Elizabeth Arden is due to launch a new product that boosts the overall effectiveness of a person's skin care regimen.
The Superstart Skin Renewal Booster (£45) is designed to be used after cleansing, but before layering a more targeted product on top, such as a product from the brand's Prevage skin care line. Superstart is said to boost skin’s collagen, elastin and hydration levels by five, nine and 25 times respectively. It contains probiotic complex, sea fennel and grasswort extract. Superstart is also said to directly support the stratum corneum – the surface of the skin – by reinforcing the integrity of the skin barrier.
Speaking at the launch event, Art Pellegrino, Vice President of Research & Development at Elizabeth Arden, told Cosmetics Business: "When I joined Elizabeth Arden, what really intrigued me was that the products are designed to work with the way your skin functions. When I looked at traditional moisturisers I really saw that the first generation of moisturisation was based on emollients, to make your skin feel moisturised; humectants, designed to attract moisture to the skin; and film-formers, which trap moisture. Those are all sort of unnatural processes, but that’s what our moisturisers have always been.
"Then I saw ceramide, which was about replenishing the natural lipids in your skin with ones that are identical to those in your skin. To me that was a much better way of restoring the skin's appearance. Then I thought: what if we could actually trigger or turn on skin, providing skin with what it needs to be better hydrated on its own? Even though we are doing the best we can from the outside what if, instead of having an ingredient that provides skin with moisture, we can turn it on?"
Pellegrino went on to explain that these questions led to the creation of the idea for Superstart, which was followed by a relatively quick development process. "About two years ago we started selecting the ingredients. We worked pretty quickly, just about one year ago we started putting everything together – the ingredients the formulation, the texture," he added.
