Beauty is an eternal topic for human beings. The way of whitening has gradually changed from "whitening with physical powder" to "bleaching with chemical ingredients" to "whitening from a biological perspective". People's understanding of the whitening mechanism has made a qualitative leap. The whitening ingredient arbutin was discovered and then widely used.
What Affects Skin Color?
Melanin is one of the main reasons for affecting skin color, and its origin is melanocytes in the basal layer, accounting for about 10% of the basal layer cells. Human melanocyte content is certain, the difference is the amount of melanin.
Tyrosine undergoes a series of complex biochemical reactions under the action of tyrosinase, and finally forms melanin. It is transferred into keratinocytes through synapses, and is finally shed with the migration of keratinocytes.
Arbutin Birth
To achieve the whitening effect from the root, tyrosinase has become the key target of scientific research. With the starting point of tyrosinase, the research on related substances is gradually carried out.
At first, researchers discovered hydroquinone because of its similarity to tyrosinase, the substrate of tyrosinase, and was used in the field of whitening. Hydroquinone is used in dermatology as a depigmenting agent for the treatment of pigmentation and inflammatory hyperpigmentation. However, with the actual use of hydroquinone, it has been found that hydroquinone has strong skin irritation, which may cause skin tingling, itching, erythema or desquamation, and may lead to leukoplakia or even tumors in severe cases. .
In 1998, Japanese scholar Akiu et al. extracted and isolated a substance that can achieve whitening effect from bearberry leaves——
Arbutin. Its structure has one more glucose molecule than hydroquinone, making it more stable and skin-friendly. And it can effectively inhibit tyrosinase activity and melanin production, not only can remove stains, but also has certain bactericidal and anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, arbutin has become another darling of the whitening industry after hydroquinone.
Arbutin Safety
At present, there are many products containing arbutin in the market, and the dosage forms are also relatively abundant. In 2015, the EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) issued safety assessment opinions on α-arbutin, β-arbutin and deoxyarbutin:
2% α-arbutin in face cream and 0.5% in body lotion is safe; 7% β-arbutin in face cream is safe; 3% deoxyarbutin in face cream may be due to storage Conditions etc. lead to instability, producing hydroquinone.
In addition, the safety of Alpha arbutin is higher than that of β-arbutin.
Arbutin in the formula should try to avoid using together with VC, pearl powder and methyl paraben.
Summary
Although arbutin was once popular as a whitening product, with the development of society, people's concept of safe and healthy skin care has gradually deepened. Although arbutin is safe to a certain extent, its potential dangers cannot be ignored.