Cellular beauty is set to be the future of skincare. Here’s how
“Beauty is only 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 dealing with the building blocks of our body to provide a strong foundation for overall health, including our skin, hair and nails.
What is cellular beauty?
The idea is pretty simple: what we eat and how we treat our bodies deeply affects our skin, while the natural cell rejuvenation process begins to slow down with age. Connecting this internal factor with the external, cellular beauty preaches the fact that optimal skin health starts at the cellular level and works its way out. A sheet mask the evening before a party may instantly boost hydration and calm our acne, but treating these concerns from the bottom up—meaning boosting the fundamental health of your cells—has long-term benefits in the anti-ageing battle.
“The idea behind cellular beauty is to support the cellular processes that occur within skin cells so 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 in this approach to skincare. “Think of them like fire extinguishers that put out inflammation caused 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 necessary enzymes and proteins to hydrate and increase oxygenation, which then stimulates cell metabolism so that our skin can renew the way it used to when we were just babies.
From a product claim standpoint, those catering to cellular beauty promise to help your cells perform a number of functions—including resistance to ageing, oxidation and environmental damage while regenerating beauty-boosting essentials like collagen. As a homogenous group, however, these products aren’t made nor function in the exact same way.
In October 2020, Nestlé Health Science launched a new brand dedicated to the concept. Dubbed Celltrient, the line includes three categories of ingestible products to protect, energise and strengthen cellular health. Targeting consumers aged 50 and above, the products feature ingredients like glutathione and nicotinamide riboside chloride—a form of B3. “We believe we are part of the next wave of wellness, because at some point the market gets saturated and people are looking for products that work on a deeper level,” said associate marketing director Joelle Legree in an interview with Glossy back in November 2020. “This is an emerging science and we’re seeing a rise in the scientific publications around cellular health. As more doctors continue to learn about it, this category could grow very quickly.”
A pandemic-accelerated boom
Fast forward to 2021, and cellular beauty seems to be fronting both the anti-ageing and wellness battle—as consumers increasingly focus on optimising their overall wellbeing in 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 same appeal that’s driving the rise in nutricosmetics and ingestible beauty supplements. In short, the idea of generating optimal health from the inside out is of growing interest. “With cellular beauty, the idea of using a product—either as an internal supplement or an external topical—that is able to boost your skin’s functioning at a cellular level has the same attraction,” she told Dazed Beauty.
According to the publication, while the efficacy of such products is not entirely clear due to the lack of regulations, a group 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 target root causes of cellular breakdown—like stress or environmental damage. In addition to slowing these processes, Huron mentioned how the brand’s formulas flood the skin with antioxidants and fortifying activities to help support cell health and make them more resilient to breakdown in the long run.
Other topical brands innovating within cellular health include CellularMd and Elysium Health. While the former is centred around its motto that “skincare is a science,” the latter pushes the envelope in terms of how far supplements can go to reverse the effects of ageing on a cellular level. Dazed Beauty also noted how Elysium Health sells Index, an at-home ‘biological age test’ that can help determine how fast you’re ageing—ultimately monitoring how fast your cells are breaking down.
While the supplement market was the first to go cellular, injectables are the latest addition to the approach. Cue plasma-rich platelet (PRP) injections, commonly known as vampire facials. Instead of foreign fillers and neurotoxins, the procedure involves taking a vial of your own 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 around the injection site, revealing healthier skin for months to come.
Although Huron claims cellular beauty to be a sneaky repackaging of the anti-ageing movement, she noted how the trend would continue—as the biohacking movement (where you ‘hack’ your body to help it function more efficiently) gains steam. “Moreover, we’re seeing a real interest among consumers to proactively address their health and to implement routines, rituals, and products that can help address, prevent, and slow down problems before they arise,” she added.
While the concept of cellular beauty is nothing new so to speak, the addition of the term ‘cellular beauty’ into the wellness lexicon might just initiate more brands into its folds. Currently considered as “the most promising development in skincare,” the approach is undoubtedly here to stay. After all, what’s more fundamental than your cell health in the long run, am I right?
