The 100-year-old secret behind your favorite skincare ingredient

“The manufacturing course of issues — and it produces a greater finish product.” — Vikram Pandit, Phycus Biotechnologies

On this episode with Vikram Pandit, you’ll hear:

• What glycolic acid truly is and why it’s grow to be certainly one of skincare’s most talked-about elements. Glycolic acid is an alpha hydroxy acid first developed by DuPont within the Thirties, now present in all the pieces from drugstore toners to high-performance peels. It had a significant resurgence throughout COVID when The Unusual’s 30% glycolic acid peel went viral within the US, and the market has been rising at round 6% year-on-year ever since.
• Why almost all business glycolic acid is created from formaldehyde. The standard manufacturing course of dates again virtually 100 years and makes use of formaldehyde or monochloroacetic acid as beginning supplies. Whereas the ultimate molecule is chemically similar no matter the way it’s made, the impurity profile differs — and Phycus’s analysis suggests these hint variations have measurable penalties for pores and skin.
• The irritation examine that adjustments the phrases of the pure versus artificial debate. Phycus ran IL-1α irritation research evaluating Purolic Acid (their biobased glycolic acid) in opposition to typical petrochemical glycolic acids and printed the leads to SOFW journal. The distinction in irritation markers was statistically vital — and Purolic Acid additionally examined as much less irritating than main fruit extracts.
• How Phycus sources its feedstocks and what the lower-impact credentials truly relaxation on. The corporate makes use of upcycled FSC-certified wooden and waste molasses as fermentation feedstocks, closing the carbon cycle reasonably than drawing on petrochemicals. Vik claims a 40% discount in carbon footprint versus typical processes, backed by a full lifecycle evaluation.

Key takeouts embody:

• Chemically similar doesn’t imply functionally similar. Two samples of glycolic acid with the identical molecular construction can have totally different impurity profiles relying on how they had been made, and people impurities can produce measurable variations in how pores and skin responds. The identical variation exists between totally different petrochemical suppliers, which is why selecting respected ingredient sources issues no matter which model a formulator makes use of.
• The fermentation-derived model outperformed fruit extracts too. Utilizing fruit extracts as a workaround to keep away from petrochemical glycolic acid is frequent, however Phycus discovered Purolic Acid confirmed decrease irritation markers than main fruit extracts. Vik’s rationalization is that fruit extracts are inherently blended and fewer pure, carrying color, odour, and a spread of different natural acids alongside the glycolic acid.
• Greenwashing has made client schooling tougher. Glycolic acid has lengthy been marketed as a “fruit acid,” implying a pure origin, when virtually all business glycolic acid is petrochemically derived. When Phycus tells potential clients it has produced the world’s first pure glycolic acid, the response is usually “I believed it already was.” Vik’s want is that formulators and wonder buyers would perceive the distinction between an ingredient that happens in nature and one which’s truly created from pure sources.
• The business is beginning to put measurable metrics behind lower-impact claims. The shift Vik observes amongst bigger manufacturers is away from obscure “pure” storytelling and in the direction of quantified environmental metrics — full lifecycle carbon prices, traceable provide chains, and verified certifications reasonably than advertising and marketing language.
• For indie manufacturers, it is a differentiation alternative — if the value works. In a crowded alpha-hydroxy acid market, the place most merchandise look comparable, having the ability to cite printed irritation information behind a fermentation-derived glycolic acid is a concrete level of distinction.

Meet our visitor: Vikram Pandit, Founding father of Phycus Biotechnologies

Vikram Pandit is the co-founder and CEO of Phycus Biotechnologies, a Canadian firm creating fermentation-based options to petrochemical elements for the cosmetics business.

He holds a PhD in Metabolic Engineering and a BASc in Chemical Engineering from the College of Toronto, the place he spent six years as a graduate researcher earlier than founding Phycus in 2017.

The corporate’s flagship product, Purolic Acid, is the one commercially accessible fermentation-derived glycolic acid, produced utilizing microorganisms and renewable feedstocks together with FSC-certified wooden and waste molasses.

Discover out extra about Phycus Biotechnologies:

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Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formulation Botanica, the award-winning on-line natural beauty science faculty. Learn extra about Lorraine and the Formulation Botanica Group.