Ingredients
September 16th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The “how” in this post means: is there a biochemical mechanism known to support using X or Y on your skin? I am not against using an ingredient shown to be useful just because we don’t know how it works. But removing the “magic” and replacing it with understanding is so much nicer. So here we go for some of the mechanisms of action in your favorite ingredients. Don’t be discouraged by the complexity; nobody will test you! Alpha lipoic acid is a naturally occurring dithiol complex, is the prosthetic (i.e. non-proteic) group of several enzymes, including the transacetylase part of the enzyme complex that catalyzes the decarboxylation of pyruvate…
September 9th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Some online resources present preservatives as “bad actors” in skin care products. This is a complete lie. It’s the duty of manufacturers of skin care products to sell only safe products; preservatives are essential if we are to do our duty. Preservatives are ingredients that can kill and/or stop the growth of bacteria and mold present in the formulation or introduced during use (like by the user’s dirty fingers). Preservatives are usually a mix of chemicals because what is needed is to stop different types of metabolisms, and bacteria and mold have very different metabolisms. Preservatives extend the shelf life of the skin care product. Without preservatives, you would have…
September 2nd, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
You may be familiar with the superoxide radical; your body certainly is. And you may also know about antioxidants and pollution. Superoxide radicals are part of life, and it has been this way since oxygen appeared in the atmosphere thanks to photosynthesis. We, humans, and most living organisms on Earth, depend on oxygen to live. We use oxygen to oxidize food, extracting the energy we need to keep us going and thinking and writing from that food. This fundamental job of extracting energy from food by oxidizing it to carbon dioxide and water is done in good part by our mitochondria. Why do we need SODs? Why does life need…
August 27th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Scars and sports injuries can be sensitive when the rain comes or the weather changes in other ways. For many people, pain can flare up in the cold of winter. So, how does cold weather affect pain, and what can be done about it? The causes There are several theories behind this familiar problem, including: Lower temperatures cause tissues to contract, putting pressure on nerves. Different tissues contract at different rates, for example, scar tissue. This is why the site of a previous injury could experience pain in cold temperatures. Pressure changes – air pressure in winter drops. With this drop, the gases and fluids in joints expand, putting pressure…
August 27th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
When I last wrote about Argireline in the oldSkin Actives forum (now inactive), I had two main objections: 1) that the (scant) research asserting its activity came from the same lab that sells it and 2) that they sell the peptide greatly diluted in a solution that does not promote peptide stability. I always suspected a gimmick. Why? Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxic protein of molecular weight of about 150K produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. This is serious business, a toxin that kills. However, in the hands of expert MDs, this toxin can treat some uncomfortable problems, including muscle spasms and some migraines. MDs, and some reckless people with no…
June 28th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
In the pursuit of novelty, the skin care industry looks at the unusual and exotic, but also seeks ingredients in my soup. The claims for these very usual veggies can be very unusual. INCI Name:Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (and) Sorbitan Trioleate (and) Apium Graveolens (Celery) Seed Extract (and) Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Extract Let’s look at celery and the chemicals it contains. Is there any chemical/s that can shrink the pores? But before getting onto that, the very first thing to know is that celery and UV SHOULD NEVER go together. Why? Bergapten in combination with UV light may cause photodermatitis. Apart from bergapten, there are some chemicals that tend to be…
June 25th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
How many pounds of Royal Jelly do you need for that hint of defensin-1? Too many, too expensive, let’s forget about it. How many grams of cow hypothalamus do you need to get one milligram of pure keratinocyte growth factor do you need? Don’t ask, because not only it was hard and expensive, but the FDA wouldn’t allow such a chemical to be used by humans, that would be too dangerous. How about superoxide dismutase? Gone are the days when the formulator had to squeeze her/his nose and buy superoxide dismutase (SOD) from bovine erythrocytes (in plain English, cow’s blood). Yes, your precious antioxidant serum contained protein extracted from kilograms…
June 23rd, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
No, you didn’t miss the birth of new scientific branches: those words are just advertising by the skin care industry, where, unfortunately, most of the creativity happens in the advertising department (not in the formulation lab). The “neuroactive cosmetic” in this case is Zanthoxylum alatum fruit extract (tumbru. timut pepper, Sichuan pepper). Timut pepper grows as shrubs in the southern edge of the Himalayas, but also grows in Pakistan, Japan, Korea and further in South West Asia. The fruits are sun-dried after harvesting and they are used as a spice for traditional dishes.The fruits of timut pepper are also used as traditional remedy for toothache and other ailments. Figure. Zanthoxylum…
June 15th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
We do not use any ingredient known to be unsafe. Safety is our primary concern. That and the effectiveness of the product. I examine the evidence available and discard what is bad science: bad methodology, bad research. Everything can disrupt hormonal response if you use it in high enough concentrations. Even salt can mess up hormone receptors. There are bad agents around that try to increase the sales of their own products by scaring people about products made by others and promoting their own. Don’t trust everything you read, and pass the message to your grandson. I have about 50 years as a scientist and I know how to read…
June 7th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Remember: broken or badly modified proteins can’t do their job. Fibroblasts are the main cells in the dermis, and they specialize in producing two types of proteins, collagen and elastin, which are a major part of the extra-cellular matrix. When you are choosing ingredients for skin care it’s important to think not just of increasing the synthesis of skin proteins (what everybody talks about) but also of preserving their structure intact. Changes in protein structure are definitely going to change how the skin functions and how it looks, and it’s never for the better! One thing we want to do is to prevent glycation, the chemical attachment of sugars, without…
May 12th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Don’t let a child play with fire. Or a guitarist with science. A person who doesn’t understand that living beings are complicated will choose molecule A to get effect X, without thinking about side effects Y and Z. That’s OK, unless Y is basal cell carcinoma. And Z is killing melanocytes (think Michael Jackson and vitiligo). A new skin “care” product has this ingredient list: INGREDIENTS: Water, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Glycerin, Olive Oil Glycereth-8 Esters, Niacinamide, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Coconut Alkanes, Malassezin, Rhododendron Ferrugineum (Alpine Rose) Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Bisabolol, Carnosine, Tocopherol, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Silica, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Chlorphenesin, Sodium Phytate, Pentylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Disodium…
April 20th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Of course! Our body is very complicated and any publications explaining why something happens will always be a partial explanation. This is particularly true for aging (so many things go wrong) and with stem cells, because they are so flexible. In the past, I posted the news that two enzymes crucial to the synthesis of melanin were affected in the hair follicle making grey hair. The following is from my book Following the discovery that follicles lacking in two crucial antioxidant enzymes make gray-white hair, we added these two enzymes to our Hair Care Serum that should help protect your scalp and prevent the loss of hair color. Gray hair…
April 19th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Conundrum: A logical postulation that evades resolution, an intricate and difficult problem Improving your mood is what this skin care ingredient promises: Zanthoxylum Alatum Fruit Extract (and) Glycerin (and) Pentylene Glycol (and) Aqua / Water. This ingredient illustrates the constraints that the cosmetic industry faces: the FDA does not allow the use of chemicals classified as medicines by the FDA, be it prescription or over-the-counter (OTC). Improving your mood would be one activity cosmetics are not allowed to do. But the industry found a loophole: it can “cheat” by using medicinal plant extracts. The FDA does not allow using an alkaloid in a skin care product Why? There is a…
April 12th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Ceramides are a family of waxy (cera means wax in Latin) lipids that vary in chemical structure but are basically made of N-acetyl sphingosine and a fatty acid. Why does the skin make ceramides? Three main functions: the one we are more familiar with is as part of the “glue” that sticks epidermal dead cells to each other making up the skin barrier, which prevents trans-epidermal water loss. Second, ceramides form part of the cell membranes, in the form of other lipids called sphingomyelin, a major component of the lipid bilayer, crucial to the permeability properties of the membranes. The third? Ceramides, in the skin and other organs, can act…
March 15th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Gold will do nothing for your skin except adorn it. Right now I am wearing a gold chain with a pendant. Why do we use gold for adornment? Because it is practically inert in or on our bodies (gold crowns for teeth used to be common if you were rich). Conversely, silver will react with the skin and the environment and oxidize quickly enough. To benefit the skin or the body, you need interactions, which gold can’t give you (silver will interact but without benefit or worse, google argyria). Good interactions that is. For example, metals that our enzymes need to help catalyze chemical reactions to keep us alive. Gold…
March 1st, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Cysteamine is a chemical present in the human body, a product of degradation of Coenzyme A. Figure. Cysteamine Re. “Does it work for melasma” question, we should first answer this one: do we need another active to treat melasma? Answer: Yes. Melasma is a problem for many people with no great or satisfactory solutions. Second. How to choose a new active? The answer should be: add a new active if it is safer and better than what’s in the market. Even if it doesn’t help everybody, does it work for some people better than what’s available? Especially since old actives, still used, include hydroquinone, which is irritating, photosensitive and citotoxic.…
February 8th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Two answers, depending on where the ceramides are. 1) In the skin, ceramides are very important. 2) On the skin, ceramides are not that important. Please, explain! 1) The ceramides your skin makes are very important; they fulfill an important role (see below) 2) When applied in skin care products, ceramides are not important and are replaceable. What do ceramides do inside the skin? How good is the skin at protecting our bodies? It’s excellent when it’s healthy. The horny layer is a compact wall of corneocytes and unique fat molecules. In the analogy with a wall, the corneocytes are the bricks, and the intercellular lipids, including ceramides and proteins,…
January 28th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Yes! Niacinamide is great! And you can make your own niacinamide skin care easily: just add it to Skin Actives base spray and serum. It’s very soluble in water, one of those few actives that it’s easy to use on your own. Niacinamide is a frequent ingredient in skincare, and for good reasons: it’s a vitamin, so it will be useful even at very low concentrations. It has many more benefits for the skin, so read on! Figure. Chemical structure of niacinamide (nicotinamide) Why a vitamin? No niacinamide, no NAD+, no respiration! Niacinamide is one of the components of NADPH (reduced niacinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) the coenzyme that provides the…
January 15th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
“Nona” from Latin, having nine (remember hexagon, heptagon, etc.?). Is a nonapeptide better than an octapeptide? Or than a decapeptide? It doesn’t matter how many amino acids; the sequence is what matters. In this case, the stereospecificity also matters because a couple of amino acids used in this particular peptide are not present in proteins, which are all Levo amino acids. The actual sequence of this nonapeptide, described by Jayawickreme et al. (1994), is Met-Pro-D-Phe-Arg-D-Trp-Phe-Lys-Pro-Val-NH2Why does it matter? Because it has to do with a spatial 3-D structure that will bind to the hormone receptor, blocking access to the normal hormone and preventing it from working. The idea is to…
November 18th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Why? In the past, Royal Jelly may have been the only source of complete nutrition for a very sick patient hoping for recovery. It’s good for the skin, good for the hair, and good for so many human needs. These days, we have many other sources of vitamins and nutrition; we don’t need to “steal” from the honey bees feeding the queen bee, which is the colony’s future. The methodology to produce royal jelly these days is surprising in the many ways that it wastes resources, including the waste of honey bees. Colonies in movable frame hives are stimulated to produce queen bees. Royal jelly is collected from each individual…