boost


So how could the rise of a more scientific approach take anti-stress skin care to the next level? One key area is the rise of ingredient development happening in the industry. Aware of work going on in the industry and clinical trials kind of coming to an end, Steventon believes that the upcoming In- Cosmetics Global exhibition in Barcelona could showcase a number of new active ingredient launches offering stress-reducing properties for use in skin care products.


These join a growing number of finished skin care products that take a science-backed approach


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Tatcha’s research on the skin-mind connection demonstrates how skin care, used with an intentional ritual, can help break the cycle of stress and inflammation


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