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naturally skin lightening product formulation
I have benefited immensely from this network. Thanks so much Perry. My name is Ashimolowo Olubunmi. I am a lecturer in a University, (Associate Professor) but has passion for helping the less privileged. Hence, I serve as the Chairperson of Gender Development Initiative. The fact that i lost 2 friends to breast cancer this year made me to be curious at developing a beauty package that can lighten naturally with little or no adverse effect. This includes lotion, cream, facial scrub, night cream, sun block etc. I have done some trials but desire to have a product that can enter EU market. I am not satisfied with what have currently as regards formulation. I need suggestions on formulations that would be basically organic. Thank you.
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26 Replies
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First of all welcome!
Second of all, you have my sympathy for losing loved ones to cancer but cosmetics aren’t responsible for that… although the market wants you to believe that!For ingredients that whiten naturally, you’re limited to very few. Google licorice and take it from there. If you’re doing the products yourself you should be able to pull some starter formulas and go from there. -
I have done a lot of these products and realistically you are not going to be able to do much with just plant derived actives for customers in the Fitzpatrick scale (pigmentation rating system used by dermatologists) who are a IV,V or IV. You will need to use a synthetic active. Many are avoiding hydroquinone due to fears of toxicity, but many other products use actives such as Kojic acid derivatives or Arbutin.
There is a wide variety of botanical additives as well (Bearberry, Mulberry, Licorice, and so forth). Many of these are weak tyrosine inhibitors but in my experience they are secondary and offer marketing claims more than anything.
@AuroraBorealis is right to point out that you can’t clearly tie toxicity or carcinogenicity to the source of the raw material be it naturally derives or synthetic. There is no clear correlation.
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Here’s a list for you to research:Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C)Mulberry ExtractDaisy Flower ExtractNiacinamide (ProVitamin B3)Licorice Root ExtractRice Bran ExtractBearberry ExtractKojic Acid can be a skin irritant and Alpha Arbutin is “frowned upon” in the Natural/Organic arena. -
Arbutin is gaining some ground in the EU; here.
Kojic acid itself is very unstable and is generally used as the fat soluble dipalmitate salt. It can be irritating and requires care. With the bias against Hydroquinone it is being used more often with Fitzpatrick IV pigmentation types.
SAP/MAP can provide whitening but they are arguably not organic.
As for all the other botanical actives, I have tried them for clients as a sole entity at client’s request. Without exception these prototypes were eventually evaluated as being not nearly effective enough and other more accepted actives had to be added to the product.
Skin whitening is inherently irritating. A sunscreen should be used at the same time and treatment regimens should designed to maximize the efficacy as well as to direct the client to discontinue if marked adverse events occurred.
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Licorice root extract? This comes anywhere between 12% GL acid (powdered root) which is brown and intensely sweet, (200x sugar) to 95% GL acid, which is so sweet your taste buds die off so it doesn’t actually taste any sweeter. It is not that easy to come by; I imported mine from China but there actually is a ban on exports so … what I’m saying is that it’s not a material that I would want to base a continued reliable production quantity on.
If the above isn’t enough to put you off, it has solubility issues reminiscent of salicylic acid, quite possibly has an estrogenic type activity, and has known drug effects on the body including raised blood pressure, antiviral (e.g active against hepatitis C), anti-H Pylori bacterium, and so on. In other words it is a highly complicated substance with potential side effects and with very little definitive literature to rely on. -
There are several sources of liquid licorice root extract that are readily available from reputable suppliers.
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Liquid extract? At what percent concentration and in what solvent? The maximum possible aqueous concentration is 0.2%
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Many combinations of blends of botanicals with Licorice Root Extract as well.
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Lonza do an extract in apricot oil that they claim is efficacious:
http://glenncorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2014_10_ReGeniStemBrightening_TDS_lowres_final-2.pdf
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Having read that paper and seen the photos, I can see no effect at all worth talking about. Also they are talking about using 2% of their solution which itself contains 0.2% extract (as I previously noted, 0.2% is cold water max solubility) i.e. the concentration available will be 2/100 * 0.2% or 0.004% which is in the realms of homeopathy and about as believable in my opinion.
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That sort of reinforces my position. Pragmatically I have always seen these botanical additives as something that might work but realistically are there so the LOI looks cool.
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What happened? My comment has vanished…
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Well, if you’re seeking an effective licorice extract the concentration of glabridin needs to be fairly high. Purified glabridin is very expensive, but it’s the active constituent in licorice that can lighten skin.
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Thanks for this Iewhitak
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I have made several skin lightening serums and can attest that they do indeed work … all depends on your definition of “skin lightening.” I have several age spots from sun exposure that have disappeared from use of serums with these ingredients. They are most effective against damaged cells that overproduce melanin.
Now, if your definition of “skin lightening” is that they will actually lighten your entire complexion, you’re probably going to be disappointed. But, they will definitely even skin tone.The ingredients discussed in this thread all have different mechanism of action in inhibiting the melanin metabolic pathway, so they are best used in combination. -
That is interesting Mark. I will work on that
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I have gained so much from the discussion. Is there any guideline on product formulation?
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Fortunately not. If there was, the companies we work for wouldn’t have to pay us…
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@markbroussard What Fitzpatrick scale are you? For lightening spots you can get some effect with the botanicals in Fitzpatrick I,II or III. Scales IV, V and VI usually seek more dramatic full facial whitening and this won’t work with just the botanicals.
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I am a Fitzpartrick I/II and I no longer have any age spots, or euphemistically, sun kisses from using my serums.
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That woul be considered. Many thanks
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@markbroussard Then you most likely are a somewhat different scenario. I am inferring that the original poster is Fitzpatrick VI and is looking for more of a full facial whitening. Much more aggressive case. Pragmatically you are probably looking at some sort of Kojic acid derivative and managing any inflamation.
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The original poster indicated that he/she wanted to develop a, preferably organic, skin lightening product that could be sold in the EU market. No mention was made that the product would be targeted to a particular ethnic skin type.
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True.
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Yes. You are right about that MarkBroussard
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