Mushroom of immortality, carrot concealer… Is the future of cosmetics in your vegetable garden?

The land of choice for cosmetic rejuvenation, vegetables are the new Eldorado for our skin. Peppers and eggplant appear in desserts by pastry chefs such as Anthony Chenoz at Sources de Caudalie, florists create mushroom-covered bouquets (Dandelion), and radish wallpaper is displayed as a wall decoration. Not to mention that the French put their hands in the vegetable garden, sowing, cultivating, harvesting… “When we see that the city dwellers turn their balcony into a vegetable garden, we say to ourselves that it is a real manifesto”. laughs Lionel de Benetti, cosmetologist. Naturally, this makes cosmetics a dream. In the 1990s and 2000s, each ingredient displayed its exotic origins. Then we moved into an era of pure chemistry, before the return of naturalness, local, but version 5.0.”

Virtuous vegetables

In 1936, Ella Bache’s tomato cream, loaded with lycopene beta-carotene, promised a vitamin-rich complexion. In 2023-2024, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, spinach or chicory are everywhere. “Thanks to new high-tech analytical processes, we ‘scan’ them to analyze any active ingredients.” Then we move on to eco-extraction, at different temperatures and supercritical CO2, for the highest quality active ingredients. The result is high-performance concentrates without any trace of solvent altering them,” explains Lionel de Benetti.

In the virtuous genre, the beet has nothing to be ashamed of. At Givaudan, we have obtained hyaluronic acid from green hybrid extraction strategies and then from a biofermentation process with bacteria. “Hyaluronic acid is made from eco-food products, there is no question of competing with the edible part. In the process, we even optimize carbon dioxide to make carbonated drinks,” says Fabrice Lefebvre, Director of Marketing and Innovation at Givaudan Active Beauty. Pumpkin is also transformed into an active ingredient under the supervision of the Swiss giant. “We collect the seeds through processing and through a green process we isolate the cucurbitacin with its calming properties. It is then placed in a frame of seawater filtered through layers of granite. It produces an incredible active ingredient that acts on neuro-inflammation. The second axis using supercritical CO2 also allows obtaining fatty acids very close to fatty acids with a matting effect,” continues the expert.

Good nature extracts

Sisley has integrated cucumber and tomato extract into several of their cult products. And the carrot in Phyto-Cernes Éclat Repair Cream for its natural moisturizing factor amino acids. The savory root is also prized for its beta-carotene content, a precursor to the anti-radical vitamin A (found in Iodine and Oden’s fine-textured oils and in the new brand Beesline Relief Balm). Cucumber is a hydrating superfood, like Odacité’s thirst-quenching Green Smoothie with Fresh Effect. Another trendy root with a chic, vintage feel. In Cultiv, it is renewed thanks to the 50-60% inulin it contains, a natural sugar polymer, a prebiotic that can restore the hydrolipidic membrane.

If his plant-based formulas (spinach and melon are also part of the basket) are appealing, it’s also because of his politics. Made in France that the brand attracts. “Organic chicory is sourced from a grower in the north of Quarrouble who also uses it in herbal teas to promote digestion. We are collaborating with the chemist responsible for the analysis of our short-circuit harvested early crops to isolate powerful green active ingredients,” says one of the founders, Laure-Anne de Test. Vegetables have not finished exciting us. To respond to climate change, they will develop new defense mechanisms, sources of futuristic assets.

All mushrooms

Hallucination in psychedelic literature, magical literature Alice in Wonderland, the vegan alternative in fashion (read page 121), they get all the votes. Shiitake, reishi, maitake, ashwagandha, adaptogenic tremella, which are used in traditional Asian pharmacopoeia, even have the title of mushrooms of immortality. Since the 1990s, they’ve colonized cosmetics, led by Origins’ Mega-Mushroom line, founded by integrative medicine pioneer Andrew Weil. And sneak in multiple treatments to reduce hyperpigmentation, strengthen the skin barrier, maintain skin microbiota, or produce a form of hyaluronic acid.

Another type with something under his belt. Chaga: “A medicinal plant collector in the Auvergne Volcanoes Natural Park led us to study this mushroom. This thickening develops on birches to protect the tree after an attack. It takes no less than ten years to mature before harvest. Then, using cryogenics, we blast the molecules cold and get a 25% concentration of antioxidants that can regulate inflammatory responses and beta-glucans that stimulate regeneration processes, says Pauline Boni, founder of Saeve. In their latest serum, chaga is combined with betulinic acid from birch bark. A real innovation with a fun texture as a bonus.

Send wood

There is no need to consult their family tree to know that oak, birch, chestnut, bamboo, ginkgo biloba or lime tree contain venotonic, detox, whitening, restorative or astringent properties. “What’s amazing about lyre is the complementation of specific doses of active ingredients found in the leaves, bark, buds, roots. Synergy allows us to benefit from collagen and elastin synthesis and cellular protection,” explains Lionel de Benetti, scientific advisor for TiL, a charming brand with roots in the Dordogne. And the branches of the vine? They are intoxicating cosmetics, from Caudalie to Domaine, a local French brand fueled by the meeting of Brad Pitt and the Perrin family.

Herbal notes

Perfume has always had its nose in the vegetable garden. But like Sisley’s Eau de Campagne, one of the industry’s pioneers, he prefers to cut tomato leaves, galbanum or oak moss over endive, cauliflower or fennel. With a new olfactory aesthetic, vegetables inspire perfumers with a vibrant sensuality. Thus, Firmenich manages to capture the unexpected aspects of the vegetable garden thanks to the green Firgood technique known as the “microwave oven”. “blowing natural,” says Fabrice Pellegrin, perfumer in charge of natural product innovation.

“Green pepper, for example, opens up the olfactory area with green notes, pea-like facets, like galbanum, which is complex at the base,” notes the nose. Will these sustainable treats replace the high doses of sugar in delicious juices? “In a certain way. But do not worry, he reassures. The onion, for example, will be used as an enhancer of other substances, as the civet once was.