“Beauty is barely skin deep,” goes the common lore. While humanity was busy dissecting the proverb into bite-sized affirmations, a branch of science literally got under our skin to drive a beauty trend—currently reframing the anti-ageing industry one cell at a time. Introducing the future-focused science of cellular beauty, a skincare trend coping with the constructing blocks of our body to supply a robust foundation for overall health, including our skin, hair and nails.

What’s cellular beauty?

The thought is pretty easy: what we eat and the way we treat our bodies deeply affects our skin, while the natural cell rejuvenation process begins to decelerate with age. Connecting this internal factor with the external, cellular beauty preaches the indisputable fact that optimal skin health starts on the cellular level and works its way out. A sheet mask the evening before a celebration may immediately boost hydration and calm our pimples, but treating these concerns from the underside up—meaning boosting the basic health of your cells—has long-term advantages within the anti-ageing battle.

“The thought behind cellular beauty is to support the cellular processes that occur inside skin cells in order that the skin can function optimally,” said Doctor Joshua Zeichner. In an interview with Dazed Beauty, the dermatologist further explained how antioxidants are foundational ingredients on this approach to skincare. “Consider them like fire extinguishers that put out inflammation brought on by free radicals,” he added.

Cellular beauty gets this job done by hydrating our cells naturally and re-energising the cell division process—which, in turn, rejuvenates the skin. Coupled with cellular therapy, the approach provides the mandatory enzymes and proteins to hydrate and increase oxygenation, which then stimulates cell metabolism in order that our skin can renew the best way it used to once we were just babies.

From a product claim standpoint, those catering to cellular beauty promise to assist your cells perform quite a few functions—including resistance to ageing, oxidation and environmental damage while regenerating beauty-boosting essentials like collagen. As a homogenous group, nonetheless, these products aren’t made nor function in the very same way.

In October 2020, Nestlé Health Science launched a recent brand dedicated to the concept. Dubbed Celltrient, the road includes three categories of ingestible products to guard, energise and strengthen cellular health. Targeting consumers aged 50 and above, the products feature ingredients like glutathione and nicotinamide riboside chloride—a type of B3. “We imagine we’re a part of the subsequent wave of wellness, because sooner or later the market gets saturated and individuals are searching for products that work on a deeper level,” said associate marketing director Joelle Legree in an interview with Glossy back in November 2020. “That is an emerging science and we’re seeing an increase within the scientific publications around cellular health. As more doctors proceed to find out about it, this category could grow in a short time.”

A pandemic-accelerated boom

Fast forward to 2021, and cellular beauty appears to be fronting each the anti-ageing and wellness battle—as consumers increasingly concentrate on optimising their overall wellbeing in probably the most natural way possible. “They increasingly want products that work smarter and more efficiently to generate a natural radiance and vitality, and work longer to more permanently improve our health,” explained Mallory Huron, a beauty and wellness strategist at Fashion Snoops.

In her research, she admitted to uncovering similarities of cellular beauty with the identical appeal that’s driving the rise in nutricosmetics and ingestible beauty supplements. Briefly, the concept of generating optimal health from the within out is of growing interest. “With cellular beauty, the concept of using a product—either as an internal complement or an external topical—that’s in a position to boost your skin’s performing at a cellular level has the identical attraction,” she told Dazed Beauty.

In line with the publication, while the efficacy of such products will not be entirely clear attributable to the shortage of regulations, a bunch of brands are pushing cellular beauty to the forefront. For starters, skincare brand Haoma Earth claims to naturally reverse signs of ageing and boost skin health through potent, plant-based formulas that concentrate on root causes of cellular breakdown—like stress or environmental damage. Along with slowing these processes, Huron mentioned how the brand’s formulas flood the skin with antioxidants and fortifying activities to assist support cell health and make them more resilient to breakdown in the long term.

Other topical brands innovating inside cellular health include CellularMd and Elysium Health. While the previous is centred around its motto that “skincare is a science,” the latter pushes the envelope by way of how far supplements can go to reverse the consequences of ageing on a cellular level. Dazed Beauty also noted how Elysium Health sells Index, an at-home ‘biological age test’ that can assist determine how briskly you’re ageing—ultimately monitoring how briskly your cells are breaking down.

While the complement market was the primary to go cellular, injectables are the newest addition to the approach. Cue plasma-rich platelet (PRP) injections, commonly often called vampire facials. As an alternative of foreign fillers and neurotoxins, the procedure involves taking a vial of your personal blood, spinning it in a centrifuge to separate the plasma and other cells, then injecting it back into your skin. Since plasma is a healing cell, the all-natural fluid allegedly works to repair damage at and across the injection site, revealing healthier skin for months to come back.

Although Huron claims cellular beauty to be a sneaky repackaging of the anti-ageing movement, she noted how the trend would proceed—because the biohacking movement (where you ‘hack’ your body to assist it function more efficiently) gains steam. “Furthermore, we’re seeing an actual interest amongst consumers to proactively address their health and to implement routines, rituals, and products that can assist address, prevent, and decelerate problems before they arise,” she added.

While the concept of cellular beauty is nothing recent so to talk, the addition of the term ‘cellular beauty’ into the wellness lexicon might just initiate more brands into its folds. Currently regarded as “probably the most promising development in skincare,” the approach is undoubtedly here to remain. In spite of everything, what’s more fundamental than your cell health in the long term, am I right?