The (not so secret) guide to looking younger than your age.
Imagine a future where you no longer have to worry about fine lines, wrinkles and hyperpigmentation—sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Thanks to stem cells, which have the ability to reprogram your skin for a more youthful complexion, this future may be closer than you think!
Never mind if you don’t know what it is. We’re here to help.
Here’s the science behind it!
Found in most living organisms such as humans, animals and plants, stem cells are not like your regular cells. This is because they possess two unique qualities that allow them to repair and replace damaged tissues: self-renewal and potency.
1. Self-renewal
Unlike normal cells that have limited lifespans, stem cells can divide and replicate themselves an unlimited number of times, perpetuating the stem cell pool throughout an organism’s life.
2. Potency
They are unspecialised and can remain unspecialised after replicatication (i.e. they don’t perform specific functions, like how red blood cells are tasked with carrying oxygen around the body).
Extraordinarily, they have abilities to differentiate and transform into specialised cells (e.g. blood cells, nerve cells and bone cells) when necessary. Plus, they are also the powerhouse in generating more stem cells … you get the idea.
Combine these two invaluable qualities and voila—a repair system just for the body. This is crucial for the maintenance of the body’s tissues as most somatic cells (i.e. any cell in the body except your reproductive cells) have a limited lifespan and require the help of stem cells to replicate, differentiate, and replace any damages.
So, where do stem cells fit into the skincare equation?
Two words: skin ageing.
You’ve heard of “baby-soft skin”—the much-coveted smoochable mochi skin all babies and young children are blessed with. Chances are, that silky smoothness you once had has faded over the years, leaving your skin more fragile and textured. (Don’t worry, it’s not just you!)
Before diving into the skin ageing process, let’s bring you back to biology 101 class: what keeps your skin youthful and healthy-looking in the first place?
Basically, the epidermis is maintained by stem cells found in the basal layer of the skin. These stem cells are at constant work to replenish and repair the skin by dividing into cells that produce peptides and collagen, which maintain skin elasticity and integrity.
At this bottom layer, the newly-produced cells are plump and full of moisture. However, as they mature, they withdraw from the cell cycle, becoming drier and flatter as they rise through the layers of the epidermis and towards the surface of the skin. The dynamic renewal of the epidermis thus ensures that more youthful cells are at the top and that the skin maintains its strength to defend against external aggressors.
But here comes the bad news: with inevitable ageing, these regeneration mechanisms become less effective and cells slowly lose their abilities for a quick self-renewal. In other words, the body takes a longer time to replace its skin cells, causing dead cells to accumulate on the surface and eventually the skin will appear old. Yikes!
And guess what? It isn’t the end. The ageing process is further accelerated by external stressors, such as environmental pollution, lifestyle and diet. Most notorious of them all is UV radiation—a major cause of stem cell DNA damage that reduces the skin’s regenerative potential and induces premature ageing. It then translates to duller, weaker, rougher and older skin. Is that your skin now?
Now what? Introducing the next gen breakthrough …
Don’t fret—all is not lost just yet! This is where stem cells come to the rescue.
Compared to those used in medical research, stem cells in skincare are usually extracted from plants, which are less likely to become contaminated or transmit diseases in contrast to human or animal stem cells. Once harvested, they are cultivated in a laboratory and reproduced at a larger scale before being incorporated into your skincare products.
The stem cell extracts preserve the activity of your skin’s epidermal cells and escalates your skin’s natural regenerative power of cell renewal, leading to more youthful skin cells. Sounds just like magic?
Intrigued? So are we!
At ést.lab, we are always at the forefront of new skincare innovations so of course, we have to incorporate this invaluable active ingredient into our formulations.
Introducing the VitaLift A+ Skin Reboot Serum and VitaLift A+ Skin Reboot Cream: an innovative duo that taps on the vital regenerative abilities of Alpine Rose stem cells, which enable the plant to produce new cells continuously throughout its lifetime—potentially up to 100 years!
Nothing short of amazing for this miracle plant, Alpine Rose has strong antioxidant properties—stronger than those in human stem cells. Despite living in high altitudes and acidic nutrient-poor soil, they adapted themselves to thrive in cold and dry weather.
Using the advanced PhytoCellTec™ biotechnology, stem cells of the Alpine Rose are obtained sustainably and have been found to contain special epigenetic factors and metabolites to preserve skin stem cells’ function, escalates the skin’s stem cell’s natural self-renewal capacity, and reduces DNA damage caused by external stressors, rebooting your skin to its most youthful state.
Noticing a plateau or drop off in the efficacy of your skincare?
Press reset with our Limited Edition Skin Reboot Kit consisting of this dynamic duo that’s powerful on its own but twice as good together, plus a gift of our previously sell-out Rose Quartz Vibrating Lift & Sculpt Facial Roller (worth $106) that is back again by popular demand!
With the upcoming Mother’s Day, look no further for a better gift to hit pause and reverse the signs of ageing for yourself or your mum. Some call it anti-ageing but we prefer to call it better with age. #FutureProofYourSkin today!
In good hands,
Estetica
