Amaranth in cosmetics has been used for a long time. A few hundred years ago, residents of the regions that the current Mexico unites rubbed amaranth flowers on their cheeks. It was one of the first varieties of rouge in the history of mankind. Much later, scientists discovered that amaranth in cosmetics is capable of performing not only a decorative function. Amaranth oil is now used in the cosmetic industry everywhere as a means of improving the structure of the skin, rejuvenating and healing it.

The demand for amaranth oil in cosmetology is due to several reasons.

First, it contains unsaturated fats, which have the useful property of strengthening the cell membranes, making them more elastic and permeable.

In terms of consumption of thermally processed foods, convenience foods and artificially synthesized food, the human body often lacks these fats. As a result, cell membranes, which ideally should consist of more than 60% of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, are formed by about 60-70% of cholesterol. It seals the tissues, makes them heavy, substances penetrate through them with difficulty, which is why the intercellular metabolism deteriorates significantly. So the cells age and break down faster. Unsaturated fats integrate into cells and allow substances located on opposite sides of the membranes to interact with each other much faster. Gradually, the tissues are renewed (some faster, some longer), and if we cannot notice the transformations on the internal organs, then after using the creams for the skin with amaranth oil, this effect is quite noticeable.

Secondly, amaranth oil boasts a complex of vitamins that strengthen local immunity, can protect the skin and epithelium from a number of stimuli.

But the main reason for the popularity of amaranth in cosmetology is the high content of squalene.

Squalene and its components
Squalene is a natural unsaturated hydrocarbon. From a chemical point of view, it belongs to isoprenoids – a large group of compounds that characterizes the presence in them of three components that are very valuable to cosmetology – beta-carotene, tocopherol and ubiquinone.

Beta-carotene is one of the vitamins of group A. It is known for protecting the skin from the negative effects of ultraviolet radiation, as if “filtering” this radiation. It does not allow UV rays to destroy the skin cells, that is, to burn it, but it does not prevent the formation of vitamin D, which is formed, including in the process of sunbathing. That beta-carotene is the basis of the most effective and harmless creams for lovers of sunbathing. Thanks to him, the tan goes on an even layer and the skin instead of the burned pink-red takes on a bronze tint.

Tocopherol, more commonly known as vitamin E, is a substance that protects the skin from sagging, prevents the appearance of wrinkles and protects it from aging. Almost all anti-aging creams, creams for women who are more than 30 years old, pencils, which not only mask, but smooth wrinkles, are made on the basis of tocopherol.

Ubiquinone is a lesser-known substance, which every woman, nevertheless, has probably heard about, tracking cosmetic news. In advertising, it is often called coenzyme Q10 or coenzyme Q10. The world found out about him in 1957 thanks to the American scientist Fred Crane, who discovered ubiquinone in a bullish heart. Later, Crane found out that this substance is found in almost all cells of the body, but most of all it is in the tissues of organs that are more active than others. The highest percentage of ubiquinone was recorded in the heart, liver, kidneys and brain.

5 After a couple of decades, Crane’s English colleague, Peter Dennis Mitchell, proved a direct correlation between the amount of ubiquinone and the energy activity of the cell. Simply put, cells in which this substance was not, energy was not produced and vice versa. For this, Mitchell received the Nobel Prize, and ubiquinone received attention from pharmacologists and cosmetologists all over the world.

Attention this led to the fact that over the next years two more valuable properties of ubiquinone were discovered. First, the substance was able to fight free radicals, that is, to resist the oxidation of fats, even when the recognized antioxidant, tocopherol, could not cope with this. Secondly, it turned out that, by supplying cells with energy, ubiquinone significantly accelerates the process of regeneration and other biochemical reactions, and also prevents the destruction of collagen and elastin that make up human hair, nails, partly skin, and many other tissues. And this happens under the influence of strong irritants, including toxic substances, the concentration of which is high in the air of large industrial cities with a large number of oil refineries, chemical and metal rolling enterprises.

Attempts to use squalene in cosmetology

The combination of beta-carotene, tocopherol and ubiquinone and led to the fact that squat is very interested in cosmetologists. Products with a high content of squalene could simultaneously protect the skin from the negative effects of ultraviolet radiation, without interfering with the positive; they, providing the skin with energy, would accelerate the metabolism in it, that is, the cells would start to work faster, update faster and remove harmful metabolic products faster. These same tools could produce 7 anti-aging effect, and it is precisely anti-aging creams that are found in almost all global manufacturers in leading positions. In general, the benefit was obvious.

There was only one thing: squalene in its natural form – a substance very unstable. Being, as mentioned, an unsaturated hydrocarbon, that is, a hydrocarbon that has free molecules, it seeks to “join” these molecules to any other substance that it can join. There are a great many such substances in the world. Therefore, squalene begins to “bind” its molecules with molecules of other substances as soon as it is produced. Thus, after a very short period of time, it disappears, more precisely, it is transformed into more persistent substances that are no longer able to exert the desired effect on the skin.

In such conditions, adding it to the cosmetic in its pure form did not make any sense, since it immediately began to interact with other active components of the product and, as a result, it simply did not reach the consumer’s skin.

Squalane – the same squalane, only steady
Faced with the problem of chemical instability, squalene cosmetologists found two ways out. The first was the addition to creams not squalene, extracted from amaranth oil, but directly to amaranth oil.

In the composition of the oil, the substance retains its original form and is able to remain in it for a very long time, despite other active ingredients. The downside of this method is that amaranth oil is, in fact, pure fat. It was difficult to balance the composition in such a way that squalene was contained in the product (and for this, a considerable amount of oil would have to be added), while the product was suitable for problematic and oily skin.

Therefore, by the end of the 20th century, the most progressive corporations with a powerful technical base decided to hydrogenate squalene, thereby ensuring chemical resistance to it. First, the substance was removed from the oil by filtration, distillation, and so on, the resulting squalene was placed in conditions where it could not react, after which the process of hydrogenation took place.

Hydrogenation or hydrogenation is the addition of hydrogen molecules to an organic and chemically unstable substance. Simply put, squalene was forced to react with hydrogen, so that it did not react with anything else. The resulting substance didn’t differ from squalene in properties: hydrogen does not affect beta-carotene, ubiquinone, or tocopherol. However, his chemical formula became slightly different, so it was impossible to call him squalene. So the squalane appeared.

Squalane is now produced all over the world mainly from amaranth and olive oil. Amaranth is in the lead, because it is much less in olive squalene. Squale-containing animal fats are practically not used, and in some countries, the extraction of squalene from them is even prohibited. However, this does not apply to the countries of the southern hemisphere, so in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia you can often find squalene, obtained from shark liver, in capsules.

Interesting! In capsules, it can indeed be exactly squalane, and not squalane, since it is enclosed in a shell and does not have the ability to react with surrounding substances.

Squalane Spread
But in any cosmetics, in the vast majority of medical preparations and in any other means where other components are involved, it is squalane. Pure non-hydrogenated squalene there can only be in one form – as part of amaranth oil. But in this case it should be written on the package that it is amaranth oil that is a component of the product, and there should not be a separate “squalene” lettering.

Although some manufacturers deliberately write “squalene” instead of “squalane”, because buyers who have heard about squalene may not buy a product that contains an unknown “squalane”. But the majority of bona fide companies still indicate the real name of the substance used.

Squalane cosmetics are spreading more and will soon be overtaken by the number of analogues with amaranth oil. At the dawn of squalane use, manufacturers did not just enter it into the list of components, but tried to mention that this substance was derived from amaranth oil (or from the liver fat of a deep-sea shark), because nobody knew about squalane, and amaranth oil was already widely known .

Now, on the contrary, there is a tendency to the separation of squalene and squalane from the products from which they are derived. Testers invariably report positive results of testing and medical and decorative cosmetics, products are getting cheaper, more and more customers have the opportunity to evaluate the active ingredients and rate them – with positive reviews on the companies’ websites – quite high. Squalane becomes an independent component. And even on amaranth oil there appear inscriptions like “Natural cold-pressed amaranth oil with squalene” – despite the fact that cold-pressed amaranth oil without squalene does not exist in nature (unless the percentage can be different).

The question naturally arises: will amaranth oil really soon be forgotten by cosmetology corporations as superfluous?

Amaranth Oil VS Squalane
It would seem, indeed: with the advent of squalane, amaranth oil as a component of cosmetics should sink into oblivion. Still, it is fat, which, like all fats, has the ability to treat the skin in the right proportions, and in the wrong ones – to harm it substantially. Why spend months and years in laboratories to calculate the right amount of oil for different skin types? Why try to neutralize the negative effects of fat on the skin for squalene, if you can just add a more gentle squalane to the cream?

The point is this. Squalane actually contains absolutely all the same substances as squalene, and indeed all these substances act in the same way, and hydrogen does not cause any harm to the skin. But there are two squalane versus squalane one minus. He is less active.

Hydrogenation was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it allowed squalene to be added to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, that is, all those useful chemicals that it can boast of. On the other hand, hydrogenated squalene was significantly less active not only in creams and tablets, but also in the human body, where the tablets should fall, and on the skin, where the cream should be applied. In other words, a person really gets all the substances, but they are absorbed, absorbed and “embedded” in human organic tissues, they are much worse than they would be if they were squared more active chemically. Because of this, squalane has a number of detractors, and a number of companies prefer to use amaranth oil with “natural” active squalene.

It cannot be said that the adherents of squalane or his opponents are right. Squalane is really less active, but in the overwhelming majority of cases its activity is quite enough to have the necessary effect, be it protection, rejuvenation, softening, leveling of the skin structure and so on. But creams that contain amaranth oil can produce the same effect several times faster or the effect will be several times stronger.

But this is the case if the developers really carefully determined the necessary proportions of oil for each skin type. These creams are often very expensive, but if you can choose them, it is better to choose them. And between cheap cream with amaranth oil and cheap cream with squalane, of course, the second is preferable, because with the wrong proportions it will not produce any negative effect.

But it is impossible to navigate at the same price, and therefore there is a catch here. Squalane is technologically much more difficult to obtain than amaranth oil. If, when purchasing oil, a bona fide manufacturer needs to attend to the fact that it was cold-pressed oil from the required amaranth grade, then with squalane it is not enough. Getting squalene from oil is a rather laborious process that takes place in several stages, and the subsequent hydrogenation complicates it and raises the price of the final product several times.

Finally, if in the same Australia the production of squalane is put on stream, then few countries in Europe, let alone the CIS, can boast the same thing. Accordingly, if we soon see such an enterprise at home, then we should not expect that its products will be cheaper than Australian: most likely, at first, it will be even more expensive.

Interesting! In Australia and New Zealand, squalane is really very popular in medicine and in cosmetology, and squalene is commonly used as a dietary supplement. In the Australian ranking of anti-aging products in the first, second and fourth places are exactly cosmetic preparations containing squalene. Although not only these countries favor squalane and squalane. Both substances are honored in Japan, where more than 8% of the squalone-containing products from world production are produced, and in the eastern regions of Asia as a whole. Squalene and squalane in the USA are used in considerable quantities.

Pure oil and pure squalane – cheap and cheerful?

Squalene itself, as well as squalane, extracted even from shark liver, even from grains of any amaranth variety, is a light oily liquid, which is quickly absorbed into the skin, leaves no greasy marks and creates a feeling of silkiness and tenderness – that is what dreams any woman wants from creams and lotions. Amaranth oil is fatter, but if it is applied in a reasonable amount and then wiped off, then the next few hours you can enjoy the same feeling as squalane. You can find squalane – even amaranth, even shark, even though olive, despite the fact that it is much less in olive oil than in amaranth. It is also not very difficult to buy good quality amaranth oil. So why pay more and buy expensive creams?

Some women do just that – buy pure squalane or oil and use them. After consulting with a dermatologist, then with a beautician, and then consulting again – when the oil or squalane is already purchased. It is difficult to say that it is cheaper to buy cream with amaranth oil or to find a dermatologist and a cosmetologist who understand the proportions of squalane and amaranth oil for each skin type. It is a fact that both methods work and it is thanks to them that amaranth oil and squalene are known for their positive effects on the skin, nails and hair.

The method of self-selection of oil, self-typing of the skin and self-determination of the required dosage does not work well. Almost all the negative experience of using squalane or amaranth oil to improve the skin is the result of an attempt to solve skin problems completely independently. The sad consequences of this kind are faced mainly by women who adhere to the concept of “the more the better” and rubbed amaranth oil into the skin in the mornings and evenings, without washing it off for 20-30 minutes. The rare use of amaranth oil and squalane, of course, will not make dry skin out of problem skin, but you should not count on a normal one.

Ekaterina Mokina, a dermatologist at a Moscow clinic, writes that it is not enough just to calculate the required dosage based on skin type – you also need to take into account the region of residence, pollution and the main human activity that plans to use pure amaranth oil or pure squalane for skin treatment.

If, nevertheless, the use of amaranth oil or squalene is impossible for some reason and there is no qualified dermatologist or cosmetologist in the village, experts advise you to make homemade creams with these substances according to proven recipes. Recipes, good, you can even find on the Internet, although, like everything else on the Internet, you should choose them carefully. It is much safer to find a manufacturer who positions its amaranth oil as a means including applicable in cosmetology and can provide the buyer with detailed instructions for its use at home.