Nothing shows your age more than your appearance, so traditional personal care manufacturers have for years taken on the task of finding ways, primarily topical, to smooth wrinkles and bring back the look of youth with a plethora of skin care products. More recently, supplement companies have been showing an interest in getting involved in the skin care market with ingestible products. The question for them, however, is what role supplements can really play in bringing back the look of youth. Opinions are divided, with some believing that anti-aging skin care supplements are a good idea in theory, but most feeling that skin care and the supplement market don't mix. Yet, like Ponce de Leon, many supplement manufacturers continue to search for the so-called "fountain of youth."

Hot Ingredients, Hot Trends, Hot Issues

In terms of the topical market, the "back to nature" approach to skin care is still in its infancy. So far personal care companies are dabbling with natural ingredients by adding vitamins, minerals and herbs/botanicals. According to Nutrition Business Journal, "Few natural personal care companies have surpassed $30 million in annual revenues. Lack of an industry giant has led retailers to instead fill shelves with wares from a variety of small entrepreneurial companies." While the market has not yet opened up in terms of the industry giants, the desire to become involved is certainly there.

Frank Fenaro, executive vice president, Stawasz & Partners, public relations firm for Beiersdorf, Wilton, CT, the maker of the "Nivea" brand of skin care products, commented on trends in the skin care market. "I do agree that there is a trend toward natural ingredients in skin care products because if you just look at the last few years many products now have vitamin E or C and most recently CoQ10," he said. "The reason is because the market now recognizes that consumers are interested in natural approaches to skin care."

Emma Polman, skin care marketing manager for Mary Kay Cosmetics, Dallas, TX, agreed. "We do see a lot more people using botanicals and vitamins and it makes for a good marketing story, but on top of that you have products that actually work," she said.

In terms of natural ingredients, she commented, "The hot ingredients are the vitamins, particularly A and E, but we are really trying to promote vitamin C." The challenge, she said, is vitamin C's instability. As a result, Mary Kay has incorporated vitamin C into nutrabeads. Ms. Polman ex­plained, "When the beads pass through the pump they burst and you get the true form of vitamin C."

Balancing both natural and synthetic ingredients, Estee Lauder approaches skin care via leading edge technology and the most efficacious ingredients the company's research and development has to offer, said Dan Brestle, president of Estee Lauder USA and Canada, New York, NY. Some of the more newsworthy ingredients according to Mr. Brestle include sugar-derived resurfacers (acetyl glucosamine and sodium lactobionate), clary sage-a natural botanical, breathable polymer that smoothes the skin, caffeine and green tea, which calm and reduce redness, whey protein, marine algae, barley extract and wheat germ extract.

While companies seem interested in natural ingredients, some still remain skeptical about adding them because they lack the efficacy of synthetics. According to Dr. Jack Moussner, senior vice president, R&D, Chanel, New York, NY, "The hottest development in skin care is preventing glycation (the deterioration of the skin)." But he said the natural ingredient route is not the way to go. He explained, "If you are faced with the problem of glycation, you will not find any natural ingredients to help." Although Dr. Moussner feels that natural ingredients do have some role to play, he said, "You have to go with synthetics if you want something potent."

Beauty From Within: What Does The Future Hold?

Ron Sharpe, senior group leader for the "Artistry" brand at Nutrilite, a division of Amway, Buena Park, CA, said there are two major categories receiving a lot of the attention. "First there are the antioxidants. The technology to deliver truly functional antioxidants continues to improve and the ability to neutralize different types of free radicals continues to expand." The second hot category, he said, is functional botanicals. "Plant extraction techniques have greatly improved the ability to extract intact the functional portion of the plant leading to improved product performance," said Mr. Sharpe.

Agreeing on the importance of antioxidants, Dr. Carsten Smidt, director of pharmacology and clinical affairs, Pharmanex, Provo, UT, said, "The market is most definitely changing in terms of the importance of antioxidants, which will be a huge part of our product line up."

Pharmanex is already addressing the 'beauty from within' market, although indirectly. Stan Weiss, senior director of marketing, commented, "Our Hair Formula and Vein Formula are related to aging by maintaining the youthful look and health of hair and veins. Other companies produce general nutritional products to help with wrinkles, but we will not merchandise a product unless we know for a fact that it works." He said Pharmanex has been working on a skin formula aimed at maintaining the normal texture of the skin; however, research has not been sufficiently conclusive to launch such a product.

Commenting on the future of Pharmanex Dr. Smidt offered, "In research and development there are always promising leads that certain nutrients could be beneficial. For example, the antioxidant properties of grapeseed appear to be helpful and we will continue to monitor the developing research." He continued, "Our philosophy is to sell products when we have clinical substantiation to back their effectiveness. Therefore, the basic focus for anti-aging right now for Pharmanex is the antioxidant route."

Dr. Hemmige Bhagavan, consultant for Tishcon Corporation, Westbury, NY, which manufactures CoQ10, also commented on beauty from within. "It makes sense because you need healthy cells and you have to make sure you take the right amount of nutrients in order to achieve healthy cells," he said. "However, topical creams are also very important because supplements cannot totally protect you from UV light. Exposure to the sun is a major reason for aging of the skin."

On the more cynical side, Stawasz & Partners' Mr. Fenaro stated, "Most serious people in the skin care market are skeptical of an oral nutrient that has an effect on the skin. From the research I have seen you would have to take large quantities of nutrients for it to reach the epidermis and have an effect." He said it is a very difficult proposition and it would be incumbent upon supplement companies to do the research to prove that these products actually work.

Comparing topical solutions to supplements, Estee Lauder's Mr. Brestle suggested, "I think consumers are already taking supplements for skin and hair, but I don't feel supplements will ever replace topical treatments."

Mr. Weiss said of the future of skin care, "You will see a continual melding of the two markets to develop products that work in tandem to help one look and feel better. This is because there are things you can do with supplements that you can't do topically and vice versa." As these two markets merge, Mr. Weiss suggested, "Science will be the cohesive force."

NW