Your Brand, a Skin Health Ingredient, and Superior Wellness Outcomes with Astrion™

Your Brand, a Skin Health Ingredient, and Superior Wellness Outcomes with Astrion™

 

Brands know their reputation is on the line when it comes to products promoting outward appearance - if it doesn't work either as advertised or at all - the consumer will be quick to reject the entire brand and tell her or his friends, family, and co-workers to stay away from the product.

Consumers care about their skin - its appearance, quality, and health.

 

Skin and Health

 

The skin is the largest organ of the body. A key function of the skin to protect from external factors such as temperature, UV, bacteria, and chemicals. These functions are critical to our well-being for daily living. 

Furthermore, skin excretes antibacterial substances that prevent infection and manufactures vitamin D for converting calcium into healthy bones. 

When you think about it, skin is really like this large sensor across our entire body. It helps us experience the world around us with touch and feel. It makes sensory experiences all that much better. Because of skin, we have this incredible freedom of movement in this world we live in. 

 

Consumer Demand Shift: From Old to Young

 

As an industry, brands focused on skin health have witnessed a considerable shift in demand from older consumers to an ever-growing younger consumer base. 

Skin health routines are becoming the norm at an increasingly young age in an effort to delay the signs of aging, whereas the number of older consumers is beginning to diminish. It’s also worth noting that consumers proactively look for natural, plant-based ingredients to support healthy skin quality.

While these shifts are taking place, the anti-aging market continues to grow globally and is expected to grow to $88 billion USD by 2026 (Imarc: Statista).

  

 

  

Product Innovation Opportunities: Grow with Astrion™

 

Make no mistake there is a plethora of ingredients to consider when it comes to formulas promoting youthful, healthy skin. Our solution to promoting healthy, youthful skin originates in our patented ingredient, Astrion™. 

When developing this ingredient solution, we sought to address important consumer concerns and interests: 

• Skin hydration 
• Collagen synthesis 
• Anti-aging 
• Safety 
• Natural, plant-based 
• Both topical and oral usage

There is a consumer appeal to cosmeceuticals and nutricosmetics. Gone is the idea of simply applying skincare solutions topically, while still relevant. How consumers live and eat is vital to achieving a desired complexion. The aesthetic wellness category is growing. 

There’s incredible potential in the consumer market’s beauty-from-within niche and skin rejuvenating supplement users. Eastern markets already know the benefits of eastern botanical solutions. 

What’s fresh within the western market and the beauty-from-within approach is the effect after oral intake. Astrion^™ addresses both outer skin rejuvenation and healthy support for skin internally through oral supplementation.  

 

Breaking Down the Ingredients in Astrion™

 

With Astrion™, skin is nourished with an abundant dose of nutrients from a plant-based patented compound comprised of Astragalus membranaceus and Centella asiatica. 

  

Astragalus membranaceus is no stranger to the world of herbal healing. This well-known plant has been referenced in Chinese medicinal writings more than 2,000 years old and is still commonly used today. 

In the world of Chinese medicine, it is said to nourish and replenish the Qi while helping the body adapt to stress by normalizing body processes. 

Astragalus membranaceus has over 200 isolated compounds, including polysaccharides,  saponins, and flavonoids, which when isolated can work towards accomplishing these various functions within the body. A. membranaceus is a very well studied and well-known herb for all of these reasons but has only more recently found its way into the mainstream skincare scene. 

  

Centella asiatica, also known as Gotu Kola, has a long history as a medicinal herb. It has been used for centuries in China, India, and Africa for its “longevity producing” properties and a long list of health-promoting functions. Centella asiatica is a creeping “ground cover” plant, that continuously re-roots as it grows, and if grown in a greenhouse setting, will sneak down to reroot in the water draining from above.  

Medicinally, this plant can be eaten whole, dried, and taken as a powder, or used as a topical treatment for skin conditions. Centella asiatica has been used to treat skin conditions such as burns and wounds for centuries and was even sourced as a treatment for leprosy because of these wound healing properties 

Although this herb does have a deep history of medicinal use, it can also be found in many modern skincare products. Studies reveal it has effective anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties, as well as skin barrier support which helps to defend against external factors.

Not only can this herb aid in skin strength and healing, but it has also been shown to provide moisture when used in cosmetic formulations for the treatment of dry sensitive skin. Centella asiatica contains numerous compounds that help to stimulate certain body processes to accomplish these tasks. 

 

Meet a Brand Innovating with Astrion™: Ghost Lifestyle. 

 

The brand develops a unique range of healthy lifestyle products that range from wellness, skin health, and sports nutrition. 

When Ghost launched Glow, they recognized the need for an ingredient such as Astrion™ to help their customers, whom they refer to as "Legends" feel 100% from the inside out. 

    

Before the rapid success of Ghost's Glow product, there was this notion of the "Pink Tax" they wanted to address upfront while they were in the formulation stage of their product. They believed products should be transparent, fully efficacious, and not highly-priced simply because of a marketing angle or an outreach to women. 

   

With the addition of NuLiv Science's patented skin health ingredient, Astrion™, Ghost was able to help their Legends GLOW by getting nutrient-rich products to help them feel youthful and bring their skin back to life. That's right - this is a product that both women and men have come to love.

That's what we all want for the products we create and market in this incredible industry, right?

 

References for further reading

 

1. Alandi Ashram. (n.d.). Gotu Kola | Centella asiatica. Retrieved from http://ayurveda.alandiashram.org/ ayurvedic-herbs/gotu-kola-centella-asiatica 

2. Brinkhaus, B., Lindner, M., Schuppan, D., & Hahn, E. (2000). Chemical, pharmacological and clinical profile of the East Asian medical plant Centella asiatica. Phytomedicine,7(5), 427-448. doi:10.1016/ s0944-7113(00)80065-3 

3. Burford, G., Bodeker, G., & Ryan, T. J. (2006). Skin And Wound Care: Traditional, Complementary  And Alternative Medicine In Public Health Dermatology. Traditional, Complementary and Alternative  Medicine,311-348. doi:10.1142/9781860949135_0014 

4. Bylka, W., Znajdek-Awiżeń, P., Studzińska-Sroka, E., & Brzezińska, M. (2013). Centella asiatica in  cosmetology. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3834700/ 

5. Gohil, K. J., Patel, J. A., & Gajjar, A. K. (2010). Pharmacological Review on Centella asiatica: A Potential  Herbal Cure-all. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116297/ 

6. Carrillo Leal, A. (2013, January 29). Why Does Your Skin Age? Retrieved from http://dujs.dartmouth. edu/2013/01/why-does-your-skin-age/#.Wsz9xy7waiM 

7. Gotu Kola. (2015, December 15). Retrieved from http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetContent. aspx?token=e0498803-7f62-4563-8d47-5fe33da65dd4&chunkiid=21763#ref3 

8. Hong, M. J., Ko, E. B., Park, S. K., & Chang, M. S. (2012). Inhibitory effect of Astragalus membranaceus root on matrix metalloproteinase-1 collagenase expression and procollagen destruction in ultraviolet  B-irradiated human dermal fibroblasts by suppressing nuclear factor kappa-B activity. Journal of  Pharmacy and Pharmacology,65(1), 142-148. doi:10.1111/j.2042-7158.2012.01570.x 

9. Liu, P., Zhao, H., & Luo, Y. (2017). Anti-Aging Implications of Astragalus membranaceus (Huangqi): A  Well-Known Chinese Tonic. Aging and Disease,8(6), 868. doi:10.14336/ad.2017.0816 

10. Mukherjee, P. K., Maity, N., Nema, N. K., & Sarkar, B. K. (2011). Bioactive compounds from natural  resources against skin aging. Phytomedicine,19(1), 64-73. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2011.10.003 

11. Ratz-Lyko, A., Arct, J., & Pytkowska, K. (2016). Moisturizing and antiinflammatory properties of cosmetic  formulations containing Centella asiatica extract. Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences,78(1), 27.  doi:10.4103/0250-474x.180247 

12. Astrion^™ Product Dossier: A Skin Health Ingredient from NuLiv Science