Wonder ingredient restores aged skin to more youthful state

JAKART, INDONESIA — Niacinamide. While it sounds like a substance that can potentially wipe out a small population, niacinamide is actually a beauty product and “wonder ingredient” of sorts, starting out as an alternative to retinoids that ruled the skin technology scene during the mid-‘90s. After studies on the negative side effects of retinoids started to come out, laboratories worked to fill in the need for a new skin product ingredient that could be used to approach skincare in a more holistic manner.

Hence the spotlight on niacinamide, a water-soluble B-complex vitamin formed when an amide molecule attaches itself to niacin. Discovered to have the ability to restore aged skin cells to a younger state, strengthen skin barriers, and reduce pigmentation, niacinamide — also known as Vitamin B3 — seemed to be the map that leads straight to the elusive fountain of youth.

The discovery of niacinamide’s potential was timely: 10 years ago, over 6,000 women from all over the world were asked in an extensive survey about their skincare needs and their concerns about aging skin. Results showed that the market’s concerns coincided with dermatologists’ and scientists’ concerns, and these results were categorized into seven signs of skin aging. We have become quite familiar with these signs: fine lines and wrinkles, age spots, changes in skin texture and skin tone, dryness, dullness or loss of radiance, and pore visibility. It turned out that across skin types, ethnicities, and geographical locations, women have universal concerns regarding skin and its appearance.

This groundbreaking survey created a challenge for skincare brands to formulate the perfect product that can address all seven skin concerns. This is where Olay came in, harnessing the powers of niacinamide to create the perfect skincare cream with a formula that can combat all seven signs and stall, if not actually reverse, the aging of skin.

Olay was already a veritable skincare brand at the time. From its 1950s beginnings with South African chemist Graham Wulff and his wife Dinah, Olay — then known as Oil of Olay, the way most lolas still identify the brand — almost immediately became a globally recognized brand, standing out in drugstore aisles and beauty supplies store shelves as a delicate-looking bottle of pink liquid among a sea of thick and greasy skin creams packaged in shoe polish-style tins. Though the name and the packaging has changed over time, the brand’s efficacy and reputation has held, and Olay is still known as the brand that understands how looking good and feeling good are intricately linked for all women. In fact, Euromonitor data shows that Olay has been the number one facial care brand worldwide from 2006 to 2009, an impressive feat given the wide range of facial care products that it has to contend with in the global market.

Back to 2000: Olay met the dream ingredient niacinamide, and Procter & Gamble Beauty developed a product that can bring the benefits of niacinamide straight to women’s vanity dressers and their skin. Combining the B-complex vitamin with antioxidants vitamins A and C and Panthenol or ProVitamin B5, Procter & Gamble created the VitaNiacin complex, a unique formulation that strengthens the potency of niacinamide to combat skin aging, and the secret behind the Olay Total Effects moisturizer.

 Olay Total Effects moisturizer made a big splash in the Philippines when it was launched in the country in 2006. Sold as an all-in-one product designed for the modern, multi-tasking woman, the product was an instant hit, as it appealed not just to consumers who wish to spend less on multiple face creams for daily and nightly use but also to those who would rather not be bothered about buying a separate product for the face, the eyes, and for sun protection. The strength of the brand name, the simplicity of its use, and its encompassing benefits ensured — and has maintained — Olay Total Effects moisturizer’s status as the bestselling product in the Olay Total Effects line even after 10 years.

Procter & Gamble Beauty continued to research and develop the possible benefits that niacinamide and second-generation niacinamide combinations can bring to the skin. Their studies have resulted in the iconic and comprehensive Total Effects boutique, a line of Total Effects products that address not just the seven signs of skin aging but specific skin problems as well. Using the basic skin regimen of “cleanse, tone and moisturize” to categorize its products, the Total Effects boutique has become more than just an introductory skincare line for women who are looking to nourish their skin. Those who need special care for specific problems — dark under-eye circles, laugh lines, extra-dry skin — can find something for themselves, too.

For Olay Total Effects’ 10th anniversary, Olay brought together the Olay Total Effects ambassadors from all over Southeast Asia into one gala event at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia where they shared with the Asian press their stories of how Olay Total Effects has transformed their skin. Some of the celebrities who walked the red carpet were Bollywood actress Tisca Chopra, Malaysian actress and host Bernie Chan, Vietnamese actress and model Truong Ngoc Anh, and Philippines’ own beauty queen and actress Miriam Quiambao.

Though not all of the ambassadors were open to divulging their real ages, their clear, radiant skin was proof enough of the benefits of using Olay Total Effects. The preternaturally serene Chopra, who claims that Olay has greatly minimized the pigmentation on her face caused by constant exposure to the sun, joked that the Proctor & Gamble Beauty scientists and researchers are liars. “It isn’t science; Olay is magic,” she quipped. The 41-year-old Chan, meanwhile, swore on the potency of the Olay Total Effects stretch mask to soothe tired skin. “Whenever I get really busy or if I have to fly a lot, like this week, I use the Olay stretch mask three nights in a row to take care of my skin,” she revealed. “It can even soothe pimples.”

Quiambao, 35, has been the Olay ambassador in the Philippines since its 2006 launch. For the former beauty queen, products from the Total Effects line are what constitute her day and night beauty regimen. “I also do my ‘affirmations’ in the morning while washing my face and looking at the mirror,” she added. “I tell myself, ‘You’re special, you’re beautiful’; every woman needs to hear and feel that.”

In her welcoming remarks to the gala attendees, Procter & Gamble Asia Prestige and Female Beauty VP Joanna Crews said, “Since the 1950s, Olay has been listening to women… and because we listened, Total Effects has enjoyed 10 beautiful years of success and is today one of the world’s most beloved skincare boutiques.” The brand isn’t stopping on its 10th year, though. Far from it: research on niacinamide is continuing, with the new research areas of genomics and new proteins that will be used in developing products targeted at prevention of skin problems and even male skin care.

Olay Total Effects’ 10th year benchmark is more than a celebration of the product’s success. As Crews puts it, “It is about paying tribute to the millions of women all over the world… and it is about giving women a reason to believe that their skin can remain beautiful.” All of us ladies can drink to that.