Daily Cosmetic Research Analysis

Improving the sustainability of cosmetic products while maintaining a good performance requires a deeper understanding on the way that new eco-respectful ingredients interact with hair or skin. In the case of shampoos, the surface science is dominated by the diverse changes on the hair fiber due to both chemical and physical damages that particularly affect physicochemical properties such as hydrophobicity. A native, undamaged fiber is covered with a monolayer of lipids, mainly 18-methyleicosanoic acid (18-MEA), while a highly damaged hair surface, having completely lost the protective lipids, is hydrophilic and negatively charged. Intermediate states exist, where there is a partial loss of 18-MEA ("partially damaged hair"). Here, four model surfaces have been produced, to mimic different types of hair surfaces. Their interaction with selected surfactants and polyelectrolytes (natural and synthetic) has been studied by neutron reflectometry (NR). NR can reveal hierarchical adsorption from mixtures thanks to the scattering contrast between deuterated and hydrogenous molecules. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements complement the study by adding information about the in-plane structure of adsorbed species. The presence of the methyl branch of 18-MEA is found to affect the interaction of the surface with adsorbates. For surfactant/polyelectrolyte mixtures, for example, the adsorption of polymer is enhanced. Of particular interest are the results on the partially damaged hair model, as it manifests patches of hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties; it is possible to separately observe the different adsorption behaviors to the different sites in a single experiment.

BACKGROUND: Silymarin, a bioactive mixture widely used in anti-aging cosmetic products, is primarily composed of silybin, silychristin, and silydianin. The relative proportions of these three compounds in milk thistle seeds, the natural source of silymarin, differ significantly from those found in commercially available silymarin formulations. Notably, under natural conditions, silymarin contains a higher proportion of silybin than its commercial formulations. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to comparatively evaluate how differences in these ratios affect the anti-aging properties of silymarin and to unveil the underlying mechanism. METHODS: We quantified the natural and commercial ratio of silymarin. We measured the cytotoxicity of the natural and commercial silymarin mixtures, as well as individual silybin, silychristin, and silydianin. We studied the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) inhibition capacities of natural and commercial silymarin mixtures as a sign of their anti-aging properties. The mechanism of enhanced anti-aging properties was studied by ROS scavenging assay, reducing power assay, pro-inflammatory factor inhibition assay, using natural and commercial silymarins, as well as individual silybin, silychristin, and silydianin. Finally, an anti-wrinkle experiment on human faces was conducted using an emulsion containing natural silymarin. RESULTS: We demonstrated that silymarin composed of the natural phytochemical ratio exhibits superior anti-aging efficacy compared to silymarin prepared using the "commercial ratio." This finding was evidenced by its greater inhibitory effect on MMPs in human dermal fibroblasts, which are involved in collagen degradation in the dermis. Thus, the natural silymarin mixture was more effective at preventing collagen degradation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, the primary trigger for MMP synthesis, was attenuated more strongly by the natural silymarin mixture, likely due to the higher ROS scavenging capacity of silybin compared to silychristin and silydianin. Notably, although the reducing ability of individual compounds (silybin, silychristin, and silydianin), as well as both natural and commercial silymarin mixtures, was studied, no correlation between reducing power and ROS scavenging capacity was observed. The natural silymarin mixture was also more effective at downregulating tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), a key pro-inflammatory cytokine, though it did not affect interleukin-6 expression. This effect was also attributed to the higher anti-TNF-α capacity of silybin compared to that of silychristin and silydianin. Finally, an emulsion containing the natural ratio of silymarin was found to be effective in reducing facial wrinkles. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this study is the first to unveil the mechanistic basis underlying the superior anti-aging properties of silymarin containing a natural phytochemical ratio over commercial silymarin formulations. These findings are anticipated to be useful in producing better silymarin-based anti-aging cosmetic products.

BACKGROUND: Traditional black ginseng (BG) production requires resource-intensive multiple steaming-drying cycles. This study aimed to develop an efficient, sustainable method for producing novel black ginseng (hereafter referred to as Dark Ginseng, DG) with optimized rare ginsenoside contents with biological efficacy. METHODS: A sous vide-inspired enclosed system heating method was used, where sealed packaging retained water vapor to enable continuous moisture-mediated ginsenoside hydrolysis, fundamentally different from conventional open-system steam processing. Response surface methodology was employed to optimize the production parameters. DG underwent comprehensive morphological, colorimetric, and phytochemical characterizations. Biological activities were assessed by quantifying collagen gene expression in fibroblasts and inflammatory marker levels in keratinocytes. RESULTS: Optimal parameters (3-fold water ratio, 100 °C, 120 h duration) demonstrated excellent agreement with the regression model. DG exhibited physical features comparable to conventional BG, while achieving reduced processing time (42 %), lower carbon dioxide emissions (64 %), and cost reduction (81 %), and contained rare ginsenosides (ginsenosides Rg CONCLUSIONS: This innovative process developed in this study replaces the nine sequential steaming-drying cycles required for conventional BG production, with a single sequence involving sous vide-like heating, offering sustainability and economic advantages, while suggesting potential for applications in cosmetics and functional foods.