Eager to capture the continuous market demand for retinol-based cosmetic products with a stable, safe and efficient solution, BASF’s Personal Care business has developed VitaGuard A, an encapsulation technology designed to ease of use of the molecule and improve its efficacy.
Innovative encapsulation system
Retinol is a hero ingredient in cosmetics. The powerful anti-aging molecule is widely used in skin care applications but it is also a delicate ingredient, prone to light and air degradation, making it difficult to be widely utilized by formulators.
VitaGuard A [1] was developed using patented solid lipid particles, protecting retinol from degradation.
Several in vitro and ex vivo studies conducted by BASF have shown VitaGuard A to improve retinol stability in cosmetic formulations compared to non-encapsulated retinol, enhance skin bioavailability and prevent retinol-induced irritation.
Improved efficiency
Additionally, a clinical study has shown its effectiveness to improve the forehead wrinkles appearance, skin elasticity and skin tone evenness.
The effectiveness of VitaGuard A as an anti-aging molecule was evaluated in a 2% cream (equivalent to 0.1% retinol) in a randomized, full-face, double-blind clinical study on Chinese volunteers. Results were compared to non-encapsulated retinol at 0.1%.
VitaGuard A showed a significant anti-wrinkle effect on forehead wrinkle appearance compared to baseline (D0). After 8 weeks, forehead wrinkle volume was reduced by 37% (p<0.01). While assessing skin elasticity improvement, compared to baseline, VitaGuard® A showed significant increase in skin elasticity vs D0 (+16%, p<0.001). Moreover, skin tone evenness was notably improved, showing a variation of 15% compared to the baseline measurements obtained (p<0.001).
According to BASF, “all these parameters were found to be directionally better versus the same formulation containing non-encapsulated retinol at the same dose of 0.1%.”
Retinol is an important field of research and innovation for BASF. Last year, the company launched Retinol 50, a new grade of retinol which does not include BHA or BHT and therefore is better aligned with industry clean beauty lists, in particular those developed by major retailers in the USA.
