Mike, can you just briefly introduce Renmatix?
Renmatix is a Pennsylvania-based company that has developed the Plantrose Process, which converts plant materials into valuable, multifunctional, clean ingredients for a wide range of applications, including food and personal care.
Winner of the 20th anniversary Presidential Green Chemistry Award, the proprietary process challenges conventional production economics by using only water in converting plant-based feedstocks into high performing, cost-effective ingredients.
On the recent Suppliers Day in New York you introduced Celltice, as you call it: the beauty industry’s first zero-chemical self-emulsifying active. What is this active? And why “zero-chemical”?
The foundation of plants and trees are cellulose and lignin, or as we like to call them Mother Nature’s building blocks. Using a revolutionary approach, Renmatix has discovered a way to release these building blocks in their native form, just the way Mother Nature intended.
Celltice consists of cellulose and lignin arranged into a unique particle size distribution that purposefully delivers industry-leading benefits in personal care. We have found that Celltice has both active and excipient properties in formulation, and is truly multifunctional in nature.
Our definition of zero-chemical is a production process that does not involve any solvents or harsh chemicals of any kind. The beauty of the Renmatix approach is that our only production inputs are plants and water.
How exactly does this Plantrose Process work?
Modern consumers want clean label, sustainably produced and ethical products, and they know that what they put on their skin is just as important as what they put in their bodies. So for us, the process is just as important as the material itself.
We have perfected a way to release cellulose and lignin, Mother Nature’s basic building blocks of plants, from their inherent structure. Renmatix’s award-winning Plantrose Process uses supercritical water (water that has been heated and pressurized into a fourth state of matter) to gently release cellulose and lignin from plant materials.
Our water-based technology performs in an affordable fashion that is cleaner and greener than using strong acids, solvents or costly enzymes. The Plantrose Process is better for people and the planet; it was recognized with the U.S.
Presidential Green Chemistry award for those qualities.
What are Celltice’s key properties?
As a result of a novel molecular organization of cellulose and lignin, Celltice delivers three primary benefits in personal care.
- Celltice gently fosters skin health by reducing sebum and encouraging proper skin turnover
- Celltice protects against environmental stress by acting as an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory
- Celtlice enables indulgent textures through a novel Pickering emulsification mechanism
These benefits mirror the true functionality of these building blocks in nature, and can be leveraged in a variety of personal care applications – from skincare to cleansers to cosmetics.We think it’s a perfect technology for the Clean Beauty movement.
Why did you choose red maple (Acer rubrum) as a source for your first launch in personal care?
Although we can release Mother Nature’s building blocks from any botanical feedstock, we selected red maple for several key reasons. First, red maple is sustainably grown and harvested close to the Great Lakes, and near our manufacturing facility.
Secondly, we can source a red maple co-product of the forestry industry that is typically not utilized, which works well in our Plantrose process. Lastly, red maple is non-genetically modified and grown without the use of pesticides.
Will you consider other sources in the future?
We are very confident that Celltice released from red maple is a wonderful starting point for our commercialization efforts in personal care, but we will look to leverage other sustainable feedstocks as we grow in the coming years.
Can our readers find you at an event?
We launched Celltice into the industry at the NYSCC Suppliers Day in May, and actually brought Mother Nature to life at our booth! We look forward to meeting readers at the CaliSCC Suppliers Day in October, or In-Cosmetics Europe in 2020.
We would encourage your readers to reach out to us and request a complimentary sample at our website - https://renmatix.com/products/products-list/beauty
