What
is the significance of chirality in skin care?
The topic of ‘chirality’ is concerned with getting the
most from your actives and limiting unnecessary
irritation. A chiral molecule has a mirror-image form,
a left and a right.
The phenomenon of chirality
(probably from the Greek word for hand) is very
important in the field of serious cosmeceutical
product formulation.
Two gloves look exactly the same, yet it is impossible
to put your right hand in the left glove. Imagine your
right hand represents a biological skin receptor, and a
box full of pairs of gloves represents a box full of
active ingredients. If a right handed glove was placed
on the hand, it would switch
on the desired activity.
But since half the box contains gloves that will not fit
the right hand, you in fact have only half a box of active
ingredient even though it may appear to be full.
Now imagine we are talking about Lactic Acid. This
fruit acid molecule has two forms, one of which is
biologically active and the other is inactive.
If the
manufacturer states the product contains 1% Lactic
Acid and the ingredients state “DL-Lactic Acid“ then
we know that like the box of gloves,
the ingredient
has been included without being purified into
containing only the biologically active form, which in
the case of Lactic Acid is the L-form.
So actually as far
as the skin is concerned, the product contains 0.5%
Lactic Acid.
Sometimes, both forms of a molecule are active but
one is much less irritating than the other, as with
mandelic acid, where the L-form is far gentler.
The letters “D” and “L” refer
to the right-handed
molecule (D) and the left-handed molecule (L).
Unfortunately each molecule is different and
sometimes the “L” is the active form and other times
it is the “D”.
So there is no hard and fast rule about
which isomer to look out for.
Medik8 understands chirality and always use the
correct form of an ingredient wherever possible.
Please note that chirally correct purification
makes
the cost of the active ten times greater or more.
Medik8 is the British skin research company pioneering cosmeceutical technologies to make the most effective ingredients suitable for even the most sensitive skin, yet crucially without compromising efficacy. Medik8 cosmeceuticals may be used by everyone. Apart from being kinder to the skin, it turns out this new technology is kinder to the planet too. That’s why Medik8 is known as the ‘Green Cosmeceutical’ brand. Most skin is sensitive, it is just to what degree that distinguishes it from others. A simple change of washing powder can demonstrate this. People of all ages and skin types can periodically suffer from sensitive skin, making them particularly susceptible to certain irritating cosmeceutical ingredients. In fact, those suffering from acne, rosacea or psoriasis usually have greater skin sensitivity, which can be exacerbated by some aggressive treatment products that they use. The challenge for Medik8 is to make effective ingredients less aggressive without reducing potency. We do this in many ways for example using film-encapsulation, chirally correct actives, non-acid derivatives and patented anti-erythema technologies. Of course, using any effective strength actives, for example retinols and fruit acids, will cause some stinging to even the toughest skins, but Medik8 pharmacologists have minimised the degree of irritation and in some cases made it absent all together. No longer are the most powerful and effective ingredients beyond the reach of people who want the gain without the pain! And who doesn’t want that? Ask your skin care professional about what Medik8 can do for you.
