The Best Vitamin A Skin Care Products Contain Stabilized Retinaldehyde Using IconicA®
Retinol is currently used as the industry benchmark, by virtue of its own capability to improve the appearance of aging skin. However, formulation challenges and irritation phenomena reduce retinol’s broad acceptance amongst consumers. With the invention of IconicA®, which constitutes a superior form of vitamin A, affords a stable, non-irritating alternative to traditional vitamin A product.
Retinaldehyde is a better choice for vitamin A use in cosmetics than is retinol. Retinol must first be converted into retinaldehyde by our skin and subsequently converted into retinoic acid before it is used to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and uneven skin tones. When we use retinaldehyde in cosmetic products we avoid this conversion and the skin irritation that accompanies the chemical reaction.
Retinaldehyde has remained underutilized in the industry due to its inherent instability. However, IconicA® presents a novel delivery system utilizing a “transient” hemiacetal bond which stabilizes RAL for use in cosmetic preparations. IconicA® comes in powder form and is easily added to almost any cream, lotion, or serum.
Retinaldehyde γ-Cyclodextrin Hemiacetal (RCH) is a unique delivery system for Vitamin A, more specifically retinaldehyde (RAL). While RAL is the most bioavailable form of vitamin A, it has been rarely used due to its severe instability. A new delivery system utilizing a “transient” hemiacetal bond stabilizes RAL for use in cosmetic preparations. The hemiacetal bond at the core of IconicA® holds RAL in a stabilized form due to the unusual emulsification that forces a finished product, with an oil-in-water type emulsion, into an equilibrious state due to pH manipulation of the environment combined with hydrogen-bonding.
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IconicA Application
In vitro cellular models were used as exploratory tools to evaluate markers associated with skin-relevant biological pathways. These assays are intended for comparative screening only and do not reflect gene expression or biological effects in living human skin.
Cellular model explored potential pathays associated with skin appearance:
Several third party double blind clinicals were conducted testing RCH. It was found that RAL when delivered via this vehicle to the skin visually influenced many anti-aging parameters. In fact, it was determined that IconicA® delivered RAL and “… produced a statistically significant decrease (improvement) in clinical grading scores for all graded efficacy parameters evaluated. …” The parameters evaluated were apperance of: Crow’s Feet, Fine Lines, Overall Evenness of Skin Tone, Overall Photo Damage, Tactile Smoothness and Visual Smoothness.
Reduction in the appearance of wrinkles – Over 4 Weeks when using a cream containing RCH
In a separate third party double-blind clinical it was determined (using the VISIA-CR) that the appearance of wrinkles vastly improved using IconicA®. Four products were tested, all in the same lotion base:
Lotion Base (Placebo) average increase +2.06
Retinol improvement – average decrease -3.31
Retinaldehyde improvement – average decrease -2.65
IconicA® improvement – average decrease -4.20
It is shown in this study that IconicA® is 25% better than retinol over an eight-week period in reducing the appearance of wrinkles. The data also suggests that RAL alone deteriorates quickly when used in cosmetics without stabilization.
IconicA® truly affords Full-Spectrum visual benefits revealing global improvement in overall appearance!
This is exciting news when we see the impressive visual reduction in age-related features, and improvements in overall skin tone when IconicA® is applied. IconicA® is easily added to finished formulations near the end of processing, allowing small entrepreneurs as well as the multi-national mass market anti-aging companies to have product lines utilizing this technology.
