Many benefits of skincare products can only be realized through effective absorption, particularly for functions such as whitening and anti-aging, which require penetration beyond the stratum corneum. However, what appears to be absorption on the surface may not accurately reflect true absorption into the skin. The process of actual absorption is more complex than it seems.
The surface of the skin comprises a tightly structured stratum corneum layer, which poses a significant barrier to the penetration of external substances. The primary objective of skincare products is to facilitate the delivery of active ingredients into the skin, a process that inherently challenges the protective function of the stratum corneum. Consequently, overcoming this barrier to ensure effective ingredient penetration is crucial.
With the continuous advancement of technology, a diverse array of methods have emerged to enhance the absorption rate of products. These methods include selecting an appropriate carrier based on the active ingredient, choosing suitable polar oils, and incorporating permeation enhancers, among others. Each approach has its own merits and limitations; notably, liposome technology excels in transdermal penetration. Liposomes are bilayer vesicles composed of specialized lipids with a unique amphiphilic structure. This allows hydrophilic substances to reside in the aqueous core and lipophilic compounds to integrate into the lipid bilayer, providing an ideal environment for stabilizing and delivering both water-soluble and oil-soluble active ingredients. Ceramides, which form a significant part of the intercellular lipid matrix in the stratum corneum, are crucial for skin hydration and barrier function. Due to their lipophilic nature, ceramides typically have limited skin penetration. However, by leveraging the amphiphilic properties of liposomes, ceramides can be effectively encapsulated and delivered into the stratum corneum, enhancing skin hydration, reducing transepidermal water loss, and supporting skin barrier integrity while maintaining ingredient stability and efficacy.
In skincare, liposome technology focuses on transdermal absorption and sustained release. Encapsulating active ingredients within liposomes maximizes their efficacy by enhancing transdermal absorption due to high biocompatibility with stratum corneum lipids, ensuring gradual and continuous release for prolonged effectiveness, protecting active ingredients from degradation, and improving bioavailability of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules significantly.
Due to the challenges in extracting natural ceramides and synthesizing their equivalents, these compounds have high melting points (> 90°C), difficulty in formulation, tendency to crystallize, and poor water solubility, limiting their applications. Shanghai Synlotic has addressed these issues by using high-pressure microjet and nano-embedding technologies to develop water-soluble ceramide liposomes. This innovation enhances encapsulation efficiency and resolves solubility and compatibility problems. The liposomes, containing phospholipids, stearic acid, and other natural cuticle components, work synergistically to reduce water loss, repair the skin barrier, improve hydration, and delay aging.
"There is a long way to go, and I will search up and down". Shanghai Yunluo will continue to upgrade technology, develop green, environmental protection, sustainable high-tech, enabling cosmetics raw material industry!
