The demand for natural and vegan cosmetics is increasing due to consumer inclination towards natural cosmetic formulations/ ingredients in recent years. Wax is an important ingredient in cosmetics (skin-care, makeup and haircare) due to its property of hydrophobicity, enhancing stability and viscosity. Currently only 3% of the industrial wax demand comes from natural sources (plant wax and bee wax), while the remaining 97% is derived from fossil based sources. There is a need to explore natural sources of wax, especially from the clean and pure Nordic forests. In nordic wild forests, around 30 edible wild berry species are found. It is estimated that tons of wild berries are available in forests, however only 5-10% are picked up. All berries are covered with a layer of cuticular wax, which protects them against water loss, UV radiations and pathogens. Berry species such as bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) are widely used in the food industry for production of juices, jams etc. Berry press cake is the leftover of berry juice industry after food processing, and can be utilized for extraction of waxes. During my doctoral study, we have extracted bioactive berry wax from press cakes of bilberry and lingonberry using Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE). The extraction process incorporates circular economy and sustainability. Lumene is the leading cosmetic company involved in developing upcycled natural ingredients for cosmetics in Finland. Products originating from Nordic forests would give Lumene a competitive advantage. In collaboration with Lumene, I would like to establish bilberry and lingonberry wax as an ingredient for cosmetics. The chemical composition of bilberry and lingonberry wax shows components beneficial for the skin physiology, such as linoleic acid, phytosterols and Vit E. Also, berry waxes have shown high Sun Protection Factors (SPFs) and preliminary bioactivity in our previous study. In the research period, I would like to validate the bioactivity, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant activity, cytotoxicity and SPFs of bilberry and lingonberry waxes. During the targeted period at Lumene, the berry wax formulations in products would be done, along with assessing safety of berry wax as a cosmetic ingredient. The project would expand Lumene s portfolio of Nordic upcycled ingredients and would also reduce carbon footprint of their formulations.

2023

2024