Botaneco innovates efficacy testing to keep pace with changing personal care ingredient options

06-Mar-2018 - Last updated on 06-Mar-2018 at 20:14 GMT

Research scientists from the company’s facilities in Calgary, Alberta, and Lambertville, New Jersey, published data on their work with spectrophotometric screening in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology last year and continue efforts to build industry awareness of the SPF testing alternative.

Botaneco specializes in plant-based ingredients. The company debuted its CapSol technology at the 2016 International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists event in Orlando, Florida (as Cosmetics Design reported). CapSol is a UV-filtering encapsulation technology made from oleosomes.

Since then, the company’s product portfolio has grown to not only include CapSol, but also an emulsifier known as Hydresia, and a safflower storage protein known as Karmyn.

New testing for new ingredients

“Certain types of testing may not accurately capture the intricate functionality of natural ingredients, like oilseeds that store oil in small encapsulation vehicles called oleosomes,” explains Kathy Mish, marketing manager at Botaneco, in a new company media release about spectrophotometric screening.

The company has been looking into testing alternatives because it believes that commonly-used in vitro SPF screening techniques don’t give consistently reliable results when used to test natural ingredients.

New data from a new company

Five Botaneco scientists, including Soo In Yang, published their work in article entitled, 'Reliable and simple spectrophotometric determination of sun protection factor: A case study using organic UV filter-based sunscreen products', in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.

“Our goal is to find a simple, faster, more reliable in vitro method to verify the SPF of formulas containing organic UV filters and natural ingredients,” says Yang, in this week's media release.

“Whatever assay is adopted in the laboratory must be reproducible with the US FDA in vivo protocol. One such test method involves spectrophotometrics, the quantitative measurement of the reflection or transmission properties of a material.”

“Alternative in vitro testing protocols, such as spectrophotometrics, illustrate the unique functionality that complex natural ingredients bring to personal care,” emphasizes Mish.

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.