Avocado and shea – the ideal combination for good skin health

AAK Beauty and Personal Care
Magazine 2012
Avocado and shea
– the ideal combination
for good skin health
page 3
Enhanced performance
using Lipex® Shea Butters
page 6
AAK Beauty and Personal Care Magazine 2012
AAK in Africa – a win-win story!
As marketing manager at AAK, I think
it’s important to understand how our
suppliers work – which is why I headed
off on an exciting trip to Ghana to meet
and interview several of the women
who pick the shea kernels out in the
savannah.
In September 2011, I visited some of the women
who supply us with shea kernels. The goal of
my trip was to interview the women to see how
we can help make their work easier. This might
involve anything from providing them with simple
tools to making the delivery chain as short,
transparent and efficient as possible.
When I landed in the Ghanaian capital of
Accra, the heat and humidity hit me straight
away and it instantly felt like I’d been standing
out in the rain. After 14 hours in a Jeep, heading
straight out into the bush from the mangrove
swamps and coconut palms of the south to
the dry savannah in the north, where the shea
trees grow wild, we stopped at our first village.
A few clay huts surrounded a communal area
where the villagers cooked their food and even
made their own shea butter. Each village had
around 20 women, but I particularly remember
the village led by a woman called Sylvie. It
was clear how proud the women were of their
work, the village was buzzing with life and they
communicated with me even though they had
practically no English. We had a great time
together and I was pleased to see how happy
they all seemed. There was no obsession with
age, no stress or other Western afflictions – a
useful lesson to take home with me.
I often think about my week in Ghana and
how important it is for all of us to take responsibility. These people need all the help they can
get, but it must be on their terms. It’s no good
helping them with short-term initiatives or by
building modern facilities. We have to bear in
mind their culture and be sympathetic. With
the women able to sell directly to the industry
for a higher price than they get via agents and
AAK gaining a more transparent and efficient
supply chain with excellent traceability, this
collaboration is built to last. After all, it’s a
win-win situation for everyone!
Rita Leissner
Lipex® Shea Tris
Skin nutrient for a healthy young-looking skin!
Active protection against environmental
stress conditions and premature aging
Supports skin appearance and moisture
for smoothness and viability
Preserves firm and elastic skin textures
and skin quality for comfort and beauty
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Avocado and shea
– the ideal combination for good skin health
What do you get if you combine a good
source of omega-6 fatty acids with skin
healing triterpene esters? And if you
include high moisturization and good
oxidation stability? And an ingredient
which is based on eco-design to ensure its sustainability? The answer is
the latest addition to the Lipid Experts’
product range – Lipex AvoButter.
Our new skin nutrient combines healthy avocado
oil with moisturizing shea butter and a dash of
palm oil to increase the stability. Avocado oil
has a perfectly balanced fatty acid composition
for skin health, with enough omega-6 acids to
improve skin but without turning rancid. Shea
butter contributes with triterpene esters and
oleic acid for good moisturization and skin protection. The saturated fatty acids from palm
oil and shea butter give both consistency and
contribute to moisturization. The balanced fatty
acid composition mimics the skin lipids, resulting in high skin tolerance and good oxidation
stability.
Avocado and shea – a sustainable
combination by eco-design
Lipex AvoButter is developed using eco-design principles, considering the sourcing and
processing of the raw materials, to make a safe
and sustainable ingredient. The avocado oil is
obtained by cold pressing of avocado fruit pulp,
harvested in the state of Michoacán in Mexico.
After careful purification, it is mixed with the
hard components, shea butter and palm oil,
and deodorized at low temperature to preserve
the vitamin E and the active lipids.
Avocado is an important nutrient, and part
of Mexico’s culinary tradition and history. It is
today an important contributor to the economy
in Michoacán and improves the livelihoods of
the farming communities. Shea butter, on the
other hand, contributes to economic development in West Africa, empowering women and
improving living conditions. The palm oil used
in Lipex AvoButter also contributes to the development of sustainable palm oil production,
through GreenPalm certificates.
Moisturizers and conditioners
– bringing nutrients to skin and hair
Lipex AvoButter is an ideal emollient in body
moisturizers due to its semi-solid consistency
and flat melting profile. A suitable concentration
is 2–3% in creams and lotions, in combination
with light esters and other vegetable oils. It can
also be formulated into conditioners and masks
for hair care, providing moisture, gloss and
softness to dry and damaged hair. In this case
the use level is 1–2%, together with cetearyl
alcohol and surfactants. Formulating with Lipex
AvoButter allows you to create smooth and
elegant products with skin and hair benefits
– and a sustainable future as well.
Typical Values
Melting point
OSI at 110 °C
Triterpenes
Fatty acid composition
Palmitic acid
Stearic acid
Oleic acid
Linoleic acid/Vitamin F
For more information please contact, Jari Alander, e-mail: jari.alander@aak.com
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47 °C
20 h
3%
21 %
11 %
50 %
9%
AAK Beauty and Personal Care Magazine 2012
Lipex® PreAct
The bioactive emollient for skin protection
Prevent damage from UV-exposure
and free radicals
Repair and calm irritated and
stressed skin
Soften and moisturize with natural
vitamin E and phytosterols
Combine your sunscreens with
Lipex PreAct for maximal
photo-protection!
Update on Lipex® standards and REACH
Lipex ingredients – safe and pure
Starting from non-GMO vegetable raw materials, we make cosmetic ingredients with high
purity and documented safety. We have implemented several standards – such as ISO
9001 for Quality, ISO 14001 for Environment
and ISO 22000 for Food Safety – to ensure that
we fulfil our quality and safety ambitions. We
use mild refining conditions, preserving desired
minor components in the oil while removing
contaminants including residual proteins. The
absence of contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, PAHs etc. is secured via our
HACCP monitoring programme.
REACH – preparing for the
next step in 2013
AAK is taking the next steps to get the substances
in our cosmetic ingredients registered according to the REACH time schedule, with the next
important deadline of 2013 in preparation.
INCI nomenclature is not applicable to all
substances under REACH, so instead we have
adopted the SDA nomenclature to identify the
substances constituting our ingredients. The
definitions of SDA categories can be found at
www.revods.com. For Lipex ingredients, four
SDA categories are relevant: SDA 1, 19, 21
and 11. The last category is exempted from
registration (Annex IV). Vegetable oils that are
not chemically modified are also exempted
(Annex V.9). We also follow the COLIPA recommendations for end-use descriptors to cover the
intended uses in cosmetic applications.
Please contact your AAK representative for more information on our certificates and statements.
For more information please contact, Jørgen Eriksen, e-mail: jorgen.eriksen@aak.com
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Four steps to sustainable cosmetic formulations
It’s really quite simple. You can’t
do it all in one step but you can
always improve your formulation
towards a more sustainable one.
Here we tell you how, in four easy
steps.
Safety
1 Protect the user and
the environment
First of all, you want your formulation to deliver the promises that
your brand stands for. This means
that you need to use ingredients
that deliver a function and cost
efficiency. Without ingredient functionality, discussing sustainability
is rather pointless, isn’t it?
Our discussion on sustainability
starts instead in another corner:
SAFETY. If the ingredients you are
using are completely safe for the
user and for the environment, you
know that you can release your
product on the market without
hesitation. Human safety, biodegradability and bioaccumulation
are issues to consider.
New tool to guide your selection of Lipex ingredients
Lipex ingredients show a good balance of functionality and sustainability. To make it easier to
select sustainable solutions, we have created a sustainability score for all of our ingredients,
based on a systematic and transparent grading that uses these four criteria.
With this system it is now easy to select ingredients that will lead you on the path to more
sustainable cosmetic formulations, contributing to a more beautiful world in all senses!
Renewability
Raw materials
2 Renewable raw materials are the key to the
future
3 Raw materials from
responsible agriculture
and wild crops
The second point is RENEWABILITY. If we base our ingredients
on non-renewable raw materials,
we know that our resources will
sooner or later be depleted. Agricultural and wild-growing crops
which are managed responsibly,
are good solutions for renewable
ingredients.
RAW MATERIALS originating in
responsibly managed agriculture
or harvested from wild-growing
crops, are a starting point for
sustainable ingredients. Parameters such as land use, application of fertilizers, pesticides
and the need for irrigation are
important for farmed crops. For
wild-growing crops, raw material
collection needs to consider the
effects on biodiversity and the
social and economic development of the communities that are
dependent on these crops and
their conservation.
Processes
4 Energy-efficient
processing and nonpolluting processing
aids
Finally, the MANUFACTURING
processes used to go from raw
materials to ingredients are important. Using processes and
methods that use less energy
and utilize the raw materials
efficiently are ideal from a sustainability point of view. Using
catalysts and processing aids,
based on environmentally friendly
principles, are also a possibility to
increase the sustainability score
for your formulation.
Sustainability gradings
Completely safe to
users and the
environment.
>80 % biobased ingredient,
full renewability.
Responsibly sourced from
agricultural or wild crops.
Eco-efficient processes with
low energy and low resource
requirement.
Minor safety concerns
have been identified.
60–80 % biobased, partial
renewability.
Raw materials obtained from
conventional agriculture.
Conventional manufacturing
processes.
Safety assessment is
incomplete.
40–59 % biobased, low
renewability.
Raw materials are not traceable
to original source.
Complex and non-traceable
process chain.
Major safety concerns
have been identified.
<40% biobased, very low
renewability.
Raw materials are not from
sustainable sources.
High-energy processes and/or
low raw material utilization.
For more information please contact, Jari Alander, e-mail: jari.alander@aak.com
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AAK Beauty and Personal Care Magazine 2012
Enhanced performance using
Lipex® Shea Butters
Shea butter has become one of the most popular natural ingredients in beauty and personal care formulations. It is well
known amongst the consumers and it brings functional benefits to the formulation, especially if used at appropriate
concentrations. One frequently asked question is: how much shea butter do I need in the formulation to get the benefits?
Here is our answer!
Moisturization from shea
butter triglycerides
Skin repair and enhancement by shea butter triterpene esters
The moisturizing properties of Lipex Sheasoft
were recently investigated against a hydrocarbon reference, using TEWL and corneometer
measurements after a mild challenge with ethanol
washing on the skin. Lipex Sheasoft gave a
faster restoration of the TEWL and gave 17%
higher moisture level in the skin after 2 hours
compared to the reference. The applied amount
of emollient in this study can be translated to
a formulation use level of 2–4%, depending
on the type of formulation. The lower level
requires 3–4 applications per day to reach the
required level and is suited for lighter lotion
type of formulations. The higher concentration
is ideal for formulating heavier, more protective and repairing creams and body butters,
requiring 1–2 applications per day. (See figure
below).
Shea butter has, for a long time, been associated with skin repairing properties. Recent studies
have shown that this effect is linked to triterpene esters found in shea. Lipex Shea Tris, the third
generation of active shea ingredients from AAK, has a triterpene ester content of 60–65%. The
triterpene esters increase the epidermal thickness, preserve the collagen content in the dermis
and reduce the effects of environmental stress. The use level of Lipex Shea Tris in formulations
can be as low as 0.3–0.5%, making it possible to achieve the benefits of shea butter with very
light lotions and serums. In heavier formulations the effect can be achieved using 4–10% of
ingredients such as Lipex 205, the liquid shea butter or our standard Lipex Shea.
Lipex Shea Tris increases skin barrier thickness
Placebo cream
Lipex Shea Tris cream
25% increase in epidermal
thickness vs placebo
Select the correct shea butter for your application
Lipex Sheasoft rapidly restores
skin barrier properties
Lipex Shea Butters are all designed to meet the formulation challenges in beauty and personal
care products, enabling the use of shea butter at functional levels in all types of formulations.
Their stability helps to reduce the sensitivity of the formulation during storage and handling. This
will ensure that the formulation will have minimal texture and appearance changes during the
shelf life of the product.
100
80
Lipex Shea butters have excellent quality and stability
60
40
20
Lipex Sheasoft
0
1 hour
Isohexadecane
2 hours
Lipex
Sheasoft
cream
Placebo
cream
Isohexadecane
Lipex Sheasoft
With the Lipex Shea Butters in your toolbox, there are no limitations to what you can achieve
in your formulations. Now you just have to add the vital ingredient – Creativity!
For more information please contact, Jari Alander, e-mail: jari.alander@aak.com
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Sensuous formulations with shea butter
How do you get the consumer’s attention and loyalty to your product? We
know that the sensory properties of
your formulation are the key to success, and products that smell good and
have attractive tactile properties are
preferred by the user. The selection of
emollient is crucial, and knowing how
to combine emollients with different
properties is essential for the modern
formulator. Let us explain how different
qualities of shea butter can help you
to create tomorrow’s success!
The sensory profile of an emollient is related
to its physicochemical properties, such as polarity and melting profile. Different emollients
contribute to skin feel, due to differences in
spreadability, viscosity and lubricity. Qualified
formulators always take advantage of every
ingredient in the formulation, and emollients
are combined to meet the sensory target of
each product category.
Functional Shea Butters
Shea butter from the African savannah has
much more to commend it than just its natural
goodness. The Lipex shea butters are specifically developed for the beauty and personal
care industry to offer the formulator a choice
of highly functional ingredients. By careful product development over the
years, AAK has increased the
functionality of shea butter to
previously unknown heights.
Here is a selection of our most
popular ingredients:
Lipex Shea WM is a fluid
shea butter wax with dry skin
feel. Compared to other esters it displays low viscosity
with less residue and a light
skin feel, ideal for facial care
formulations. The low spreadability makes it
unique, enabling eye-care creams that prevent migration into the eyes and preventing
bleeding-out for lipsticks.
Lipex Shea has better crystallization behaviour
compared to traditional shea butter and offers
a rich skin feel related to its softness. The rapid
stabilization increases smoothness and shelf
life in all applications. The velvety skin feel is
correlated to its short playtime, low residue
and lubricity on the skin. It is ideal for all kinds
of rich formulations such as body butters with
high emolliency and low slip.
Lipex Sheasoft is a highly moisturizing shea
butter that gives a rich skin feel as well as a
long playtime on application, strengthening
the consumer’s perception of an even more
caring and luxurious product. A body cream
with only a short-lived effect is like ‘cappuccino
without milk’. The melting profile is related to
its unique composition which influences the
lubricity and creamy consistency. The enhanced
moisturization properties also result in an elegant sensuous appeal.
Many formulators globally have already explored the sensual adventure that the Lipex
shea butters offer! You can also use the Lipex
shea butters to make a sensuous formula for
your next sales success.
Lipex Shea butter impact on different skin feel
Solidity
100
80
60
Spreadability
40
Lubricity
20
0
Lipex Sheasoft
Lipex WM
Solidity
100
80
Spreadability
Residue / Long
Play time
Light skin feel
60
40
Lubricity
20
0
Lipex Shea
Lipex Sheasoft
Lipex WM
Residue / Long
Play time
Light skin feel
For more information please contact, Tina Liljegren, e-mail: tina.liljegren@aak.com
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Lipex Shea
AAK Beauty and Personal Care Magazine 2012
Lipex® is launching a new website!
Find out all the news about Lipex – everything from new Lipex ingredients to
ideas for creative new formulations or the very latest on sustainability.
lipexaak.com – keep up to date with just one click!
Sleep
all night
with After
Insect Bite
“After Insect Bite Stick”
The natural solution
to skin irritation
Did you know that shea butter triterpenes
reduce skin irritation from insect bites? In
a consumer panel, testing a stick formulation with 0.5% Lipex Shea Tris, 67% of
the panelists reported reduced swelling,
redness and itching from mosquito and
other insect bites.
Suitable formulation types for active
outdoors life with Lipex Shea Tris include
gels and sprayable emulsions as well as
sticks and balms.
The AAK ACADEMY™
– the knowledge centre for lipid technology
The AAK ACADEMY is exclusively for our customers. The idea behind this advanced training concept is basically very simple. A good
understanding of lipid technology will help to
guide you in your search for the best solution
for a given formula. It will also facilitate the
dialogue between customer and supplier and
help us to create a better job together.
The AAK ACADEMY offers wide range of
courses. The format is highly flexible, with tuition by experts from staff at AAK.
Next AAK ACADEMY for Beauty and
Personal Care, 18-19 September 2012
in Karlshamn, Sweden.
The Academy is free for all AAK customers. If
you would like to participate or know more about
the programme, contact your AAK partner.
More information available at www.aak.com
AAK Beauty and Personal Care Magazine 2012
published by AarhusKarlshamn Sweden AB, SE-374 82 Karlshamn, Sweden. www.aak.com
Editors: Jari Alander, Ann-Charlotte Andersson, Jørgen Eriksen, Rita Leissner, Tina Liljegren,
Karina Pettersson.
Contact: Rita Leissner, e-mail: rita.leissner@aak.com, phone: +46 454 824 25, fax: +46 454 828 85
Production: www.johnjohns.se. Photo: Thomas Tjäder. Matton.
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