Written by: Juliana Carrizosa – Product Innovation Specialist at Lignopure
Three major skin concerns: one solution
Aging skin, sun damage and uneven skin tones rank among the five most common skin concerns nowadays. But this is more than a statistic, it is an urgent call to find solutions that help protect the skin from extrinsic aging factors, like oxidative stress caused by UV irradiation, while maintaining a natural and beautiful skin look.
To meet these demands, the cosmetic market offers a variety of products for every part of the face and for every single skin concern. However, consumers end up accumulating a thousand specific products, which will remain forgotten on a dusty bathroom shelf sooner or later. From the consumer‘s point of view, it’s impractical; from a sustainability perspective, it’s even worse.
In this context, the cosmetic industry has been focusing on researching ingredients with multifunctional properties that lead to simpler formulations in recent years. The question that arises is: is there a single cosmetic ingredient that can tackle all three concerns at the same time that’s also sustainable? LignoBase is the answer!
Upcycling the protective power of nature for cosmetic applications
Lignin, the main ingredient in LignoBase is recognized as the second most abundant biopolymer on Earth. It is produced in large quantities by biorefineries around the world as a byproduct. However, it has remained an underutilized material for many years.
In the last few decades, research and development on lignin valorization as a renewable material has gained increasing attention due to its potential applications in cosmetics. In the same vein, several studies have demonstrated a wide variety of lignin’s multifunctional properties: antioxidant and protective activity and antimutagenic activity, among others. Unfortunately, the complexity and variability of lignin from different sources has often made the process of making lignin available as an economically and technically feasible solution on a commercial scale challenging. After years of development and acquiring the know-how to work with different lignins, Lignopure patented its particle technology to upcycle this valuable biopolymer, converting crude lignin into our three ready-to-use cosmetic ingredients, LignoBase Cool, LignoBase Neutral and LignoBase Warm.
LignoBase, a new sustainable multifunctional line for the beauty industry
LignoBase is a natural multifunctional cosmetic ingredient line that effectively protects the skin and, at the same time, offers multiple benefits for a beautiful skin look. On the one hand, LignoBase’s unique polyphenolic molecular structure provides numerous cosmetic functionalities such as skin protection against free radicals, antioxidant activity in the formulation and SPF boosting capacities. On the other hand, each LignoBase variant has a distinctive brown undertone, which is key to meeting the demand for inclusive products for diverse skin tones, while offering oil adsorption properties, a matte finish, and a rejuvenating soft-focus effect on the skin.
Derived from ethically sourced non-food competition biomasses, and using a transformation process that preserves the natural properties of its lignin of origin, each LignoBase is a natural, safe, and sustainable first‑of‑its‑kind ingredient.
With its fine-tuned size, shape, and high-quality standards, LignoBase can be easily incorporated into various cosmetic products for skin care, sun care, color cosmetics, eye cosmetics, and hair care, among others.
References
https://m1-beauty.com.au/2020/5-most-common-skin-concerns/
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b00934
Rinnerthaler, Mark, et al. “Oxidative stress in aging human skin.” Biomolecules 5.2 545-589 (2015). DOI: 10.3390/biom5020545
Espinoza-Acosta, J. L., et al. “Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Antimutagenic Properties of Technical Lignins and Their Applications”. BioResources 11, 5452–5481 (2016). DOI: 10.15376/biores.11.2.Espinoza_Acosta