Alfalfa to the benefit of a plural beauty

Published: 26-Mar-2024

To develop this natural active ingredient, SILAB has used the seeds of alfalfa, a plant native to Asia and that has been cultivated throughout the world for thousands of years, for both its nutritional qualities and medicinal properties

Outlining the profile of a universal beauty

Driven by the emergence of the concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the reprioritization of individual needs progressively drew a new face to beauty, where every individual neither feels excluded nor marginalized. This approach now extends beyond skin color to encompass the specific characteristics of each ethnic group, gender, or stage of life.

The study of these structural and functional skin specificities provoked a strong response in dermatology, allowing the cosmetic industry to exalt a “plural beauty”: more homogeneous, less codified and less stereotyped.

Recently, SILAB developed a unique approach on this topic: the company identified the main skin characteristics of consumers according to ethnicity, gender, and age in order to outline the profile of a universal beauty. Three expectations stand out: a beautiful skin quality (characterized by skin hydration and fine skin texture for a smoothed microrelief), an even, radiant complexion (free from spots related to post-inflammatory scars and skin aging) and reduced signs of aging (thanks to firmer skin and faded wrinkles).

These three axes are run by biological mechanisms taking effect in the dermis and epidermis. In light of this, SILAB has banked on a cross-disciplinary efficacy for its latest multifunctional active ingredient: INCLUSIUM®.

Enhancing the beauty of all skin types

Enriched with alfalfa galactomannans, this natural active ingredient stimulates the biological pathways essential to epidermal and dermal functionalities. Thanks to a large-scale
exploratory study, it has been established that INCLUSIUM® stimulates epidermal functionalities by modulating the biological pathways related to the physical and water barrier, the immune barrier, and the anchoring of the epidermis to the dermis. It also reinforces the dermal matrix quality by boosting the synthesis of collagen I and reducing the synthesis of MMP-1. This transversal activity spectrum of INCLUSIUM® was identified thanks to the combination of SILAB’s expertise in tissue engineering and in transcriptomics.

Furthermore, five clinical studies were specifically designed to demonstrate the performance of INCLUSIUM® . Evaluated on mixed gender groups with young and mature, Caucasian, Asian, Latin-American, and Afro-American panels, this active ingredient meets universal cosmetic expectations thanks to its hydra-smoothing and complexion perfector powers as of 7 days of treatment, and to its clinically proven anti-aging effect.

Alfalfa, an herbaceous plant with many virtues

To develop this natural active ingredient, SILAB has used the seeds of alfalfa, a plant native to Asia and that has been cultivated throughout the world for thousands of years, for both its nutritional qualities and medicinal properties.

Two French agricultural cooperatives with several organic-certified farms were selected, with which cultivation contracts have been set up. This strategy ensures the security and traceability of supplies right down to the plot, while guaranteeing the economic sustainability of the supply chain.

The richness of alfalfa seeds in polysaccharides was exploited to obtain the galactomannans of interest. These were extracted using a targeted hydrolysis process, followed by a purification stage to increase the purity of the active molecule of interest. With its demonstrated efficacy potential on various panels, INCLUSIUM® is a natural multifunctional active ingredient (natural origin content: 99.2% (ISO 16128)) that sublimates all skins.

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