The Bakuchiol used in skincare is extracted and purified from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia, a legume that grows wild in India and China. Care needs to be taken in the extraction process as Bakuchi, the crude oil from the seeds, contains photocarcinogens known as psoralens – compounds for which the plant was named. Bakuchiol makes up about 1.6% of Bakuchi oil. Esse uses a 99% pure Bakuchiol.

Over the last few decades, retinol has become a go-to ingredient for anti-ageing results due its efficacy in addressing a number of ageing skin concerns. Its toxicity and side effects mean that it comes with some risks though. It is unstable in sunlight and can cause dryness and irritation on skin. The key advantage of using bakuchiol over retinol is that these side effects are absent and it is photostable, so can be safely used during the day without risk of instability or toxicity.

Anti-ageing action of Bakuchiol

Based on new studies, there is no statistical difference in improved wrinkle depth when comparing bakuchiol and retinol, with both ingredients tested at 0.5%. The same can be said for improvement in hyperpigmentation associated with ageing. As added benefits, bakuchiol reduces redness and skin roughness – both side effects often associated with the use of retinol.

Bakuchiol has also been shown to protect mitochondrial functions against oxidative stress and also to increase ATP synthesis, which releases more energy for cells.

Matrix Metalloproteases (MMPs) play a major role in collagen degradation and bakuchiol is far superior to retinol at inhibiting these.

Inflammation regulation 

Bakuchiol’s ability to mitigate inflammation is key to both its anti-ageing and anti-acne activity. From an ageing perspective, chronic inflammation eventually exhausts the body’s defense system, resulting in collagen and elastin degradation and the collapse of barrier function. Bakuchiol downregulates many pro-inflammatory genes in skin cells to reduce inflammation.

An interesting side-note … at high concentrations retinol stimulates inflammatory genes but this effect is not seen with the use of bakuchiol.

All in all, Bakuchiol is an ingredient Esse is excited to include in the Resurrect Serum, a launch that has been formulated to actively address ageing in sensitive skin.

Learn more from Esse’s CEO and founder Trevor Steyn in the video below.

Learn more from Esse’s CEO and founder Trevor Steyn in the video below.

This ‘immune education’ is important, especially in sensitive skins that tend to react too easily. By introducing probiotics into your skincare routine and by ensuring that all your products support a healthy skin microbiome, sensitivity can be reversed, and the rate of ageing can be slowed.

Keratinocytes, the most common skin cells in the epidermis (the outer most layer of skin), control this immune system by detecting harm and releasing signalling proteins that activate an immune response.

Some bacteria of the Lactobacillus genus have also been shown to induce signalling protein production with the benefit of activating a protection response more effectively than our own cells can on their own. At the same time, these Lactobacillus species can modulate an immune response, which means they can also stop the immune system from overreacting to a minor threat. This is important in the case of sensitive skin which tends to overreact, resulting in inflammation and skin redness for no apparent reason.

Research has revealed that different strains of Lactobacillus can be used to initiate the production of a wide range of signalling proteins to protect the skin from various pathogenic fungi and bacteria.  Esse Skincare’s research into these strains is ongoing and the inclusion of specific strains in its live, probiotic formulations target those pathogens associated with common skin concerns.

Our resident microbes are essential for a healthy, balanced skin. They can fine tune our immune response and help to protect us from pathogens.

These new gene sequencing tools allow scientists to see the human body through a new lens. The Human Microbiome Project got going in 2008 to use these techniques to find out more about the microbes that we have living in and on us. The results have changed both health care and skin care forever.

It didn’t seem to matter where in the body researchers looked, they always found huge numbers of resident microbes in healthy subjects. The role of microbes in the intestine has been the first target of public attention, but there are vibrant microbiomes associated with the skin, the lungs, and the mouth… just to mention a few.

There has been intense scientific interest in microbiome research. The number of scientific references to “skin microbiome” in 2010 was 854 … by 2015 that number had increased to 5070.

It is now abundantly clear that we need our microbes and that without them, we cannot function optimally. Skin disorders (and many other human diseases) are now seen as disturbances in the microbial ecosystem and the old philosophy of “kill the bad microbes” is being revised, with overuse of disinfectants and antibiotics coming under renewed fire.

A new philosophy that is replacing the war on germs is the use of probiotics. Probiotics are live microbes that have a beneficial effect on humans and they are being used to prevent or control outbreaks of pathogenic microbes and also as a boost for healthy individuals.

In skin, topically applied probiotics have been shown to be effective in treating many skin disorders from eczema to third degree burns but it is only in the last year that an innovative skincare company from South Africa started to use this technology to target anti-aging results. Esse Skincare has launched a Probiotic Serum that contains 1 billion live probiotic microbes per ml and the product is making waves in an industry that is overdue for disruption.

The serum caused some consternation with regulators in the EU. Import standards are clear in that they will not allow the import of products that contain more than 10 microbes per ml to protect consumers from poorly preserved creams and lotions. Esse was actively advertising the presence of billions of microbes and it took almost a year to clear the product as safe and effective. Esse eventually engaged with the food regulators to get clearance.

Testing in Germany has shown that the new serum from Esse is safe and also has the ability to improve skin firmness by an average of 16% in 28 days, with 100% of the 20 test subjects showing an improvement.

The product is winning awards and making sales around the world and has established Esse as a leader in global probiotic skin care.