For any skincare to be effective, it has to deliver the goods literally – from being able to permeate the skin to making sure its cargo is distributed to wherever it’s supposed to go, and if need be, time-released. This is where the importance of its transport comes in.
“Active ingredients are usually delivered into skin through chemical methods, which use solvents to break down the ingredient,” says Dr Georgia Lee, a GP with an interest in aesthetics. “Or they take the more sophisticated route like encapsulation.” In layman speak, the latter means ingredients are put into a “carrier” (liposomes are one example; microsponge are another), with a membrane that has high affinity to skin.
There’s apparently another way now, and it’s with microfluidics – a science that studies the mechanism of fluids on a micrometric scale. Simply put: the behaviour, movement and manipulation of fluids on a very, very small scale.
Christian Mahe, Chanel’s senior vice-president of research and technology, discovered microfluidics when he went to Harvard to find new ways of delivering active ingredients.
“There are many uses of this field,” says Marie-Helene Lair, the French brand’s international scientific communications director. “Microfluidics is both a science and a technology. For example, the movement of sap in a tree, the mechanics of fluids in very tiny tubes and even blood in our capillaries all fall under microfluidics. It’s the study of all these mechanisms and what we can do with them. For example, both pregnancy and diabetes tests use microfluidics.”
To incorporate microfluidics into its skincare, Chanel worked with Capsum, a French biotech start-up based in Marseille and that has worked with many beauty companies. Capsum created a technology that stabilises micro-droplets of active ingredients without any encapsulation. This also means the carrier doesn’t need a membrane anymore.
“We are the first brand to use microfluidics to create skincare with active ingredients that do not need membranes and are stabilised in tiny droplets,” says Lair. “And this is good for several reasons. First: the direct affinity with skin. When you don’t have a membrane, as soon as you apply the product, the active ingredients are immediately available to your epidermis, which improves the product’s efficacy and efficiency.”
Second: it improves the texture of the product. “Without a membrane, you can get textures that are as fresh and light as a wave,” Lair says. “This is very difficult to attain with capsules or membranes. Also, with micro-droplets you are getting a 100 per cent active formula, with all the ingredients useful to the skin. There are no stabilisers or superfluous ingredients that just deliver actives but do nothing for your complexion.”
Finally, and perhaps the most important for sensitive skins: no membrane equals less irritation. According to Lair, certain emollients or stabilising factors can irritate reactive complexions. “Micro-droplets are less likely to irritate skin.”
The first product Chanel is rolling out with this new technology is the Hydra Beauty Micro Serum ($125).
The reformulated hydrating essence has micro-droplets of camellia oil extract to plump up dry or dehydrated skin. The oil micro-droplets are suspended in a gel-water serum, which contains blue ginger and camellia extract to intensely hydrate skin for up to 24 hours, as well as to fight free radicals.
The product is part water and part oil to increase its efficiency. “When skin is well hydrated, it can better receive active ingredients,” says Lair. “When the serum goes on, the water phase gets absorbed by the epidermis first to prepare the way for the oil phase, which is the camellia oil extract. That is why we recommend that you first smooth in the serum to allow the watery gel to enter, after which you ‘push in’ the oil phase with tapping motions.”
On skin, the serum has a changing texture that is very interesting. When it first touches the skin, the watery gel feels very fresh and light. However, as it gets absorbed, it leaves a velvety-smooth feel similar to that of a cream.
Each bottle of Hydra Beauty Micro Serum has supposedly 4,000 micro-droplets of camellia oil extract. Each pump releases 40 of them so you get precisely the same amount of active ingredients each time.
Lair recommends you use it twice a day for a month to rebalance your skin’s hydration level, after which once every morning would be sufficient to protect against dehydration and aggressors in the environment. “This is the start of microfluidics in Chanel beauty and I hope that we will continue with this.”
