Introduction: Traditional skincare ingredients are no longer serving you. In fact, a lot of these outdated ingredients actually work against your skin. Many of the benefits you see by using them are achieved by coercing your skin to work against its own natural systems of regulation and renewal. Or they merely provide a temporary “Band-Aid” fix.
What’s really going on under the surface, and at what cost?
Retinol
Retinol is often hailed as the gold standard in anti-aging skincare. While it’s undeniably effective, it also comes with a range of potential side effects, like irritation and heightened sensitivity to the sun.
Despite these drawbacks, retinol remains one of the most popular and well-known ingredients in the skincare industry. But here’s something not as well-known: Retinol causes inflammation and terminal differentiation of skin cells.
Let’s break that down. Imagine a youthful skin cell. When retinol binds to it, it sends a signal for the cell to die. So the skin cell releases inflammatory cytokines before dying off. This process explains the redness, flakiness, and sensitivity you may experience when using retinol – you’re essentially “killing off” your skin cells.
So, in the pursuit of a more youthful appearance, you’re, ironically, accelerating the aging of your youthful skin cells. It’s a strange approach, almost reminiscent of the 1700s when people used lead to whiten their skin – another idea that didn’t age well. In years to come, we might look back on retinol with the same “what were we thinking?” reaction.
Most retinols are also resource-intensive and energy-intensive. They are produced with hazardous, non-renewable materials including solvents, strong acids, reagents, and metals – things like acetone, magnesium and DMF. We’d prefer fewer CO2-centric ingredients in our skincare.
So why use something that’s so harsh on your skin? Going through pain, damaging your skin cells, and avoiding sunshine like the plague shouldn’t be prerequisites for getting your desired results.
Ceramides
Ceramides, while generally regarded for their ability to help restore the skin’s natural barrier, are often always produced synthetically, requiring petrochemical-based ingredients and high levels of energy for production. Their production often relies on harmful solvents that can negatively affect both the environment and human health. Ceramides also don’t engage in bioactive regulation. Instead, they act more like spackle, filling in the gaps of your skin barrier, which is inherently a temporary solution.
Petrolatum Similarly, petrolatum, which is derived from crude oil, has long been used for its moisturizing properties. However, this ingredient is not without controversy. While it effectively locks in moisture, it’s not biodegradable and not created from a renewable resource. It can also clog pores, making it unsuitable for certain skin types, particularly those prone to acne.
Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA)
AHAs have been used as superficial peeling agents. But they may irritate your skin, bring on redness, or make you more likely to get a sunburn for up to a week after you stop using them. Plus, they’re synthetically made, often derived from petrochemicals, and producing them utilizes hazardous chemicals like hydrogen cyanide. We’ll pass …
Vitamin C
This ingredient gained popularity in skincare for its brightening properties. But it’s incredibly notorious for causing product stability issues, due to its all-too-often ability to oxidize. It’s also largely ineffective except when used in high concentrations, which can lead to skin irritation in many users.
So, Why Do We Still Rely on These Ingredients?
Given the potential risks and environmental concerns associated with ingredients like retinol, ceramides, and petrolatum, it begs the question: why do we continue to use them? Why are we settling for ingredients like this?
Consumers tend to rely on ingredients with a proven history of efficacy, as effectiveness is the primary motivator. This is especially true when the potential negative aspects of ingredients – whether biological or environmental – are not fully understood. As a result, certain ingredients become entrenched, and the gold standards of the past continue to dominate the market. This persistence is driven by a lack of clear scientific explanations and limited innovation, making it difficult for new ingredients to gain traction – unless they are strongly backed by science and specifically designed to minimize their environmental impact. Like ours.
Solution: Activated Silk™ Peptides
Skincare has a long history of using unsustainable ingredients that superficially cover up problems without addressing the root cause.
We’re here to usher in next-gen ingredients that support bioactive regulation and the skin’s natural ability to support skin health proteins. That way, formulators can achieve their desired results without having to rely on outdated petrochemistry.
Our Activated Silk™ peptides are created to partner with the skin and help naturally mitigate concerns.
Activated Silk™ 27P
Instead of using retinol, consider Activated Silk™ 27P. It’s a peptide that doesn’t have retinol’s harmful side effects – like skin irritation and sensitivity – but does have desired anti-aging properties.
Activated Silk™ 27P works with your skin by supporting the natural production of collagen Type 1. It’s the only naturally derived collagen support peptide on the market. Which means it makes skin visibly firmer and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Instead of working against your body, it encourages your skin to keep up its own natural production of vital skin proteins at optimal levels.
Plus, it can be safely used in sunlight.
Activated Silk™ 33B
Instead of using ceramides and petrolatum, consider using Activated Silk™ 33B. It’s a peptide that is water soluble – meaning it can be used in formulations that ceramides and petrolatum could not be used in. Activated Silk™ 33B supports the natural production of claudin, boosting the skin barrier’s ability to maintain tight junctions between cells for hydrated, happier, healthier-looking skin.
Activated Silk™ 8A
Instead of using Alpha Hydroxy Acid and Vitamin C, consider using Activated Silk™ 8A. It’s a tone-boosting peptide that makes unreliable vitamins and chemical peels a thing of the past. Activated Silk™ 8A doesn’t inhibit the skin’s melanocytes or use harsh ingredients to break the skin’s natural bonds. Instead, it’s about encouraging the body to support its own natural process of late-stage keratinocyte differentiation to visibly move hyperpigmentation out of skin, and boost the appearance of skin brightness– like exfoliation from the inside out, for all skin on the Fitzpatrick scale.
Activated Silk™ KDF
Today’s environment has introduced new oxidative stressors to our skin, resulting in effects like dullness, hyperpigmentation and accelerated aging. While legacy skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid, retinol, and vitamin C happen to address some symptoms of oxidative stress, they were not designed specifically for the problem. Activated Silk™ KDF-β is a first-of-its-kind keratinocyte differentiation factor, developed specifically to help skin adapt to today’s evolving environmental challenges. In a class of its own, this bioactive peptide solution offers greater protection against oxidative stress and repair and regeneration of the skin’s epidermal layer by supporting the natural regeneration rate. It also boosts valuable skin proteins, like filaggrin for hydration and occludin and claudin for skin barrier integrity and resilience.
Outdated ingredients work against your skin.
Activated Silk™ peptides work with your skin.
At Evolved By Nature, we believe that there’s a better way forward. Through cutting-edge biotechnology, we’ve developed Activated Silk™ peptides – a more natural, powerful, and scientifically backed solution to replace irritating, environmentally harmful ingredients.
Activated Silk™ peptides are derived from natural silk, a material that has been used with the human body for thousands of years.
Silk protein has always held powerful, unexplored properties. We’ve developed pioneering biotech tools to unlock them.
Activated Silk™ peptides work with your skin’s natural processes – supporting bioactive regulation,
which encourages your skin to remain at its optimal health for as long as possible. They support the natural production of important skin proteins like collagen, claudin, and involucrin, which help maintain the skin’s strength, elasticity, and moisture balance.
Unlike ingredients with problematic downsides to human health or the planet, Activated Silk™ peptides are clinically proven to be effective.
Furthermore, all Activated Silk™ peptides are naturally derived, biodegradable, cruelty-free certified, and made with upcycled ingredients and renewable energy.
Conclusion
The skincare industry is in a period of rapid innovation. Peptide solutions made from natural silk protein offer a compelling alternative – one that is rooted in both nature and science. At Evolved By Nature, we are proud to lead the way in offering effective, and more* sustainable solutions for the beauty and personal care industries. We think it’s time to say goodbye to the old-school ingredients that may be doing more harm than good. Don’t settle for ingredients that compromise your skin’s health or the environment’s health. Embrace the future of skincare with Activated Silk™ peptides – because your skin deserves better.
- The manufacturing of Activated Silk™ technology contributes to achieving 8/17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. For more information, visit sdgs.un.org/goals
