FROM THE FRONT | Origins Plantscription Anti-Aging Serum set to launch

AND THE company is singing from the rooftops about it, using no less superlative a term than milestone.

Why? Because the organization has apparently discovered a new must-have ingredient, from leaf and bark extract of the African Anogeissus tree. Sustainably harvested in Ghana, it’s the star ingredient in the Origins Plantscription anti-aging serum.

Origins claims this star ingredient has the same effect on skin as retinoic acid, the vitamin A derivative we’ve all been going bonkers over in recent years. Apparently, this extract works by stimulating production of a protein that forms the elastic fibers in the skin to strengthen it. By speeding up cell turnover (which is what retinoic acid does), it also helps to ease the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Other active ingredients include siegesbeckia, rosemary extract, peptides and vitamin C.

You’re supposed to get the benefits of an injection without the side effects after. That said, I’ve yet to come across a cream or beauty product that lives up to such claims. Injections, for one, are placed much deeper than the surface, where creams are applied and only partially absorbed. Second, to have a prescription-strength OTC product, you usually have to, well, have a prescription. Perhaps this newly discovered ingredient is Origins’s secret weapon, though, helping them to circumnavigate the process of getting a cream approved with OTC benefits but without prescription ingredients.

According to Jane Lauder, the general manager of Origins, “Our customers said they wanted anti-aging, but in a natural, healthy way, not through procedures or injections.”

Plantscription launches February, 2011, after five years of research and development, testing and clinical trials to back up the product’s claims. U.S. Origins stores like Macy’s, Dillard’s, Bon-Ton and Belk will sell 30-mL vials at $55 retail.

Read the original post here, written by www.beautywoome.com's Jessica for Smarter Beauty Blog.

LUST-HAVE | CHANEL Sublimage Essential Revitalising Concentrate

SINCE WE'RE on the subject of serums this week. we need to tell you about the next big launch. Mark your calendars for Friday, October 8th because CHANEL is launching a new serum (or concentrate) in its Sublimage range (famed for its Planifolia PFA (vanilla planifolia + polyfractioning process)).

And it features yet another new ingredient to the beautyscape - the Golden Flower of the Himalayas aka Golden Champa aka the heal-all flower. You'll see it on CHANEL ingredient labels at Golden Champa PFA (polyfractioning is used again to extract the flower esters and maintain their integrity. I am unable to tell you what polyfractioning is... yet). Apparently the flower can help detoxify and revitalise skin. How? Well, what I've read is that Golden Champa PFA is anti-oxidizing and "induces active cellular revitalization by stimulating the expression of two essential enzymes... DT-Diaphorase and GST". There are all sorts of other scientific-sounding claims about the increase in ATP (energy/food) for cells, reduction in peroxized lipids in DNA, etc., however I would need a scientist to first explain such things to me and, second, verify whether this is true or not in order to tell you, one way or another, in this space today, if Golden Champa can do all those things.

That said, I, for one, will be trying it. And why not (tho I won't be spending this much on all my beauty products)? CHANEL does not disclose the amount of money it spends on research per year (which we take as a sign that it's A LOT), nor do they depend on suppliers for their active ingredients, instead choosing to grow their own. Their extraction processes are highly secretive and, well, if they're that intensive on the R&D side, I'd like to see if the fruit of their collective labor works. Wouldn't you? Plus, the Sublimage range has received rave reviews from consumers since its 2006 launch. 

It is pricey at £290.00 for 30ml, but, I've been using La Mer The Concentrate (not cheap) for ages -- and I LOVE it (love it), so I understand prioritizing my purchases (Dove soap or jojoba oil at cleanser for a snip but an expensive serum if it works, I use it daily and am judicious with applying it).

Needless to say, Xavier Ormancey (Chanel's Director of Active Ingredients) seems to spare no expense, nor leave any rock unturned, in his search for un-paralleled active ingredients for CHANEL skincare. 

Sources:

• Beauty in full Bloom, The Times, September 2006
•  CHANEL press office 

BEAUTY 101 | What is a serum?

What is a serum?

A SKINCARE serum is a thick liquid-like, (generally) oil-free product with a high concentration of active ingredients and is often moisutrizing, although is not necessarily a moisturizer. They are often used after cleansing and before applying moisturizer or night cream as a sort of supplemental product. They’re commonly used in targeted skincare for anti-aging, anti-oxidation, hydration and plumping, brightening, evening skin tone and to help with acne. Some claims say that the molecules in serum are smaller than in lotion therefore they penetrate the epidermis (top layer of skin) more readily and quickly, but I haven’t found scientific evidence to back-up that claim.

Generally speaking, cosmetics companies are free to use the term however they please (there’s no regulation) but this is the general lay person’s definition of a serum versus, say, a day cream or face balm.

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Image credit: http://www.virospack.com/en/