What are the concerns of consumers and cosmetic chemists these days? Apparently, firming skin and dirty air. New product launches from Yves Rocher (above) and Estée Lauder (below) focus on slimming down and cleaning up skin that is ravaged by environmental pollutants, respectively.

Want to start a fight in the beauty industry? Ask a couple of cosmetic chemists to pick the biggest advance in cosmetic science! Okay, maybe the fists won’t fly, but you’re sure to get a heated debate on the topic. After all, cosmetic chemistry has come a long way from the days when women scooped out and slopped on an aesthetically-unappealing moisturizer right before bedtime.

“The ever-growing anti-aging arena now includes more than just wrinkle reduction or deep moisturization,” observed Shyam Gupta, president of Bioderm Research, Scottsdale, AZ. “Combination benefits offered include wrinkles reduction; skin smoothing, cellular growth stimulation, skin brightening, and skin resurfacing for an overall younger, vibrant look.”

Yes, today, cosmetic science has evolved far beyond its humble origins to include a range of creams, lotions and liquids that do much more than moisturize. With ingredients such as epidermal growth factor, poly-collagen peptides and nanoparticles of silica and soya protein, the latest products coming out of cosmetic laboratories promise to penetrate, lift and tighten sagging skin.

“The cosmetic industry has come a long way from the ‘cleanse, tone, moisturize,’ mantra of 10 or 15 years ago,” asserted Howard Murad, founder of the Murad Skin Research Laboratory, El Segundo, CA. “There’s more science, more independent studies, more ways to make a difference. Like anything else, the research just keeps getting better, industry is moving faster and it gets harder for everybody to keep up.”

Howard Murad recently rolled out City Skin Detox Treatment. Now the good doctor is ready to tackle cellulite. His new book, The Cellulite Solution, rolls off press next month.

Not that Dr. Murad is complaining. He insists research keeps him far ahead of the curve as well as the rest of the cosmetic industry. In fact, Dr. Murad maintains that many of today’s formulations were researched by his team a decade ago. Now, Dr. Murad is touting the benefits of CitySkin Detox Treatment, which reportedly detoxifies and neutralizes the environmental toxins and pollutants that bombard skin every day. The product contains Detoxifying Anti-pollution Complex, a combination of olive extract and manganese gluconate to fight the signs of skin damage and stress, as well as epidermal growth factor and glycolic acid. CitySkin Detox Treatment also contains lupine extract to help reduce the signs of skin damage caused by environmental exposure. A 1-oz. bottle retails for $125.

Dr. Murad isn’t the only formulator with a new anti-aging product on the shelf. Estée Lauder recently introduced Perfectionist [CP+] with Poly-Collagen Peptides Correcting Serum. A 1.7-oz. bottle retails for $80.

According to Estée Lauder executives, Perfectionist CP+ immobilizes the wrinkles on the surface to eliminate the stress and strain that can accelerate breakdown of collagen while offering optics for immediate line and wrinkle results. Perfectionist CP+ also contains poly-collagen peptides to accelerate collagen restoration, as well as something called Triple Enzyme Technology to ensure skin will receive full potency and power from the peptides, as well as BioSync complex to accelerate cellular communications. Perfectionist CP+ also addresses age spots and discolorations with a blend of powerful skin brighteners.

“Estée Lauder is the leader in the anti-aging segment, selling more products than any other prestige brand,” noted Lise Jorgensen, vice president, global skin care product development, Estée Lauder. “(But) Estée Lauder’s poly-collagen peptides in Perfectionist CP+ take line and wrinkle repair to a whole new level.”

According to Ms. Jorgensen, not all peptides are created equal. The exclusive blend of peptides in Perfectionist CP+ were inspired and developed to specifically mimic the natural “signals” that happen in skin when it is damaged. Peptides activate collagen production that “lifts” the wrinkle by increasing the density of the dermis, effectively restructuring the dermis—a much longer affect than plumping by moisturization.

“This blend of poly-collagen peptides helps amplify natural collagen production to accelerate and deliver an all-time high clinical line and wrinkle reduction,” said Ms. Jorgensen. “We are very confident that our consumers will notice the difference and be very satisfied with this advancement.”

Also this month, Lâncome is rolling out Rénergie Microlift, which is billed as an anti-aging moisturizer that also helps lift and tighten the skin’s surface. The key ingredient is something called Microlifters, nanoparticles of silica and proteins that reportedly form a network to help immediately lift and tighten the skin’s surface. A 1.7-oz. jar retails for $74.

High-Tech Advice at Retail
As researchers push the boundaries of cosmetic science, they’re eager to share this newfound knowledge with consumers. For example, Boots is setting up derma skin care advice centers in 80 stores in the UK. These will carry the state-of-the-art diagnostic units that can measure skin moisture, sebum levels, skin elasticity, pigmentation and facial lines and wrinkles. Consultations are free and advisors will recommend suitable skin care products to address particular needs.

According to Vispi Kanga, president of Cosmet-Pharm Consultants, LLC, Cresskill, NJ, the advisers are trained to recognize and treat conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, dry scalp, fungal infections, dermatitis and allergies. These derma advisors will be in addition to Boots' current skin care advisors. To meet these specific needs, Boots is expanding its range of problem-targeting products. In addition to Boots lines and brands such as Eucerin and Ahava, the advice centers will feature brands such as RoC, Murad and Skin Doctors.

At the formulation level, Mr. Kanga said that novel dispersions of hydrophobes in water can be achieved, surfactant-free, by subjecting the materials to high pressure, high shear processing.

“This processing produces stable dispersions, with controlled particle sizes characterized using laser light scattering spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM),” said
Mr. Kanga. “Hydrophobic loadings up to 50% can be achieved in aqueous systems displaying greatly reduced viscosities and water activity levels approaching one.”

In-vitro and in-vivo comparisons between conventional emulsion systems and high pressure, high shear emulsions containing sunscreens showed the latter to display considerably reduced irritation potential.

“The ability to cold process formulations opens up the possibility to work with heat sensitive materials and ensure the formulation of products with maximum efficacy,” he concluded.

In terms of product forms, more emphasis is being put on body care products that tone and firm. In May, Yves Rocher is rolling out Spa Energie Vegetale Ventre Plat (Flat Abs). The product promises to smooth and tone the stomach while firming waistline contours. After one month of use, the product took 2cm off both the stomach and waistline, according to Yves Rocher. A 5-oz. jar will retail for $26.

Meanwhile, Dr. Murad will publish The Cellulite Solution next month. He provides detailed information on the causes of cellulite, what to eat to help keep cellulite in check and how to treat it.

Most importantly, he urges the reader to embark on a body-hydrating program as a way to reduce cellulite. He de-tails a three-pronged approach that involves strengthening and healing the cell walls to main tain water levels and functional ity; strengthening and healing the connective tissue; and using topical agents to soothe and strengthen the stratum corneum.

Some Problems Remain
The cosmetic industry is sure to benefit from the aging baby boomer population, but the long-term outlook isn’t all sunny, as some issues still remain. For example, while use of natural ingredients is increasing at an unprecedented pace, consumer understanding of what is a natural ingredient or a natural formulation remains an undefined gray area, noted Dr. Gupta.

“Most marketers set their own criteria. I see that every day,” he noted. “Parabens, for example, are completely acceptable to some natural marketers while others totally ban it in their products. Is water natural? Some marketers include water in their calculation for the natural ingredients content of their formulations, while others scorn that practice.”

In addition, he lamented that “hocus pocus continues unabated in the development of ‘clinical proof’ for the efficacy of new ingredients.”

Dr. Gupta insisted that, in most cases, clinical data presented may not be statistically valid or benefits barely perceptible. He urged in-dustry members to ad-dress this issue in their new ingredient discovery programs.

Dr. Murad agreed that much work remains to be done in the cosmetics industry. He told Happi that although “nutraceutical” remains a buzzword in the skin care industry and while many of today’s formulations are loaded with vitamins and other nutritional ingredients, an effective nutraceutical/cosmeceutical combination still does not exist.

“The next level of products will have to demonstrate that they actually do something,” he asserted. “Sure a lot of products contain vitamins, but let’s make sure they do something.”

Water, Water Everywhere
Dr. Murad said he is working on a project that actually increases cellular water, which ultimately will reduce the appearance of wrinkles and acne, not to mention reduce gum disease and even restore hair growth. Sound far-fetched? Dr. Murad doesn’t think so. “When I started using alpha hydroxy acids, people wanted to know why I would put acid on their face,” he recalled. “Now everybody understands how AHAs work.”

In little over a decade AHAs and other acids have become so widely accepted that including them in a product formula gets little more than a yawn from consumers. Like so many other industries, cosmetic chemists face a “what have you done for me lately?” mentality. Anticipating the consumer’s needs before they even know it remains the goal of cosmetic chemists everywhere—and the reason why marketers never stop asking “What's new in cosmetic R&D?”