Alban Muller launches skin whitening ingredient

Whitami is being marketed as a means of lightening and toning down pigment marks for both skin and hands, while containing a titanium dioxide UV screen to help prevent further damage from the sun's rays.

It also contains exfoliating actives that smooth and brighten the complexion, adding to the effect of the de-pigmenting ingredients.

The treatment targets hyperpigmentation, or freckles, a condition that Asian women in particular like to avoid - preferring instead a clear, fairer complexion, free from imperfections.

Natural extracts Whitami also taps into the market for products that contain natural ingredients, as the formulation is preservative-free and contains two Asian plant extracts belonging to the apiacaea family.

The plant extracts come from the Hokkai Toki and Bofu shrubs, both noted for active ingredients that have been used in traditional Chinese beauty whitening treatments for over a thousand years.

Likewise, the formulation also contains Vitamin C, which is said to combine de-pigmenting activity and antioxidant properties, making it both a skin protector as well as having properties that slow down melanin synthesis (the tanning process) by tyrosinase inhibition.

UV protection The antioxidant properties of the formulation have also played a significant part in inhibiting the UV rays that generate free radicals, in turn speeding up the ageing process.

This means that the product is both a preventative as well as a treatment for skin whitening.

As the company puts it: 'it would be useless to lighten the skin while letting it wrinkle prematurely'.

As well as Vitamin C, the formula also includes Pine Bark OPCs together with Lipoic Acid, which all combine to optimise the antioxidant levels in the formula and ultimately increase the UV protection properties.

The Pine Bark OPCs are exctracted from pine barks from the Landes region of France, while the Lipoic Acid is naturally present in human cells.

Laboratory tests The company says that a O.1 per cent to O.3 per cent dose of Whitami is sufficient and that its laboratory tests have proven the product's efficacy.

The testing showed that a O.1µg dose had the maximum effect, highlighting a 19 per cent de-pigmenting activity after three days.

The formulation is said to be compatible with all common cosmetics ingredients, but the company equally points out that it can modify a formula's viscosity and that it is incompatible with certain fragrances.