The Copaíba tree is a tree up to 20 meters high with thick branches, which grows in the Amazon region both in dry forests and in swamp areas. Known in the Amazon for centuries, the oil was first mentioned in Europe in 1625 by a Portuguese monk and was part of the standard assortment in…

Aging is a natural process, but it can be accelerated by internal and external influences. Such factors exacerbate structural and functional changes in skin and hair, altering their appearance faster than natural aging processes. Skin-like peptides, also called biomimetic peptides, can be used to mimic the activity of naturally occurring peptides and have been shown…

The more we know about skin and its aging, the better technologies we can develop to positively affect it. Retinol was first used in skin care in the 1970s; since then, it has been further developed in a wide variety of ways to be used specifically to reduce aging changes or alleviate acne. In the…

Poly-D-glucosamine is a naturally occurring polyaminosaccharide also called poliglusam, poly-D-glucosamine or chitosan. The term is derived from the Greek description for undergarment, covering or armor. Poly-D-glucosamine is derived from chitin, and the substance was first obtained in 1859 by Charles Marie Benjamin Rouget, a French physiologist and histologist, by boiling with potassium hydroxide solution. It…

In the kitchen or in a restaurant, everyone has probably made the acquaintance of a chili pepper. The hot peppers often burn like fire and heat us up inside. Nevertheless, we love them because they can be used to spice up a wide variety of dishes. The alkaloid capsaicin is primarily responsible for the enormous…

Chinese magnolia-vine (Chinese: Wu Wei Zi) is a plant species of the star anise family and originates from China. In the meantime, however, it can also be found in Korea and Japan. Chinese magnolia-vinewas (Schisandra chinensis) used as early as the late Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to 220 A.D.). The deciduous climbing plant can reach…

L-carnosine is a dipeptide, i.e., a chemical compound composed of two amino acids. In this case, it is the two amino acids L-histidine and beta-alanine. In humans, L-carnosine is found mainly in muscle and brain tissue, but also in the kidneys and liver. The Russian biochemist Vladimir Sergeyevich Gulevich (1867 to 1933), together with his…

The demands of critical consumers for beauty and body care are increasing more and more. The trend is away from synthetic and chemical ingredients and towards ingredients of plant origin. One focus is the search for alternatives to microparticles or microplastics. Bio scrub, for example, describes a skin- and environment-friendly peeling that consistently avoids microplastics,…

The term retinoids refers to an entire family of ingredients. This is extremely large and includes not only retinal, retinol and retinoic acid, but also several other substances. All these forms are derivatives of vitamin A, which are summarised under the generic term retinoids. They are found in many cosmetic products and are converted into…

Salicylic acid, or 2-hydroxybenzoic acid, is found in the form of its ester in essential oils and as a plant hormone in the leaves, flowers, and roots of various plants. It has a great importance in the defence againstpathogenic substances. This acid got its name because it used to be obtained mainly through the oxidative…