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Decide what your skin will look like tomorrow, today!!
In 2009, I found myself at a stand still in my education or my career. And with a little help from my friends at SFU, we broke through that looking younger than ever! As I sat barefoot in the sand (part of their ‘no news, no shoes’ policy island-wide) and listened in on multiple health and wellness chats, a common theme emerged: longevity, or the quest to live longer but also to live better today.
Soon enough, I found the term starting to emerge in the beauty space as well, with in-clinic treatments and skincare ingredients positioning themselves as pro-cellular regeneration, with the ability to heal and energise your skin from within.
In the past five years, we have gone from overloading our skin barriers with actives during the lockdown to trying to fix the damage with reparative treatments. Last year was all about soothing skin. And now, longevity and regeneration are emerging as buzzwords.
Dr Madhuri Agarwal, Mumbai-based dermatologist, “Today, more individuals view skincare through the perspective of health and regenerative medicine rather than just aesthetics. Instead of merely covering imperfections or providing temporary hydration, there is now a focus on products and treatments that repair, renew, and strengthen the skin at a cellular level.”
It’s natural that a quest to live longer would trickle down to skincare and ageing better. Vogue Business’s recent ‘Future of Appearance’ series talks about DNA-powered beauty solutions that will be programmed to hyper-individual needs, target issues precisely or prevent them altogether. With advancements in technology and AI, this future could arrive sooner than we think.
“We’ve been addressing the consequences of ageing instead of the causes,” says Dr Annie Black, international scientific director, Lancôme. “Regenerative cosmetics are actually trying to understand and tackle the root causes. I think this has the potential to really change the way we develop and also recommend products.”
A beginner’s guide to what’s hot in skin regeneration
Terms like exosomes, growth factors, stem cell therapies and the works may be thrown around casually when regeneration is in question, with the assumption that they’re self-explanatory (they’re not). We got Rana Jaffari, head of aesthetics nursing at Dripology, California’s much-loved chain of wellness-focused med-spas, to break them down for us.
- Stem cells: Derived from plants or the body, stem cells stimulate skin regeneration and repair by promoting cellular turnover and collagen production.
- Growth factors: These proteins help to accelerate the healing process by stimulating cell renewal, improving skin elasticity, and reducing fine lines.
- Peptides: These amino acid compounds encourage collagen production, help repair skin damage, and reduce inflammation.
- Exosome therapy: Exosomes, tiny vesicles that contain proteins, lipids, and RNA, are used to help regenerate and repair skin at a cellular level.
- PRP (platelet-rich plasma): This is a treatment where the patient’s own blood is used to harvest growth factors, which are then injected into the skin to stimulate regeneration and healing.
- Microneedling: It involves tiny needles that create micro-injuries in the skin to stimulate the body’s natural healing process and encourage collagen and elastin production.
- Laser treatments: Technologies like fractional CO2 lasers create controlled damage to the skin, encouraging collagen remodelling and skin resurfacing.
Old and new
Retinol, the holy-grail anti-ageing and -acne ingredient, has been headlining the regeneration conversation for decades now. Antioxidants like Vitamin C and resveratrol, and hydrators like ceramides and hyaluronic acid are all as relevant as they’ve always been, protecting the outer layers of your skin. New treatments are enabling repair not just superficially but at a DNA level. The normal genetic wear and tear that comes with ageing is being addressed through growth factors and exosomes.
At her practice, Dr Madhu Chopra, Mumbai-based cosmetologist and managing director, Studio Aesthetique, provides a combination of PRP and exosome therapy together with stem cell-based treatments to increase collagen production for skin improvement. “Progress in biotechnology has enabled us to use ingredients that promote collagen synthesis. Using peptides along with growth factors, stem cells and exosomes can restore skin tissue and even minimise the effects of cellular ageing,” she explains.
In-clinic treatments that promote skin cell renewal, when combined with cocktails of healing ingredients, help target deep-seated concerns that topical skincare can only dream of addressing, at least for now. “I’ve seen particularly impressive results when growth factor concentrate and exosomes are combined with microneedling to encourage skin healing for treating acne scars, photo-ageing and pigmentary issues,” says Dr Agarwal. “Plus, new technologies like PLLA (poly-L-lactic acid) threads provide an immediate lifting effect and stimulate collagen production over time for more long-lasting regenerative benefits.”
Dr Chopra also spotlights NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), the IV drip popularised by the likes of Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber. “The skin’s regeneration process gradually slows down over time, leading to an accumulation of dead skin cells on the surface. By naturally enhancing skin renewal [with NAD], you can maintain elastin and a fresh, youthful appearance throughout the ageing process.” While NAD IV drips are the most common mode of delivery, the co-enzyme is also starting to show up in new topical products like serums and creams.
The most prominent change is in the way these treatments are branded—providing “anti-ageing” benefits without calling it out overtly; it looks like brands are promoting the idea of ageing well. At a panel discussion at the recent Luxury Symposium 2.0 hosted by the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Shreshta Jana, general manager, L’Oréal Luxe India, shared insights into how brands are shifting their narratives while speaking about ageing. “We as an industry have a responsibility to promote an embracing of ageing because it’s a natural process. The responsibility is to promote it in a positive, inclusive and optimistic way, to create an optimistic vision of beauty around ageing. We have 4,000 scientists in our R&I centres looking into how we can make longevity the core of our research, and that’s driving our product development. It’s about innovations that allow our customers to live happily, confidently and radiantly…about how we address the confidence within instead of topically.”
What’s next for skin regeneration and longevity?
Skincare is becoming increasingly personalised, with AI playing a significant part, allowing brands and skin experts to go beyond the surface, and treat skin health like our overall health—holistically. You and your best friend could have the exact same skin tone, type, and concerns, but the multitude of factors that impact skin mean that your routines, in all likelihood, cannot be the same.
For longevity, it’s important to look beneath what’s visible. According to Dr Agarwal, “Advances are being made towards more personalised approaches that take into account individual genetic factors, microbiome composition, and environmental influences.” She sees more targeted delivery systems emerging, to treat skin from a micro, as opposed to a macro lens: exactly what you need and where you need it. Skincare solutions for your unique genetic code?
At BioTech Futures we aim to create that perfect match for you! What a time to be alive.