The Science of Silk
Protect, Heal, Renew
Silk has been desired for over 8,000 years but more recently, doctors and scientists have proven its ability to protect and regenerate skin within the fields of wound healing and tissue repair. Silk has the ability to dramatically improve skin on a cellular level.
Silk is the one ingredient that is most like our skin in every respect. We even share 90% of our amino acids with Silk. Our skin is a miracle of nature, which protects us and has the ability to heal and renew itself. Silk does precisely this for our skin, stimulating these processes as our skin ages. The amino acids in Silk activate cells and tissue to protect, heal and renew our skin.
Protect
In nature, the Silk cocoon is a protective barrier, like our skin. Silk is a film-former that maintains a barrier to protect our skin from oxidative stress and pollution, enabling renewal and regenerative processes to take place.
When our skin barrier is damaged or compromised, we begin to see skin that is dry, dull, lacking in suppleness and firmness. It is also more prone to inflammation and breakouts.
How does Silk work on our skin?
Silk forms a Highly Protective, ‘Intelligent’ Film over our skin.
This protective film is sometimes referred to as a second skin, because the complexity of the protective and reparative work it does mirrors what our own skin does.
Silk Fibroin forms a thin film over the top layer of our skin (the stratum corneum) which acts as a barrier to environmental irritants, harmful light radiation and toxins but permits water and oxygen in.
This film is elastic and ‘intelligent’, in that it decreases trans-epidermal water loss, retains the hydration within, with the result that skin is softer, plumper and the depth of fine lines is reduced.
Heal
The skin is a barrier organ, like the Silk cocoon, and as such, it must be able to heal and regenerate itself if it is damaged. Skin damage can take many forms, but is largely due to oxidative stress and ultraviolet radiation.
The physiology of the skin’s healing process is in essence a regenerative one. Studies show that Silk enhances every stage of this healing on a molecular level.
How Does Silk Help Our Skin’s Healing Process?
Silk is highly regarded by scientists for its skin regenerative qualities.
Silk Fibroin activates skin cell proliferation, migration and promotes collagen synthesis, all of which are processes needed to repair damaged skin.
Studies show that damaged skin treated with Silk not only healed faster but helped the body’s own repair systems move from the inflammatory stage to the healing stage, in an extraordinary example of the way Silk enhances the skin’s own processes.
It is this healing and regenerative process which leads to the effects Silk has on skin ; the plumping, the increased radiance and the formation of new skin tissue, experienced as an increase in skin density and firmness.
Renew
Silk is clinically proven to accelerate the skin’s own renewal processes.
The two main cell types involved in the skin’s renewal process are keratinocytes and fibroblasts. As damage is sustained through oxidative stress and UV radiation (the leading causes of accelerated ageing), the healing process is activated and these cells communicate with each other to renew the skin.
This intercellular communication leads to the production of more keratinocytes, collagen and other cells to renew skin, and this is an ongoing process.
As we age, this renewal process slows down significantly and this manifests as dull skin with fine lines, less elasticity and less firmness.
When applied to skin, silk results in the formation of new skin with a brighter, firmer and more hydrated appearance.
More About Us
Discover the benefits of our SF-VII®, our proprietary silk peptide.
Learn about our founder and our approach to skin care using the science of Silk.
As a company based on a highly renewable, natural resource, we are compelled to draw inspiration from the Earth and have processes in place to respect it.