Claimed to be obtained directly from tuber flour of Peruvian maca roots using a ‘bio-enzymatic process patented by Expanscience Laboratories’, Skinergium Bio is a ‘new and organic version of [existing ingredient] Skinergium’, marketing and sales manager for Expanscience Laboratories Claire Perichaud told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.
Organic certification
The bio-enzymatic process, which was modified as part of efforts to gain organic certification, involves the ‘organic maca powder’ undergoing enzymatic hydrolysis, ultra filtration and freeze drying.
Certification was also subject to adjustments to the cleaning process and storage of the ingredient, as well as compulsory six month audits of the Expanscience Laboratories factory.
‘In addition to its organic status’, added Perichaud, Skinergium Bio ‘is also preservative free’.
As with the previous ingredient, Skinergium Bio is said to reduce wrinkles and boost the skin’s radiance and luminosity ‘for use with mature, tired and dull skin’ by stimulating the ‘proliferation of artificially aged fibroblasts which leads to a significant improvement on wrinkles’ she added.
Efficacy tests
Expanscience Laboratories’ in vitro tests involved comparing artificially aged fibroblasts’ ability to replicate with or without the presence of the active ingredient.
It was claimed that, without the active ingredient, the replication capacities of aged fibroblasts are much lower than those of young fibroblasts. The company therefore concludes that Skinergium Bio could compensate for the age-related decrease in the dermal cell population and counter ‘intrinsic cutaneous ageing’.
The company’s clinical trial involved 19 volunteers applying a cream containing 0.1% of the active ingredient to one side of the face, and a placebo cream to the other side, twice daily for eight weeks.
Video imaging analysis of skin prints from the 'crow’s feet' area after four weeks are claimed to have shown significant decrease in ‘all wrinkle parameters’, including wrinkle depth, length and number, for areas treated with the active ingredient.
‘Significant improvement in terms of radiance and luminosity’ was also claimed for skin treated with Skinergium Bio while the placebo cream was said to have had ‘no significant effect on these parameters’.
Its use as an anti-wrinkle ingredient contributes to the maca root’s many known applications in Peru, namely as 'Peruvian ginseng' to stimulate libido but also via its claimed capacity to increase natural energy, muscle tone and physical performance. Maca ‘now has an international reputation’, according to Expanscience Laboratories.