For Chemyunion, It’s Bigger than the Amazon

Say “Brazil” and “beauty” and the words immediately conjure up images of the immense Amazon Rainforest with all of its flora and fauna, or, perhaps, the mighty Amazon River where prospectors scour its riverbanks for natural ingredients. But Chemyunion is a different kind of Brazilian-based raw material supplier to the beauty industry.


Company executives say they are creating high-tech solutions for skin and hair care products that are based more on sound science than Amazon Rainforest folklore.


According to Cristiane Pacheco, VP-new business, Chemyunion is not like traditional Brazilian companies in the beauty space.


“We specialize in high-tech solutions, not natural ingredients from the Amazon,” she told Happi. “We are science in nature, inspired by innovation.”


So much so that Chemyunion invests about 18% of net sales into the innovation process.


For more than a year, Pacheco has been spreading that message throughout North America, following the establishment of a US office in Union, NJ. The company has also created a warehouse network to stock materials in the US for fast, reliable delivery. With an office in the US and Pacheco at the helm, Chemyunion is committed to bringing what works in Brazil to the world’s largest cosmetics market. Chemyunion is 25 years old and Pacheco has been with the company for 18 years, including several as scientific director. She has an in-depth knowledge of the company, its capabilities and what Chemyunion can deliver to the cosmetics industry.




“I’ve been with Chemyunion for every step in its development,” she told Happi. “Now, I am working to increase Chemyunion’s visibility in the US and highlighting our philosophy.”


Sound Science


It’s a philosophy that is centered on science.


“Our products are natural but have the highest level of claim substantiation, in-vivo, ex-vivo and in-silico, and we also provide excellent technical service and support, formulations support and we are able to help our customers substantiate their claims,” she explained.


During NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2017, the company rolled out several new products including SkinBlitz, an active that is said to reduce the detrimental effects of pollution on the skin, while protecting DNA and reducing hyperpigmentation. According to Chemyunion, pollutants destroy skin layers, reduce cell proliferation and differentiation and enhance hyperpigmentation. As a unique polyssacharide network, SkinBlitz reduces pollutant permeation (by 65%) measured by Raman spectroscopy, inflammation (by 37%) and also hyperpigmentation as it protects DNA, and downregulates HSP70 environmental stress markers (by 55%).


Chemyunion also highlighted the efficacy of its Biolumitá, a skin lightening agent with triple action whitening that reduces formation of melanosomes, as well as synthesis of melanin and melanosome transport to the keratinocytes. Extracted from the rhizome of the Chinese Ginger plant (Alpina officinarium), it is standardized in galangin, a compound from the flavonoid group.


When added to emulsions, gels and serums at 0.5%, results were obtained in 30 days. In a clinical 8-week study, 40 Asian volunteers applied a formulation containing Biolumitá (0.5%) or a placebo formulation all over the face, twice a day, in the morning and at night. Subjects who applied Biolumitá on hyperpigmented areas reported ΔITA values of 40% and 22%, higher than those obtained by the placebo formulation, over periods of 30 and 60 days, respectively. ITA stands for Individual Typology Angle, an index related to skin color. The higher the ΔITA (ITA final period – ITA initial period) is, the higher the skin whitening. 


Chemyunion’s innovations aren’t limited to skin care. The company’s GoBlond hair protectant was named one of the top five actives of 2016 by Belinda Carli, director, Institute of Personal Care Science. This agent is for salon and at-home bleaching powders and masks. GoBlond contains sericin and fibroin proteins combined with vegetable polysaccharides​ ​to protect the integrity of the hair structure during the bleaching process. It protects hair during the bleaching process, maintains and restores hair health, strengthens and protects hair after treatment, improves manageability and strengthens hair fibers.


With an office in the US, Chemyunion executives say that they can provide the same level of service as Brazil.


“Our best customers in the US are also very pleased that we can support them with exclusive products on a fairly short time frame, allowing them speed to market with their most innovative ideas,” concluded Pacheco. “Over the next few months you will see more about Chemyunion, including our new innovative formulations developed in the US for the US market.”