Delivery right on target: COSSMA

Customer expectations are changing. They increasingly require high-performance products with high quality, which is something that presents the cosmetics market with new challenges. Consequently, cosmetic ingredients need to be optimised to their maximum potential.

At our company, we are convinced that delivery systems are the scientific answer to tackle these increasingly high consumer expectations. The advances in the field of delivery systems in the pharmaceutical field and growing awareness of these solutions elsewhere has inspired the cosmetics industry so that delivery systems are now used in cosmetics products. In fact, their market value amounted to US$ 354 billion in 2014, and the CAGR was expected to reach an estimated 7.8% for the period between 2014–2020.

So far, most of the delivery systems currently available in cosmetics have relied on lipid-based capsules such as liposomes. However, the potential of this traditional delivery system has not yet been fully exploited. In order to really meet the expectations of consumers, more advanced delivery systems are necessary.

Currently, our portfolio comprises 9 delivery systems. Among these, 5 systems are exclusively available from our company. Starting from various base materials such as polymers, lipids and metals, all of our delivery systems are produced with the help of highly advanced technologies.

21 studies have been performed for each system so that they have been fully characterised in our labs. These studies helped to obtain application-oriented highly efficient products with perfect control over the delivery of the encapsulated active.

Delivery systems act as a team-builder

Our delivery systems act as a team-builder, connecting all the players involved in the development and use of a cosmetic product:

Skin: by boosting active ingredients’ skin penetration (see fig. 1a), carrying them when and where they are needed most (see fig. 1b), achieving outstanding performance and zero waste (fig. 1b)
Formula: through lowering the minimum dose of the active up to 0.001%, which in turns makes formulators’ lives easier and leads to affordable formulations with optimal sensory attributes
Product marketing: with new scientifically proven and consumer-friendly claims
Final consumers: with high-quality products with consumer-perceivable benefits and improved sensorial experience for every age.

Delivery systems at a glance

Delivery system platforms that need to be mentioned here are the Cosmetic Drone, Activys, Carnauba Wax Capsules, MVPs and ACA Capsules. Each delivery system platform shows specific features in terms of materials, internal structure, active loading ability, kinetics in terms of skin penetration, the release of actives, degradation profile and whether the system can encapsulate various functional actives.

Briefly, the Cosmetic Drone is a polymer-based delivery system which allows actives to target specific skin cells. With the help of specific moieties attached on its surface, fibroblasts, keratinocytes, skin neuron cells, melanocytes and adipocytes can be targeted in order to achieve a site-specific release of the encapsulated active (fig. 2). Moreover, the targeting moiety also acts as an active ingredient, showing a synergistic effect with the encapsulated active ingredient. For this reason, this most advanced delivery system, which targets specific the cells, works as a 2-in-1 product.

The Activys technology relies on the self-assembly of Omega 3, which can form a stable, vesicle-like structure. This system is a good example of skin food combined with superb anti-inflammatory properties. When Activys capsules are degraded within the skin, any kind of skin inflammation is reduces (fig. 3). Thus, this system turns into an active ingredient itself and becomes the best ally for sensitive and atopic-prone skin.

We developed Carnauba Wax Capsules for encapsulating and protecting oil-soluble active ingredients from premature degradation. In this case, retinol, an evergreen molecule, has been encapsulated in a natural delivery system. We managed to achieve very remarkable results: pure retinol is stabilised at quite a high concentration of 7% while neutralising the irritation potential of retinol. Moreover, the capsules modulate both retinol penetration and release.

MVPs (Most Valuable Peptides) are metal-based sub-micrometric particles decorated with bio-mimetic, functional peptides and are particularly suitable for premium cosmetics. Again, enhanced and quick penetration as far as the dermis is achieved as well as peptide protection. The peptide works its way little by little into the skin – this can take up to 30 hours. The result is a proven effect.

Finally, ACA Capsules are made of self-assembled polysaccharides. Due to their inner nature, hydrophilic active ingredients can be incorporated and their release can be modulated.

Delivery Systems: A reality in pharmaceutics, now boosting cosmetics´s efficacy with measurable precision

Active ingredients and delivery systems team up. A cosmetic delivery system is the technology created by formulators to incorporate, integrate, protect, and stabilize the active ingredients within a skincare, personal care, or cosmetic product. And it is this integration of active ingredients that make cosmetic delivery systems so vitally important to product formulations. Active ingredients rely on innovative, effective delivery systems to make good on the claims found on skincare, personal care, or beauty product labels and packaging.

Although many consumers are unaware of the important role delivery systems play in their favorite skincare product, delivery systems are one of the most critical components to ensuring the overall functionality and performance of a product.

• ACTIVE STABILIZATION,

• BOOSTING PENETRATION SPEED,

• LONG-LASTING TIME-RELEASED BENEFITS,

• EVEN ACTIVELY-TARGETED DELIVERY...