Yummy Yum Berry

Yum Berry (Yang Mei) has been grown in China for over 2000 years. It is a stunning unique fruit vastly popular in China as a summer food staple and is vital to Chinese medicine. It contains high levels of lactic, gallic and ellagic acids. It protects skin from UVA damage, helps promote cell turnover and brightens hyper-pigmented skin.

Not so Silly CiLi Fruit

CiLi Fruit is a rare rose bush found only in remote mountain ranges in Mainland China.  In Chinese, Cili means precious fruit. It has high levels of vitamin C, earning the title “King of Vitamin C. It is rich in superoxide dismutase, polyphenols, like those found in red wine, and vitamins A and E. CiLi Fruit is a powerful antioxidant, scavenges free radicals, stimulates skin cell repair, improves capillary health and other collagen type issues.

From Russia with Love

We have the Blue Honeysuckle Berry. It contains 5 times the antioxidants of a blueberry and is rich in ellagic acid and vitamin C. It strengthens capillaries to prevent bruising, helps with skin circulations, reduces dark circles and brightens skin tone. It has also been found to protect against UVA free radical damage and increased glutathione production.

*Note: Not all of these ingredients are available at this time and are mentioned for educational purposes only. Please check back regularly to see if and when they become available.

Green Tea (Camellia Sinensis) has been regarded as a promoter of good health when consumed internally. However, here at CoValence, we like to take advantage of its ability to promote good cellular health by applying it topically.

The primary active ingredient found in green tea is a compound called Epigallocatechin Gallate or EGCG. In its pure form, EGCG acts as a potent antioxidant which protects the skin from free-radical induced lipid peroxidation and DNA damage. Additionally, it stimulates our cell’s ability to produce energy and promotes wound healing by aiding in the differentiation of new skin cells. EGCG’s ability to protect as well as heal damaged skin makes it a priceless active in our skin care formulate.

Contact your Account Executive today to learn more about EGCG and how it can benefit your skincare products.

Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is a naturally occurring substance found in plant and animals cells. When applied to the skin, DHA reacts with peptides and amino acids in the horny layer to generate a brown polymer called melanoidin. Groups of these melanoidins produce a safe, natural looking tan without the need for damaging sun or UV exposure.

Here at CoValence, we use a 100% all-natural DHA that is produced using a Gluten and GMO-free fermentation process. Our safe and eco-friendly self-tanning products can give your skin that sun kissed look, sans the skin damage. Speak to your Account Executive today about formulating with all-natural DHA.

There has been a lot of buzz around resveratrol lately.  In fact, Arch Personal Care received the 2009 BSB Innovation Prize  in the ‘naturals’ categoryfor their Metabiotics™ Resveratrol . 

Resveratrol is a polyphenolic antioxidant and phytoalexin commonly found in red grapes and wine that CoValence has formulated with for years. Our resveratrol is a stable form derived from Giant Knotweed (Polygonum Cuspidatum) which is the richest natural source of resveratrol available.  It is commonly known that resveratrol has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, helping protect skin from UV damage, but the buzz around resveratrol these days is that resveratrol acts as an activator of Sirtuins, increasing cellular life.

Ask today how you can incorporate Resveratrol into your next development project.

INCI – Polygonum Cuspidatum (Giant Knotweed) Extract

Resveratrol can be found in the Vault’s Night Cream (VLT0.5004G). Contact your Account Executive for more information on Resveratrol and the Night Cream.

When our skin is assaulted by UV light, an interesting and complex series of chemical reactions happen. To keep it simple, after UV exposure, our keratinocytes call for help from the melanocytes for protection. Kerotinocytes contact the melanocytes by producing an enzyme called endothelin (ET-1), which travels down to the melanocyte and binds with its ET_B receptor. Once bound to its receptor, the melanocyte is prompted to begin melanogenesis. The by-product of melanogenesis is melanin, our natural photoprotectant. The newly produced melanin then travels back up to the kerotinocytes, creating a protective barrier from any additional UV radiation.

 Unfortunately, melanin and its ability to pigment our skin once oxidized, is not always a welcomed guest. This makes way for efficacious skin whitening agents like ALGOWHITE. ALGOWHITE is a brown algae extract that interrupts ET-1’s ability to bind with ET_B.This mechanism breaks the communication line to the melanocyte, effectively preventing the formation of melanin. This material also protects the skin against free radicals which have the ability to oxidize the melanin already existing in the epidermis. In addition to the above, ALGOWHITE helps promote natural exfoliation, which expels the old oxidized melanin, completing the cycle.

Lilac Stem Cells offer complete treatment for acne disorders

Buddleja Stem Cells are an MMPi and protect against UV stress

Centella Asiatica Stem Cells firm and offer relief for rosacea sufferers

Edelweiss Stem Cells benefit the special eye contour area

Echinacea Stem Cells promote collagen and revitalize dull, tired skin

So now we know that telomeres are the cell’s biological clock regulating how fast we age. They are found in both the epidermis and dermis and shorten every time the cell divides. Cells are only able to divide a limited number of times before they die. Sounds pretty dire. We thought we were supposed to promote cell turnover to stay young. So what do we do? We know we can’t lengthen telomeres, but can we just stop them from shortening? Renovage™ from Sederma claims to do just that. Renovage™ is the ingredient, Teprenone, which stabilizes telomere shortening increasing cell life by 1/3. That’s a lot of years in the life of a cell. And if slowing down our cells’ biological clock wasn’t enough, Renovage™ firms, hydrates, plumps and reduces wrinkles, sun spots, redness and pore size.

Ask an Account Executive today how you can incorporate Renovage™ into your next anti-age product.

Thymulen®4

A novel, Biomimetic peptide designed after our very own natural Youth Protein…

Galen of Pergamon, an ancient Greek Physician and Philosopher, was the first to note that the human thymus shrinks as we age. The thymus plays a critical role in the development of a healthy immune system as we begin life. However, the vanishing act performed by the thymus, is also directly linked to our immune system’s shortcomings as we get older. Our skin, supported by the immune system, is directly affected by these deficiencies and as a result is encouraged to show the signs of aging.

Thymulen®4 is designed to compensate for the natural loss of thymoproietin (youth protein), an active constituent of the thymus. The biomimetic peptide (Acetyl Tetrapeptide-2) in Thymulen®4 takes a cutting-edge approach to anti-aging by stimulating the creation macrophages and Langerhans cells (part of the immune response system) and reinvigorating the epidermis’ ability to regenerate. These two modes of action lead to a reinforced defense system and promote epidermal restructuring.

Ask an Account Executive today how you can incorporate Thymulen®4 into your next anti-age product.

BOTOX® Alternatives

Argireline® was the first peptide that claimed to be an alternative to Botulinum Toxin, and took the industry by storm. Now there are so many peptides and botanicals that claim to relax expression muscles reducing wrinkles that it is hard to tell them apart.  Let’s take a look at three of the heavy-hitter peptides in this competitive arena.

Argireline® is a hexapeptide that is a mimic of the N-terminal end of SNAP-25 which competes with the SNARE complex, stopping neurotransmitters from releasing and relaxing muscle contractions. Studies have confirmed a 32% decrease in deep wrinkles within 28 days when 5% is used twice daily. Years later, Lipotec decided to make a great thing even better, and along came Leuphasyl®. It is a pentapeptide that works synergistically with Argireline® for even better results. Leuphasyl® mimics the natural path of enkephalins coupling with enkephalin receptors to release G protein subunits which keeps neurons in their resting state, halting muscle contractions. The powerful combination of 5% Leuphasyl® and 5% Argireline® showed a maximum reduction in wrinkle depth of up to 47% over 28 days. Can peptides have children? Argireline® did. SNAP-8 is the elongation of Argireline® making it an octapeptide. It is a new analogue of the N-terminal end of SNAP-25, blocking the SNARE complex. Get this – studies have shown when 10% was applied twice a day for 28 days, there was a reduction of wrinkles of up to 63%! That is in time for that high school reunion.

Do they work as well as injected Botulinum Toxin? No, they do not. But they are an alternative for those wary of the needle or for the fearless, to prolong and enhance the effects of Botulinum Toxin.

Ask today how you can incorporate BOTOX® alternatives into your next development project.

Argireline®, Leuphasyl®, and SNAP-8 can be found in the Vault’s Peptide-99™ Serum (VLT0.4015G). Argireline® is also in the Private Stock Peptide Serum (VLT0.4007G). Contact your Account Executive for more information on BOTOX® alternatives and the Peptide-99™ and Private Stock Peptide Serums.

Myrtle Extract – What‘s a Sirtuin?

Sirtuins are making headlines as the new superstar in the fight against aging at the cellular level. But what are they? Sirtuins are a class of proteins that regulate gene activity and cellular life spans by prolonging the life of fibroblasts, collagen producing powerhouses. There are at least seven human sirtuins, named SIRT1 through SIRT7. SIRT1 stands for Silent Information Regulation Two homolog 1 and is the key to cell longevity.

This is where myrtle extract comes in. LONGEVICELL^® is a botanical extract from myrtle, a scented white flower from a Mediterranean shrub rich in oligogalacturonans. It has been proven to slow down the senescence factors and activate the SIRT1 expression in skin, increasing the lifetime of cells. LONGEVICELL^® also blocks the glycation reaction of collagen keeping skin smooth and supple. It is a true cell regenerator and guardian of tissue longevity erasing the first signs of aging.

INCI: Water, Hydrolyzed Myrtus Communis Leaf Extract

Contact your Account Executive for more information on developing a with LONGEVICELL^®.