As we’ve discussed in Part 1 of this series, there are many exciting new innovations in the realm of reliable and customer-favored personal care ingredients, and they’re now available to formulators. By utilizing these new compounds and revolutionary research discoveries, formulators can maximize the impact, efficiency, efficacy, aesthetics, and deliverables of time-tested anti-aging ingredients, while also creating the exciting new multifunction personal care products that the consumer increasingly demands.

Hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate: heroic humectants!

Hyaluronic acid is one of the most clinically effective additives to use in anti-aging products because it helps create smooth, firm, plump skin by retaining skin’s moisture. All babies are born with a very high production of hyaluronic acid, which gives their skin that soft, glowing look and feel. But, as we age, hyaluronic acid production slows and moves away from the outermost layers of the skin to the basal layer.

This reduced HA production and retreat from the epidermis creates skin that appears dry, dull, sagging, drooping, or lacking firmness.  In addition, everyday environmental stressors, like exposure to UVB rays, can further reduce HA production and elevate glycosaminoglycan.

Luckily for consumers and formulators, HA is is a non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan that holds onto water, which, makes it an incredible component to add to anti-aging and moisturizing personal care products. HA’s covalent link also allows it to shapeshift and combine and work well with various collections of ingredients, which makes it a superstar additive to a multifunctional product.

In addition to its other benefits, hyaluronic acid also naturally occurs in the human body, in the gaps between skin cells. This makes HA an appealing additive to consumers seeking out more “natural” claims from their personal care products.

Similarly, sodium hyaluronate is the salt of hyaluronic acid and is also a very strong humectant that hydrates by pulling water into the skin. Sodium hyaluronate is also great for anti-aging products because it pads and stuffs the areas between the connective fibers of elastin and collagen, thus increasing skin plumpness, boosting skin firmness, and reducing the appearance of the unpleasant signs of aging, like fine lines and wrinkles.  

The multitude of positive properties in hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate truly make these two ingredients a stellar addition to any multifunctional, anti-aging, and moisturizing product formulation.

Challenges with HA

However, when formulating with HA, there are several challenges to consider.

First, there’s this daunting question: is a low molecular weight or a high molecular weight better for a specific formulation?  The answer is usually that new product formulations benefit from both and high and low molecular weight HA:

  • High molecular weight HA offers a sleek, velvety, and flexible moisture barrier to the skin. HMW hyaluronic acid does this by positively changing the consistency and feel of gels and creams. 
  • Meanwhile, low molecular HA more deeply permeates the skin’s layers.

Thus, to provide the sort of multi-benefit, multipurpose personal product today’s customer desires, a combination of HMW and LMW will both enhance and elevate a new product’s formula.

Secondly, when developing personal care products with HA, it’s extremely important to remember that if a high temperature is not used during development (the temperature must be at least above 60C), HA will not dissolve uniformly.  Another challenge with HA is that on its own, it’

The third challenge with HA is that on its own, it’s difficult to solubilize into formulas. The hydrophilicity and low density of HA can form agglomerates, which create a visibly dissolved surface and powder-dry core. Thus, the correct use of appropriate solvent carrier, like glycerin or glycol, is critical. But, it is also important to remember that the solvent carrier must be added slowly, so it can properly and effectively aid in the wetting process.

A fourth and final challenge formulators must remember is how the HA’s charge can destabilize nonionic systems and/or possibly lower the pH in polymerics. By introducing an associative thickener, upping the emulsifier, or changing the order of addition, this problem can be corrected.

EndiMoist® HA Solution, a pre-dispersed HA solution, can also solve many of these challenges.

EndiMoist® HA Solution uses a low molecular weight HA to increase support and sustainability to all four layers of the epidermis, and provides a simple solution to temperature-dependent processes. Usage as low 0.05% and as high as 10% of the Endimoist HA Solution in some high-end applications will prove effective. Finally, the HA Solution can simply be added near the end of processing, along with any preservative additives.

Hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate are two incredibly efficient, effective, and important ingredients to any successful anti-aging skin care regimen. These consumer and chemist anti-aging ingredient favorites are reliable effective in clinical trials for one simple reason – they get the firming, plumping, moisturizing results consumers want.

Pioneering new ingredient delivery systems

As the vast anti-aging market continues to grow, so does the innovation behind every component of a personal care product – including the product’s delivery system.  As we previously discussed, the active ingredients of olive-based emulsifiers – glycolic acid, sodium hyaluronate, and hyaluronic acid – are all incredible additions to any personal care product formulation. These anti-aging superstars deliver on form, aesthetics, and results, either alone or when combined with tried-and-true formulas to create new multi-beneficial products.

But now, these champion performers are being made even more exciting by breakthroughs in active ingredient delivery systems. Today, thanks to new research and technological developments, delivery systems are trailblazing real paths of improvement.

These systems are of vital importance to anti-aging and personal care product formulations, as they obviously ensure the effective distribution of certain active ingredients.  One example of the innovations in play? The Cosmetic Drone® from Infinitec is a cutting edge, advanced delivery system that uses its Infinitec X50 Capsules™ composed of biocompatible and biodegradable polymers to overcome the hurdles involved in active ingredient delivery.

These capsules not only assure the deliverability of each active ingredient but possess additional assets. First, the Infinitec X50 Capsules™ protect active ingredients from degradation, via a slow release that assures a better and more beautiful formulation, with high-quality results for the consumer.

Secondly, these capsules use the affinity ligands on the surface of carrier particles to target specific cells for unique ingredient retention, penetration, and diffusion. This unique process is called ligand-mediated targeting, or active targeting, and ensures the proper binding between molecules, and thus the effectiveness of formulations.

Looking to a win-win future

As consumer desires and expectations for anti-aging products that deliver a wide and varied array of benefits, additives, and inspiring improvements continue to grow on a global scale, so too will the progress of research that delivers on those needs.

People will always seek out their favorite, proven, time-tested ingredients and formulations. But now, formulators can mix and mingle those workhorse ingredients with groundbreaking advances to create exciting new formulations.

Combining these two winning components – proven, reliable ingredients and the innovations of today and tomorrow –  allows the formulator more creativity and a bigger range of options for product development than ever before. Expanding his or her ability to innovate, in turn, lets each of them tap into consumers’ swelling demand for multiuse, results-oriented, personal care products.

It’s a win-win for both formulators and consumers alike, as they’re both able to reap all the advantages and benefits of combining the tried-and-true with the innovative and original.