Acaderma Lunar Glow & Invisible Shield

I've talked a bit about Acaderma and you've seen me post about them on Instagram a lot. Acaderma CEO & Co-founder Dr. Shuting Hu is one of the youngest winners of the International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists award. Together with plant biology Professor James Simon, Acaderma was created. Think of Acaderma as being deeply rooted in science and academic research but actually is a clean skincare brand. They’re not only finding new plant ingredients but ways to use known ingredients for simple and effective formulations. I have two more products to talk about.

Invisible Shield Defense Serum is their newest product. This antioxidant serum is powered by SesaHelio™. Details per Acaderma:

Invisible Shield Defense Serum provides a revolutionary long-lasting daily antioxidant protection, and improves skin appearance and vitality.

Invisible Shield Defense Serum is a cocktail style clean formula delivers 12 potent antioxidants that protect our skin from free radicals and environmental stress. The exclusive technology in this serum is extracted from sesame seeds. The special ingredient of this serum – small, fat-soluble molecules SesaHelio™ , are able to treat the problem from the root, penetrating into the depths of the dermal layer. Additional extract is taken from peony, a flower rich of paeoniflorin which provides anti-pollution property and protects skin against oxidative stress-induced cell damage. Continuing the theme of protection is summer snowflake extract, which enhances SOD production in the skin cells, relaxes muscle cells and reduces wrinkles. High concentration of resveratrol prevents the skin from blue light and UV-radiation induced photo-damages, while α-lipoic acid and Glycosaminoglycans provides anti-MMPS properties. Think of Invisible Shield as a multi-pronged approach to achieving healthy and protected skin, protecting your skin from further damage and remedying the already-present issues from the inside out.

Ingredients

Aqua (Water), Propanediol, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Methyl Gluceth-20, 1,2-Hexanediol, Glycosaminoglycans, Ribose, Bis-Ethylhexyl Hydroxydimethoxy Benzylmalonate, Butylene Glycol, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Extract, Resveratrol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Laminaria Ochroleuca Extract, Thioctic Acid, Paeonia Officinalis Flower Extract, Leucojum Aestivum Bulb Extract, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, Tocopherol, Glycyrrhizic Acid, Bacillus Ferment, Sodium Dilauramidoglutamide Lysine, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Aminomethyl Propanol, Glycerin, Tris(Tetramethylhydroxypiperidinol) Citrate, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, Alcohol Denat, Sodium Benzoate

Key Actives

SesaHelio™: a group of natural small, fat-soluble natural phenolic type antioxidants identified and purified from sesame seeds. Long-lasting antioxidant; Increases UV-reduced cell survival rate; Scavenges UV-induced RNS and proinflammatory cytokines

• Summer Snowflake: enhances SOD production
• Peony: antioxidant and anti-pollution
• Resveratrol: prevents blue light and UV-radiation induced photo-damages; anti-inflammation
• Ribose: ATP booster
• Ronacare® AP: advanced antioxidant
• Glycosaminoglycans: anti-IR-A/MMPS
• Laminaria Ochroleuca Extract: DNA protector after UVA/UVB exposure, anti-MMP1, anti-inflammation
• Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract: anti-oxidant; anti-inflammation
• α-lipoic Acid: anti-IR-A, anti-oxidant
• Glycyrrhizic Acid: anti-inflammation
• Tocopherol: anti-oxidant

The brand is very research focused and here is what they talk about with key ingredient SesaHelio™:

Our research data shows SesaHelio™ presented a different anti-oxidant mechanism compared with Vitamin C or Vitamin E, two potent antioxidant bench markers. The DPPH-scavenging ability of Vitamin C is potent at the beginning but decreases over time. While SesaHelio™ provided an increasing and long-lasting antioxidant property. After 24 hours, the DPPH-scavenging capability of SesaHelio™ is about 1.5 times and 4 times as potent as Vitamin C and Vitamin E. In addition to DPPH assay, SesaHelio™ also presented significant inhibitory effects on RNS and IL-6 induced by UV-radiation in keratinocytes, which indicates that SesaHelio™ can provide a broad and long-lasting protection to skin from free radicals and environmental factors.

 

The serum has a hydrating gel serum texture and an off-white coloring. It's fragrance free and I love their slim airless pumps. The pumping mechanism is fluid and quite nice. I can't really say much more about the ingredients and product more than they have. I think if you want to try a non-vitamin C antioxidant serum for fighting free radicals, pollution and blue light then I would totally go for this one. It has no essential oils or fragrance, a great texture plus it has clean and cutting edge ingredients. It's an interesting product that shouldn't irritate anyone. So if you can't do vitamin C at all it might be one to look at or just add into your routine in addition to vitamin C. I think it's always hard to tell if a non-vitamin C antioxidant serum is working for you because honestly you would have to test it on half your face for a long period of time under normal conditions to really see if there was a big difference in the long run. With vitamin C we all get that brightening effect after three weeks so we know it's doing something. The effects from this will be more minimal so it's really more of a focus on long term protection.

They actually have two studies they go over in detail more showing why SesaHelio™ is more powerful at antioxidant protection than vitamin C & E. I would go look at their graphs if you want to see more HERE. I love that they did some studies on the product and posted the photos. Though I would expect that from this science rooted brand. I really enjoyed the product and I think it's a great product if you're looking for multi-faceted anti-pollution/antioxidant serum that is a bit different than vitamin C. It has a really pleasant texture and overall I felt there was a nice glow to my skin while using it. It also has the bonus summer snowflake which helps with wrinkles.

Lunar Glow Illuminate Serum is as you guessed, a glow giving serum powered by Prophagy™. Details per Acaderma:

Illuminate Serum is the first skincare product powered by autophagy inducer discovered from a natural source. It's scientifically developed and clinically proven to rejuvenate, firm, and restore skin radiance.

When our skin is overexposed to UV light, excessive production of melanin and UV induced cellular damage will make skin look dull and uneven. Prophagy ™, a patented ingredient discovered from the tomato fruit, is what powers the Lunar glow serum to illuminate and rejuvenate tired skin, boosting skin radiance by multiple fold. To do this, it induces autophagy in the basal layer of the epidermis, which is a natural intracellular degradation system that delivers excessive cytoplasmic constituents to the lysosomes. Also included is an extract taken from the European blueberry extract, which is rich in resveratrol and its derivative pterostilbene, an potent antioxidant molecule. As used in the product, the European blueberry extract will provide broad protection to the skin in the same way as how pterostilbene plays a defensive phytoalexin role in plants.

Ingredients

Aqua (Water), Propanediol, Butylene Glycol, Ethoxydiglycol, Glycerin, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Fruit Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Diglucosyl Gallic Acid, Beta-Glucan, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Sodium Oleate, Oligopeptide-6, Tocopherol, Lecithin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Phenoxyethanol, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Ethylhexylglycerin, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Carbomer, Aminomethyl Propanediol, Alcohol Denat, Disodium EDTA

Key Actives

Prophagy ™: Restore skin radiance and homeostasis by inducing autophagy in subcellular level; Scavenge AGEs induced inflammation

• Diglucosyl Gallic Acid: Work through skin microbiome to alleviate inflammation
• Blueberry: Super antioxidant

The science behind Prophagy™ is quite interesting. Details per Acaderma:

Prophagy ™ is discovered from cherry tomato extract. Unlike other tomato extracts rich in Vitamin C and Lycopene, Prophagy™ is a mixture of plant flavones. At the same concentration, Prophagy™ is 2.5 times as potent as Vitamin C in melanocytes, which helps to remove excessive melanin and restore skin radiance. More interestingly, Prophagy™ was found to scavenge Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) induced inflammation, which resulting wrinkles and fine lines.

Rather than antioxidant or other traditional pathways, the amazing efficacy of Prophagy™ is mainly due to a novel mechanism called autophagy. Autophagy is a natural, regulated mechanism in cell to cleanse waste and recycle old parts¹. The 2016 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi for his discoveries of the underlying the mechanism of autophagy ².

Results The measure of an autophagy inducer is not only in the subcellular level, but its visible illuminating results. Lunar Glow Illuminate Serum clinical studies show a significantly improved skin glow and a radiant complexion after 4* and 8** weeks treatment.

Step of Autophagy:

Transport to lysosomes, degradation, and utilization of degradation products.

Reference
1. Hansen, Malene, David C. Rubinsztein, and David W. Walker. "Autophagy as a promoter of longevity: insights from model organisms." Nature Review Mol Cell Biol 19 (2018): 579-93.

2. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2016). Discoveries of Mechanisms for Autophagy. Retrieved 3 Oct 2016

 

They have more studies and info on their site HERE.

The serum has a light hydrating gel serum texture. It's also fragrance and essential oil free. It's really an interesting product. I won't pretend to know more about autophagy than they list as I'm not a scientist. It essentially gives you the glow an acid does but without any irritation or side effects. You can actually use it in addition to retinol and acids. I used it at night first without acids then in combination with acids. It did give me that acid glow at first without acids but I did notice my nose started to get a little congested rough after two weeks so I added an acid back in. I was just curious to see what it would do alone. I liked combining it with both acids and retinol for a full on glow making routine.

This does give a nice extra glow plus increased brightness and radiance to the skin without any of the negative side effects of acids and retinol. I don't think it's enough on its own, it needs to be combined with the other actives for a well rounded approach to glow. Every time I use more Acaderma products I fall more in love with them. I love their packaging, inci lists, fragrance free light textures and unique focus of actives. I think they're one to watch for really great things to come. All clean beauty lovers should love Acaderma as they get clean formulations and science. Lunar Glow was my favorite of these two but honestly every product I’ve tried from the brand has been stellar.