L’Oréal announced the discovery of a sugar compound that was used as a base for a cream scientifically proved to rejuvenate the skin. The active chemical called rhamnose was extracted from the Uncaria flower also known as cat claw; it is believed to be effective in the production of collagen in cells. Collagen is the main compound in connective tissues, and its presence makes the skin more robust and elastic.
The anti-ageing chemical is one of the products created in the result of a cooperation of two industries, cosmetic and pharmaceutical, in a process where technologies borrowed from the pharmaceutical industry are employed for working out cosmetic treatments. Such products go by the name of cosmeceuticals.
L’Oréal’s new cosmeceutical has undergone testing on 400 women of age between 50 and 70. The complete research results unfortunately remain unreleased until the patent has been granted.
The search for a new skin treatment began with employing computer software that sorted through thousands of natural chemicals looking for those that stimulate skin cells into generating collagen. Then the findings underwent another selection process that filtered out chemicals that were too rough to penetrate through the waterproof surface of the skin.
According to L’Oréal’s head of scientific department, Julie McManus, they have succeeded in singling out the compound that suited all the requirements; in her Sunday Times interview McManus called this “a breakthrough” result that fulfilled their expectations.
Source of the image: Flickr.
