Symrise launches echinacea ingredient for cosmetics

According to the Germany-headquartered company, although well known as an ingredient in many herbal remedies, echinacea purpurea is rarely used in topical cosmetics products.

“To my knowledge we are the only supplier offering echinacea to the cosmetics market,”​ Symrise global product director, life essentials, Marielle le Maire told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.

Triple effect ​

The ingredient SymFinity 1298 has a triple effect, le Maire explained, making it a particularly interesting and cost effective ingredient for anti-ageing formulators.

In addition to its strong antioxidant properties, the ingredient has an anti-irritant effect that can help prevent age spots, as well as helping to make skin cells more resilient to stress and environmental aggressors that cause wrinkles and fine lines, the company claims.

le Maire compared the activity of the ingredient to the grape polyphenol resveratrol, but said it was easier to work with and significantly cheaper.

“Resveratrol is very difficult to formulate whereas Symfinity is very easy. This is because it’s a water soluble product. Symfinity is also much more stable than resveratrol,”​ she said.

In addition, she highlighted that the maximum concentration of SymFinity suggested by Symrise is 0.1 per cent. This low concentration in addition to its multiple benefits makes it a very cost efficient ingredient, she said.

‘Cellular repair’​

The active can be used in a wide range of anti-ageing products, and Symrise says it can be incorporated into the new generation of products that claim ‘cell protection’ and ‘cellular repair’.

“There is a lot of communication from end products to consumers about healthy cells, or prolonging cell activity or cell longevity, and consumers are well aware of these sorts of claims,”​ explained le Maire.