Clinique Develops Aloe Vera Bio-ferment for Skincare

Consumers who use Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator will benefit from a multifunctional formulation designed to deliver long-lasting hydration, plumper skin, a dewy look and protection from blue light damage. But for the R&D team behind it, there’s more to it.

“MS100 taps into the power of a proprietary fermentation process to create a ‘supercharged’ aloe vera bio-ferment,” noted Ida Wong, Clinique vice president global product development.

The oil-free gel-cream moisturizer has been reformulated with Aloe Bioferment + HA Complex, which combines the bio-ferment and two different molecular weight hyaluronic acids.

According to Steven Schnittger, vice president global microbiology and fermentation R&D at The Estée Lauder Companies, ELC’s scientists have been experimenting with the fermentation process and researching about its benefits for nearly 30 years.

“We began exploring the fermentation process when we would encounter ingredients that were hard to work with, solubilize or formulate. By fermenting these ingredients through Clinique’s proprietary bioconversion process, we have been very successful in creating new ferments—and in many instances, the ferments have increased efficacy over the non-fermented ingredient,” Schnittger told Happi.

According to Schnittger in simple terms, the process of creating aloe vera bio-ferment requires mixing aloe vera powder with lactobacillus, the host organism, and allowing it to grow for 24 to 48 hours.

“We then use a very precise filter to extract the aloe vera bio-ferment so that we know it is free of bacteria and contamination. The result of the proprietary fermentation process is an efficacious ferment,” he said.

A benefit of fermentation is that it breaks apart larger molecules making them more easily absorbed into skin.

Why Ferment?

“In many cases, we create a ferment because the chemist claims that the original ingredient is not soluble, impacts the color of the final formula or it has an off odor which is not compatible with a cosmetic formulation; in many cases, our formulas are not fragranced so any off odors will come right through once applied on the skin,” Schnittger said.

He noted that by fermenting through the bioconversion process, Clinique is overcoming many of the negative attributes that chemists have observed with that ingredient.

“We are also, at the same time, creating a new ingredient which is now totally water soluble and has an increased efficacy over the control. We have not performed a chemical extraction which may take away from the ‘naturalness’ of that ingredient,” Schnittger said.

According to ISO Standard 16128, all fermented products are considered natural.


In-House Development

Clinique is producing the ferment in house.

“We have total control of the manufacturing process and the packing into the proper containers, so we can reduce the level of preservation needed for the raw material since we can use a unit dose type of scenario which reduces potential exposure to external contamination,” said Schnittger.

Since the ferments are all aqueous based, the chemist does not have to perform multiple experiments in solubilizing the ingredient and ensuring delivery of that active ingredient onto the skin, according to Clinique. 

Dr. Tom Mammone, vice president, global skin physiology and pharmacology at Estée Lauder Companies, said the team tested aloe vera bio-ferment for activity around hydration and moisturization properties on skin.

“We also wanted to understand the moisturizing benefit of the aloe vera bio-ferment,” he said.

The team gathered data from artificial skin using the gravimetric method to get the change in mass before and after introducing the skin to the aloe vera bio-ferment. They found that there were statistically significant increases in hydration in the matrix of the skin after being introduced to the aloe vera bio-ferment, according to Dr. Mammone.

The findings from this in vitro test were showed that a treatment of aloe vera bio-ferment led to statistically significant increases in Type I Collagen, according to the company.

“The scientific observations from both studies are significant because while it is widely known that hyaluronic acid binds to water and keeps skin hydrated, more recent findings show that collagen does this as well. The increase in Type I Collagen observed in the initial study helps to explain the increase in total water content, and therefore hydration, in the latter study. In conjunction with other hydration ingredients, aloe bio-ferment can help hydrate skin,” Mammone told Happi.

According to Clinique, after one use, Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator boosts moisture immediately by +174% and it also provides 100 hours of stabilizing hydration. 

In consumer testing, after one week, 99% said skin felt deeply hydrated; 95% said skin looked plump; 91% said skin looked glowing; 98% said skin felt more resilient; and 95% say skin feels healthier, according to Clinique.

According to the brand, other key components in the Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator formulation are:

• Activated aloe water—pure water is infused with aloe barbadensis leaf extract, then supercharged to hold both positive and negative ionic charges;
• Auto-Replenishing Technology—using activated aloe water and caffeine, it helps trigger skin’s own rehydration system; and
• A blend of vitamins C and E—which provides antioxidant protection against daily dehydrators.

Exploration and Development

“Our findings with aloe bio-ferment represent not just one ingredient breakthrough for Clinique, but a successful experimentation and exploration process that will both inform and inspire our continued desire to advance skin care technology for our customers,” Schnittger said.