The continued demand of Asians for skin-whitening products is driving beauty companies to create more sophisticated solutions.
For instance, the French luxury cosmetics firm Clarins, which introduced its first such product, Whitening Essence, in 1996, has launched several product lines that target darkened and hyperpigmented skin conditions.
Twenty years since the first, it now rolls out another—White Plus Pure Transparency Tri-Intensive Brightening Serum—formulated specially for Clarins’ Asian customers.
Its two decades of research into this specific skin concern are giving the company much confidence in underscoring its expertise, particularly on the subject of melanocyte, the cell that produces the melanin causing skin pigmentation.
Clarins’ partner in this research is the prestigious Institut Curie, after its namesake Nobel laureates Marie and Pierre Curie. Institut Curie is involved in the study of skin cancer, and its affiliation with Clarins Research focused on melanin behavior and the effects of UV exposure.
The research yielded the discovery of a new cause of hyperpigmentation: When the skin is overexposed to UV rays, the keratinocytes—the major cell of the epidermis—stimulates the melanocytes to overproduce melanin, through envelopes called exosomes.
Since one melanocyte is connected to some 36 keratinocytes, the melanocyte receives exosomes from 36 keratinocytes, a synthesis that results in the overproduction of melanin by +25 percent.
That’s on top of overstimulation caused by simple direct UV exposure.
High vitamin C
The new Clarins serum aims to control the melanocyte’s exosystem via exosomes, and the melanocyte’s activity as stimulated by direct UV rays. It’s said to target the skin’s color, clarity and contrast.
The Tri-Intensive Brightening Serum touts acerola, a Brazilian cherry, as its main ingredient, which Clarins claims to be a “whitening-in-control” plant.
A fruit with high vitamin C content, it’s said to inhibit the message within exosomes and enhance cell oxygenation to boost radiance and transparency.
It also contains Lady’s Mantle, a plant known for its astringent properties, and used traditionally for its soothing and healing powers. It slows the excessive transfer of melanin to the epidermis.
Sandspurry, a flower traditionally used in medicine to treat kidney stones, is also added for its ability to reduce dark spots and pigmentation.
In a test done on 84 Asian women over a period of 21 days, Clarins says 94 percent of the subjects claimed to see improvement in their complexion. The test on the serum was done paired with several Clarins whitening products.
Clarins White Plus Pure Transparency Tri-Intensive Brightening Serum comes in a 30-ml bottle and is exclusively available at Rustan’s The Beauty Source.