Skin care and holistic well-being

COSSMA: Sensitive skin is becoming more and more common not only in facial care, but also in body care. What are the reasons for this?

Leyre Cueva: Let’s make clear first that perceiving having sensitive skin is not the same as having sensitive skin. And it is a perception that we should consider for responding to consumer’s demands. Statistics show that nowadays, on average, one in two people around the world claim to have sensitive skin. Furthermore, cases of reactive skin and atopic dermatitis haven’t stopped growing. There are a lot of reasons for rising sensitive skin disorders like dermatitis, rosacea, and intolerant or reactive skin. We could summarise them as increasing pollution levels, new lifestyle habits, stressful and a busy way of living, or regular mask wearing (in a pandemic situation). People are aware of the impact that external conditions have on their health and beauty, and they are asking for specific solutions not only to avoid the discomforting effects on their skin but also, and specially, to improve their quality of life and assure their well-being.

What must be considered when selecting the active ingredients?

The most relevant factor is to reinforce consumer confidence. We need to respond to safe beauty demands. In cosmetics, safe beauty means using well-known ingredients recognised for their benefits to health and beauty, with proven efficacy (efficacy results are a must), natural origin (Cosmos certified is a plus), and ethically sourced (an increasingly relevant factor to consumers in their purchasing decision). Active ingredients chosen for sensitive skin formulations should demonstrate that they are efficient and welltolerated of course, but that is only the starting point. What will make the difference will be to reinforce on one hand, the conviction that ingredients used respond to “safe beauty claims” and on the other hand, that the ingredients used are “quality of life enhancers”. Today’s consumer is very exigent. They want to avoid discomforting skin effects but what is more relevant, is they want to improve their quality of life and assure well-being. All active ingredients should spotlight achieving those goals to assure success.

In the current pandemic situation, home care plays a major role in personal well-being. What can the sensocosmetic approach achieve here?

You are totally right. Due to the pandemic, the home has become the new sanctuary living space. Home is now a multifunctional space: a workspace, relaxation space, indoor gym, familiar space. Also, the impact of the pandemic on mental health, with rising levels of stress and anxiety ,make focusing on well-being benefits more appealing than ever. All actions that place a spotlight on creating a warm indoor atmosphere that promotes productivity, encouragement, sleep, relax and all kind of positive emotions are welcome. To respond to that demand of overall well-being, we have different cosmetic approaches that share the same purpose. Sensory cosmetics for example, impact on psychological wellbeing and beauty by stimulating the senses through smell, music, light, or touch. Based on neuroscience  which analyses the role of emotions in decision making, neurocosmetics relate skin health to a psychological and emotional state. It defines the relation between skin and the central nervous system. And going one step further on skin and senses connections, sensocosmetics act on the sensory receptors of the skin like taste to improve the quality of life, minimising all discomforting effects with long-term results.

How do those active ingredients affect skin quality and well-being from a neuroscientific perspective?

Proving a new mechanism of action based on sensory bitter taste receptors that are not only present in the skin but also have a proven function, opens a new field of development in cosmetics. This discovery will offer a solution to skin conditions using a new approach, and thus meet the growing and ever more demanding needs of consumers. Studying the efficacy of the action of sensory bitter taste receptors in protecting and calming the most reactive skin during a time of increased skin sensitivity owing to numerous external aggressions is a further step towards meeting the growing demand for innovation for the benefit of well-being.

Cosmos certified, the new active ingredient can calm and protect reactive skin emulating the natural protection of plants: their bitter taste. It is made from hops with relaxing, antioxidant and antibacterial properties which help create safe beauty products in response to consumers demands. Furthermore, it is ethically sourced from a family-owned local supplier, thereby reducing its environmental impact and carbon footprint. Our studies have demonstrated that this active ingredient activates bitter taste receptors on the skin related with typical inflammatory reactions such as redness, itching, or burning, which affect sensitive and reactive skin. By minimising and preventing all those discomforting effects, the active ingredient is said to improve the quality of life with a novel sensocosmetic scientific approach: our own senses taking care of our skin to enhance its well-being. 

Leyre Cueva recently delivered a session on this topic as part of in-cosmetics Discover. Watch on demand: http://discover.in-cosmetics.com