Here below you can download some Cosmetic standardized ingredient brochures by clicking on the titles. Please note that all brochures are in pdf format.

Asiaticoside - Anti-wrinkles
Asiaticoside is a terpenoid component extracted form Centella asiatica. It has been demonstrated to increase collagen synthesis thus performing an anti-wrinkle activity. Skin ageing, in fact, appears to be principally related to a decrease in the levels of type I collagen, the primary component of the skin dermis, also known to impart tensile strength to skin. In vitro evaluations have demonstrated the receptorial activity of Asiaticoside on collagen synthesis, as well as clinical evaluations confirm its anti-wrinkle efficacy.

Escin Beta-sitosterol Phytosome^® - microcirculation improver
The therapeutical benefits of Escin are demonstrated by a bunch of scientifical studies assessing its anti-oedema, and vasoactive properties. Escin β-sitosterol Phytosome^® in fact acts principally in capillaries, its mechanism of action being mainly related to the modification of the vascular permeability. It reduces the number and the diameter of the small pores of the capillary walls through which water exchange normally occurs. Escin is obtained from the seeds of the Horse Chestnut tree, which originates from Asia and was first introduced in Europe in the XVIIth century. The fruit is used in traditional medicine and is grinded into a flour which has always been used as a folk cosmetic to make the skin shiny or to make cleaning soaps.

Esculoside - Vasoactive, anticellulite, microcirculation improver.
The main activities of Esculoside focus on capillary protection, as it improves capillary permeability and fragility. It is reported to inhibit catabolic enzymes such as hyaluronidase and collagenase, thus preserving the integrity of the perivascular connective tissue. Esculoside also showed good antioxidant properties, protecting triglycerides against auto-oxidation at high temperatures. The antioxidant property might as well explain some of the anti-inflammatory activity of the product, making it a suitable product for after sun treatments, for example. Esculoside, also known as Esculin, is a glycosilated coumarin obtained from the bark of Horse Chestnut branches. Ever since it has been used, mostly by oral route, for the treatment of venous peripheral diseases. Recently in the research of new vasoactive substances, Esculoside has been reported to have an interesting activity on skin microcirculation, thus becoming a suitable ingredient for various cosmetic applications, like anticellulite and anti hair-loss.

Ginkgo Biloba Dimeric Flavonoids Phytosome^® - Lipolysis and microcirculation improver
GBDF Phytosome^® is a specific diflavonic fraction obtained from Ginko biloba. It has been demonstrated to have a lipolytic activity by inhibiting cAMP phosphodiesterase and improving lipolysis in fat cells and the capillary blood flow. This activities, among the soothing ones observed, are important for the management of cellulite. The improvement in the activity of the Phytosome^® form, compared to the free active principles, is due to a higher affinity of the phospholipidic complex to the skin phospholipids. This not only improves the absorption of the compounds exerting the biological activity, but also increases the duration of the activity as the complex slowly releases the active principle.

Ginkgo Biloba Terpenes Phytosome^® - Soothing and anti-inflammatory
Ginkgo biloba is considered as a living fossil, as it is the only survivor of a species originated 150 million years ago: as the tree defended itself throughout the centuries, it is in its components that modern science has identified the reasons for this immutability. The standardized extract from Ginkgo biloba leaves has been subject to an extensive research which identified the terpenoid fraction as responsible for soothing efficacy. The unique terpenoids as ginkgolides and bilobalide, are potent inhibitors of the pro-inflammatory PAF (Platelet Activating Factor); its complexation with phospholipids (Ginkgo Biloba Terpenes Phytosome^®) is therefore recommended for the topical application in dermatitis conditions.one interesting example of skin friendly surfactant.

Ginselect Phytosome^® - Skin elasticity improver
For thousands of years, extracts of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer have been systematically used for the prevention or treatment of a variety of conditions frequently associated with aging. For centuries, women collecting and selecting ginseng roots were noticed to have particularly nice hands, due to the fact that handling these roots has helped them to keep the skin of their hands young and smooth. This is most likely due to the increased blood perfusion, leading to improved delivery of nutrients to the skin. Some recent trials, besides the traditional use of Ginseng for skin care, showed the positive effects of ginseng saponins on the structure and mechanical properties of hair, improving distensibility and resistance to breakage. Indena, as the larger producer of ginseng extract, contributed to document the traditional evidence and the use of this in the modern functional cosmetic.

Horse Chestnut Saponins - Non irritant foaming and washing natural substance
Saponins are surfactants that, when dissolved in water, develop foam. Although Horse Chestnut most reknown constituent is escin, it also contains some saponins that are quali-quantitatively different from escin; a complex mixture of more than thirty saponins composes this extract obtained by successive fractionations from Aesculus hippocastanum L. Natural, not irritant but endowed with a good cleansing power, the Horse Chestnut Saponins are one interesting example of skin friendly surfactant.

Millet dry extract - skin, hair and nail restructurant
Millet is high in proteins and has significantly more iron and silicon than other cereals. Its content of mineral salts, vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids exerts a trophic activity on skin and cutaneous annexes (hair and nails). Hair and nails, in fact, are mainly constituted by cheratin, a protein containing 18 amino acids. Aminoacids and polyunsaturated fatty acids are necessary to the formation of cheratin. Millet as a supplement and by topical application is thus considered as "antistress" and "beauty food" due to its stimulating properties on skin, hair and nails.

Opextan^TM - A natural clinically-proven aid for healthy and beautiful skin
Opextan^TM is an innovative olive fruit extract. Its characteristic ingredient, among other polyphenols, is verbascoside, endowed with a potent radical scavenging activity. Opextan^TM has been demonstrated to reduce skin sensitivity to UV irradiation, to reduce lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress. It may be used both orally and topically, for a novel approach to beauty. Olive is the symbol of the Mediterranean culture, and epidemiological studies have since long suggested the protective properties of olives and olive oil on human health.

Ruscogenins C - Skin circulation and orange peel condition improver
Ruscogenins (mainly ruscogenin and neoruscogenin) are steroid saponins typical of Ruscus aculeatus L. Their pharmacological activity is venoconstricting and anti-inflammatory, having been found to enhance venous circulation by promoting muscle contractions with a mechanism involving post junctional α-adrenergic receptors. Moreover, they inhibit the enzyme elastase maintaining the integrity of the constituents of the connettive tissue overall exerting anti-ageing effect. Butchers’ broom is the common name of Ruscus aculeatus L.: it originates from the fact that its branches were bound in bundles and used by butchers to sweep their cutting blocks. It was also commonly used as a broom or a besom. The young shoots of the plant used to be eaten much like asparagus, to which it is botanically closely linked.

Sericoside Phytosome^® - anti-wrinkles
Sericoside Phytosome^® is a complex between Sericoside and soy phospholipids. Terminalia sericea, from which Sericoside was isolated and extracted for the first time by Indena, has been traditionally used in Africa and Asia for the treatment of severe skin diseases. The adjective sericea, in ancient Latin, means "silky, smooth as silk". Many trials have been performed and Sericoside has shown to have skin restructuring, capillary protecting activity, wound healing and anti-oedema properties. This is due to a remarkable reduction of capillary permeability exerted by the active ingredient. Significant anti-inflammatory qualities have been demonstrated by Sericoside and the Phytosome^® form as well.

Silymarin Phytosome^®- anti-ageing and environmental skin protectant
Silymarin Phytosome^® is an original complex between the flavanolignans (mainly silybin, silydianin, silycristin) extracted from Silybum marianum fruits (silymarin extract) and Soybean Phospholipids in a 1:2 ratio. This complex exhibits enhanced functionality of the flavanolignans resulting in a longer lasting activity and increased effectiveness on the skin. The soothing and protectant activity of the extract is due to the antioxidant properties of the flavanolignans. The soothing activity of Silymarin has been shown to be increased by more than 6 times in Silymarin Phytosome^® in experimental models. The improvement in the activity of the Phytosome^® form, compared to the free active principles, is due to a higher affinity of the complex for skin phospholipids. This not only improves the absorption of the compounds exerting the biological activity, but also increases the duration of the activity as the complex slowly releases the active principle.

Visnadine - Microcirculation improver, anticellulite
Visnadine is a natural product extracted from the seeds and aerial parts of Ammi visnaga (Umbelliferae), plant widely used in Egyptian medicine since the Pharaohs times as antispastic and for the treatment of angina pectoris and other cardiovascular diseases. It has been used since a long time in western medicine for the treatment of various cardiac diseases and peripheral vasculopathies. Visnadine has a strong vascular activity, not associated with vasodilating properties. Its efficacy, in fact, is due to the enhancement of the inotropic activity of the wall myocytes in microcirculatory vessels. Visnadine is also endowed with a strong antiphosphodiesterase activity, mantaining high levels of cAMP and, therefore, an activation of lipases, thus improving lipolysis in fat cells.

Ximilene^® and Ximenoil^® - microcirculation improvers
Ximilene^® and Ximenoil^® are obtained from Santalum Album, a plant traditionally used in form of poultices as "traditional masks" to treat the skin and make it smoother, tauter and more velvety in areas where the species Olax, Ximenia or Santalum grow spontaneously. Ximenynic acid, contained in Ximilene^® and Xinemoil^®, as well as PUFA in general are important factors related to trophism and biochemical balance of the skin, as they make up an integral part of cell wall lipids, building up cell membranes.

Zanthalene^® - soothing, anti-irritant, anti-itching
Zanthalene^® is obtained form Zanthoxylum bungeanum, a perennial plant native to China. Widely used in its country of origin as a spice, it is used to reduce the irritating properties of some foods. It has a strong transitory action on the neuromuscular synaptic transmission, and proved its efficacy in several clinical tests, for instance in reducing discomfort during hair dyeing or reducing the itching sensations of mosquito bites.

Indena cosmetic catalogue

Chronic Venous Insufficiency

Indena 30 Quality System

Indena main products catalogue

Phytosome® brochure

Mirtoselect®:

a new validated HPLC method of analysis

Indenature newsletter

Indena patents

Scientific papers