What Is Biohacking?

And How We Can Use It in Skncare

Biohacking is based on the idea of the prolongation of human life by improving the functionality of the human body.

The first biohacking enthusiasts, most of them living in the Silicon Valley, were looking for a better understanding of ageing and molecular “weaknesses” of the body hoping to “hack” it and make a longer life possible.

Under the umbrella of biohacking, you can find a whole spectrum of ideas.

But basically speaking, biohacking is looking for mechanisms of self-regulation allowing to control ageing by using the body’s own potential with a little external help. Sleep, light, physical activity, food, and meditation are 5 pillars of biohacking.

Biohacking in Skincare

Skin is the largest organ in the body and skin functionality is largely based on self-regulation.

Skin cells are playing for many teams, including nervous, immune, and endocrine systems, sharing the same biochemical language, constantly reacting to external stimuli and interacting with all the body’s organs and tissues.

A new understanding of the molecular mechanisms of skin renewal, regeneration and self-protection is helping us understand the role of age-related deficiencies and changes in the skin genes expressions as well as the role of peptide signalling or the microbiome.

How Do We Use Biohacking in Skincare?

  1. Skin-identical ingredients: speaking the skin language.

These kinds of ingredients are mimicking substances present in healthy skin. Their amount is reduced with age, or they could be changed qualitatively leading to age-related functional changes of the skin.

For example, ceramides and squalane are important parts of the skin’s natural protection barrier. Skin loses them progressively with age but if we replace them in daily skincare it keeps the skin barrier intact or at least much less deficient and it helps to slow down age-related changes.

We largely use these in our daily protective creams.

2. Compensating for the deficit.

Skin can lose vital substances because of the global process of ageing or extrinsic factors. Vitamin C, vitamin B3 or B5 (niacin and panthenol), coenzyme Q-10 are crucial for skin health, but their synthesis and metabolism change with age.

Many active molecules, including essential vitamins, pro-vitamins can be applied on the skin topically thanks to a new cosmetic ingredient technology and restore the young level of metabolism, at least partially. Serums and concentrates contain a lot of these kinds of ingredients.

3. Antioxidant protection.

The skin is constantly fighting free radicals produced by the body or coming from the environment. Natural production of antioxidants slows with age and damages the skin regeneration process and inflammation control.

Use of specific antioxidants such as resveratrol, pycnogenol, astaxanthin, ubiquinone and others help to keep inflammation and oxidative stress under control like it was at a younger age.

Antioxidant serums are designed especially for this part of skin biohacking.

4. Mitochondrial activity or energy balance in skin cells.

It is now possible to help mitochondria function more efficiently, literally rejuvenating cells.

A good example is the ephemer wakame extract or the new Ice-Awake probiotic used in the Vita-Long oil and Circa-Night cream.

5. Epigenetic regulation of skin ageing genes.

With a new understanding of skin gene expression in the ageing process we are able to up-regulate or down-regulate certain genes involved in the ageing process.

Resveratrol and niacinamide are proven to be efficient in the regulation of sirtuins or “longevity genes” expression, new prebiotic Aquaxyl is able to regulate skin hydrating genes, extract of Northern truffle mushroom down regulates expression of genes involved in rosacea pathogenesis and teprenone (GGA) helps to restore skin cells DNA epigenetically.

We use these kind of ingredients in our different active products, such as concentrates and sheet masks.

6. The microbiome-based approach.

Skincare can help restore the diversity of microbiome, suppressing pathogenic bacteria and promoting the growth of beneficial microflora.

Skin cells are “outsourcing” many processes to the microbiome, from the defence against infection or sun damage to the synthesis of necessary protective elements.

The microbiome becomes less diverse and potent with age and microbiome-friendly skincare helps to restore its youth power.

7. Chronobiological skincare.

Sleep is crucial for skin health as well as for body health in general.

Especially important is deep sleep and REM sleep because it’s a regular phase of self-regeneration for the human body. Sleep becomes less efficient with age and biohacking sleep management is one of the most prominent types of research at the moment.

Nowadays, it’s possible to mimic effects of healthy sleep in the skin with the use of new signal peptides, prebiotics and probiotics interacting with skin sleep-related genes and receptors.

We use circadian regulating skincare in products such as Circa-Night cream and Circa-Hand.

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