Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Ersatz skin, Sichuan pepper: the "greening" of cosmetics
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Asia Pacific
World
Ersatz skin, Sichuan pepper: the "greening" of cosmetics
AFP - Monday, April 5
Send
IM Story
Print
An orchid at a flower expo. One of the world's leading beauty firms, Guerlain, has long tabled on the orchid to freshen up tired skin, because of a hardy DNA enabling its survival in the most extreme plant world conditions.
ORLEANS, France (AFP) - – Testing new creams on bits of human foreskin to spare lab rats, or whipping seaweed and spicy Sichuan pepper into potions -- greener, cleaner cosmetics are on the march.
"If you develop a product that's pleasant, efficient and safe, but that wastes energy and water, you're not doing your job," Gerard Redziniak, head of the 1,600-member French Society of Cosmetology, told AFP.
Speaking at a two-day international congress on cosmetics research in this French city, Redziniak added, however, that despite scientific advances in the field, the aim of the game broadly remained unchanged.
"The dream of finding the fountain of youth is our driving force, this desire to stay young, to look young."
Sichuan pepper for instance, a favoured spice in Chinese and Japanese cooking, blocks electric signals on skin, enabling it to reduce irritation after a hair-dye or mosquito bite, but also "giving an immediate lift", said Christian Artaria of Italian research lab Indena.
"We're working on a wrinkle reduction formula," he added.
One of the world's leading beauty firms, Guerlain, has long tabled on the orchid to freshen up tired skin, because of a hardy DNA enabling its survival in the most extreme plant world conditions.
Seaweeds, which likewise have learnt to survive harmful ultraviolet rays as well as living out of water for long periods at low tide, are ideal contenders for anti-aging, moisturizing and toning, said Greek researcher Vassilios Roussis, who reckons there are at least 25,000 known species.
"Marine algae work far better against the sun than synthetic sun screens," he said.
The good news for animals is that research increasingly is tested on bits of reconstructed human skin, made from human foreskin cells (keratinocytes) from one or several donors, grown in vitro for between a week to a month.
A pioneer in the use of reconstructed skin samples, L'Oreal based its knowhow from the 80s on techniques used to treat severe burns. It now produces 150,000 human skin samples a year.
"It's far better to work on human in vitro than on animal in vitro, which is totally distinct from human skin," said L'Oreal's tissue engineer Annie Black.
Two of the company skin types, Episkin and SkinEthic, have been rubberstamped by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods which gives the green light to non-animal tests. A US model, EpiDerm by MatTek, also has been approved by ECVAM.
Pigments and immune cells can also be introduced as well as sick cells. L'Oreal for instance has formulated a skin type including hypersensitivity to the sun.
Will scientists soon be offering reconstructed skin with hair? "We're working on it," said Black. "But it's a bit like the search for the Holy Grail."
Greening the industry by preferring nature's output over synthetics was all very well, said French chemist Chantal Larpent, but what about avoiding toxic solvants harmful to the environment.
"Water is a cheap, safe and non-toxic solvent," she said.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary Reuters - 37 minutes ago
R&B singer Erykah Badu in trouble for naked ambition Reuters - 37 minutes ago
"Titans" takes lead at foreign box office Reuters - 2 hours 27 minutes ago
"FlashForward," NBC medical dramas face ax Reuters - 2 hours 37 minutes ago
Martin couple each cast in TV pilots Reuters - Monday, April 5
News Search
Top Stories
NASA readies Discovery for takeoff
Angelie Jolie, Brad Pitt in surprise visit to Sarajevo
Major quake in Mexico rocks southwestern US
Haitians celebrate Easter in camps and cathedral ruins
Obama attends Easter service at historic black church
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Abortion doctor killer gets life; no parole for 50 yrs
Did comet smashup unleash Earth's mini Ice Age?
Gunmen in army uniforms massacre 25 people in Iraq
Hamilton fastest in Malaysia GP, but cautious
Britain's Mandelson attacks 'unacceptable' Barclays banker
More Most Viewed »
'Rare' fossil of new dinosaur species found in US
Hollywood stars help prevent suicide after Twitter alert
Junkies and junk-food addicts share craving mechanism
Toad is a telltale for impending quakes: scientists
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Monday, 5 April 2010 Triple blasts target Baghdad embassies, killing 30
Bomb defused outside N.Ireland police station: police
NATO admits Afghan civilian deaths in night raid
|
Senegal takes back French military bases in symbolic move
Turkish court orders rearrest of coup plot officers
Israel allows clothes, shoes into blockaded Gaza
British kissing couple loses jail appeal in Dubai
Fighters kill U.N. peacekeeper in north Congo attack
|
Obama attends Easter service at historic black church
'Long way to go' in taming US joblessness: White House
Karzai rallies tribes, distances self from West
|
Pope shuns paedophilia scandal as Christians mark Easter
Four Shot Dead Inside California Restaurant
Teacher identified by father as 2nd Moscow bomber
|
Afghan leader seeks support for new offensive
Nine rescued alive from flooded China mine: state TV
State TV says 9 rescued from flooded Chinese mine
Nine rescued alive from flooded China coal mine: state TV
UN's Ban calls Aral Sea 'shocking disaster'
Karzai pledges consultation before new offensive
Thai protesters pledge to leave commercial area
South Korean oil tanker seized by Somali pirates
Karzai pledges consultation ahead of new offensive
Australia warns stranded Chinese ship could break up
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
"Clash of the Titans" leads box office
W.Cup anthem singer stirs few in native Somalia
Clash of the Titans leads worldwide box office
|
Over 100 pulled alive in China mine miracle
|
Protesters force way into Thai Election Commission
|
Suicide bomber kills two policemen in Russia
|
Obama Attends Easter Service In Ward 8, Poorest Of DC Neighborhoods
North Korea threatens to abandon U.S. MIA remains
|
Heroic Father Rescues Daughter From NY River
U.S. Navy Calls Off Sea Seach; Declares Pilot Dead
Strong quake shakes cities around U.S.-Mexico border
|
Man Allegedly Stabs Wife 70 Times
Pakistan's Army accused of extra-judicial killings
|
Nearly half of Japan's voters don't support any party
|
War still raging for South Korean POWs in North
|
Cuba says no giving in to dissident blackmail
|
South Korea sends destroyer after pirates seize tanker
|
Killer Mexico quake rattles southwestern US
Suicide bomber kills two in Russian Caucasus
Major quake in Mexico rocks southwestern US
Angelie Jolie, Brad Pitt in surprise visit to Sarajevo
Can the CIA sabotage Iran's nuclear project?
Major quake in Mexico rocks southwestern US
Haitians celebrate Easter in camps and cathedral ruins
Defiant Thai protesters fan out in nervous capital
Teens Find Man's Body During Iowa Easter Egg Hunt
Mekong nations join forces on shrinking river
FACTBOX-Key bills before South Korea's parliament
Martin couple each cast in TV pilots
S.Korea bonds steady, helped by low rates outlook
Chieftains' new album explores Irish-Mexican ties
Seoul shares slip on shipyards; techs advance
Ersatz skin, Sichuan pepper: the "greening" of cosmetics
Ban says Uzbekistan must observe human rights
Rescuers prepare for search in flooded China mine
Soderbergh shoots 'secret' film in Sydney
N.Korea threatens to stop preserving remains of US soldiers
Stranded Chinese ship threatens Great Barrier Reef
Australia rushes to contain Barrier Reef oil spill
Over 100 pulled alive in China mine "miracle"
100-plus trapped miners freed in China 'miracle'
Two killed in Ingushetia suicide bombing
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights