Microcapsules for Effective Skin Lightening Formulations

By Shaher Dochi, Ph.D. and Danny Goldstein, Ph.D., Tagra Biotechnologies. Published in Euro Cosmetics.

The Challenge

Vitamin C brings real benefits to skin: it supports collagen synthesis, protects against photo damage, calms inflammatory conditions and lightens hyperpigmentation. But it is chemically unstable and oxidizes easily, losing activity. Formulators therefore use more stable derivatives such as ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, an oil-soluble ester of vitamin C with strong skin penetration.

What the Study Did

Tagra's R&D team encapsulated ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate using Tagra's patented solvent-extraction microencapsulation technology, producing Tagravit™ C1. The article describes how the microcapsules were made and characterized, how stable they are in a finished formula, and how well they lighten skin.

Key Findings

• Capsules: spherical, about 35µm on average, carrying roughly 23–25% ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, with high yield (90.6%) and encapsulation efficiency (93.3%).

• Stability: in an O/W formulation stored at 40°C for 16 weeks, the encapsulated active stayed at a very high share of its starting content.

• Efficacy: in a 12-week study of an O/W formulation with 5% Tagravit™ C1, skin whiteness (ITA°) rose by 25% and 33% on the outer forearm and by 7.4% and 9% on the face at 8 and 12 weeks. Melanin values fell significantly versus baseline.

• Self-assessment: 91.7% of subjects reported less dull, yellowish skin and rated skin compatibility as good.

Download the Full Article

The complete article, with methods, figures and references, is available as a PDF below. For encapsulated vitamin C today, see CelluCap™ C.