With Chinese New Year a few days away, feng shui experts advise the placing of red objects around the house. Accordingly, red-clad skincare products may promote positive energy on the dressing table.
The belief carries to the cosmetic use of red plants — superberries, pomegranate and tomato, for example — are powerhouses of skin-transforming phytochemicals, particularly carotenoids as antioxidants to combat free radicals — one of the triggers of skin ageing.
The search for red hot ingredients has extended to sourcing them from marine and mountain algae.
Dubbed as the King of Carotenoids, astaxanthin is derived from Haematococcus pluvialis, used to make supplements and an age-defying cream.
The latest hype turns to another red algae found on Switzerland's alpine glaciers. There the resilient snow algae survives amid sub-zero temperatures, strong UV radiation and low nutrients comparable to acaloric restriction, which in turn promotes cell metabolism and regeneration.
Red snow algae extract thus has become new arsenal to fight stubborn wrinkles.
