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Episode Summary
In addition to earning her master’s degree in stem cell biology and her PhD in skin regeneration and tissue engineering at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, Alessandra Zonari is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at OneSkin. In today’s episode, we sat down with Alessandra to discuss what happens to our bodies and skin as we age, how to help our skin as we age, Alessandra’s brand, OneSkin, and how OneSkin found a peptide to help reduce skin damage.
First, we asked Alessandra what happens to our bodies and skin as we age. She told us that our skin ages not only on the surface but on a cellular and molecular level. The cellular changes that occur cause damage to the cells, and, in a process called cellular senescence, those damaged cells then come together and cause deterioration in the tissue. Tissue deterioration causes the cells on the skin to produce less collagen and leads to less firmness and a weaker skin barrier. While many people used to think that how skin ages is a direct result of genes, scientists have discovered that only 10-30% of how we age is determined by our genetics. The rest is determined by our lifestyle choices, and Alessandra emphasized that to keep our skin healthy and increase longevity, it is important to focus on our diet, sleep patterns, exercise, and mental health. It’s also crucial to be aware of and understand the products you use for your skin.
Skin thinning is part of aging, but Alessandra explained that thinning not only affects appearance but makes skin more fragile, which can affect longevity. Thin, fragile skin is at a bigger risk of exposure to infections and pollution that causes inflammation, itching and bruising. Thinner skin also produces less collagen. It’s important to keep a thinning skin barrier strong and healthy, since our skin is the largest organ on our body. A stronger barrier will lead to less inflammation and help us to avoid chronic diseases. We also spoke to Alessandra about her brand, OneSkin. When asked what inspired her to create the brand, she said that the idea came from wanting to not only understand the skin aging process but to figure out a way to get aging skin to act like younger skin. She and her team developed platforms for reading the DNA of skin and measuring the skin’s biological age, a factor that can be influenced by a plethora of environmental factors, including how much sun a person’s skin has been exposed to in their life. As a group of scientists, they would grow skin in a lab and recreate the skin’s aging process to measure biomarkers. They would also test products on the skin to see how the skin reacted.
When asked what skincare products should be avoided, Alessandra suggested staying away from parabens and certain preservatives. She also warned that fragrance can cause inflammation in skin. For products that are safe to use, Alessandra mentioned how OneSkin has created a line of skincare products using a peptide they discovered in their own lab. While studying skin cell damage, they built a platform that screened thousands of different peptides to see which ones would help reduce damaged skin cells while also not harming healthy cells. Eventually, they discovered a peptide called OS1, which reduces inflammation and accumulation of damaged cells on skin while also helping the repair process inside the skin cells to help them function in a healthy way. OS1 also helps increase collagen production, which helps to increase firmness, and helps support the skin barrier function and production, leading to smoother, firmer, and more elastic skin. OneSkin has produced several vegan and cruelty free peptide products, including a moisturizer, eye cream, and a daily gentle cleanser. When discussing the eye cream, Alessandra mentioned that the skin around the eyes is four times thinner than our face, which is why it ages faster. Our hands also have thinner skin and, like our face and neck, are always exposed to UV damage and pollution, which is why they need to be properly cared for.
A common question many people have about skincare is about exfoliation. We asked Alessandra her thoughts, and she said that exfoliation is good in small amounts. The skin barrier is made of dead skin, and if you let it accumulate and don’t exfoliate, skin products won’t be absorbed. However, exfoliating too much can remove skin protection and lead to drier skin. Finally, when asked where customers can purchase OneSkin products, Alessandra said that all products can be found on OneSkin’s website, https://www.oneskin.co/, and that OneSkin ships to the U.S. and Canada.
Alessandra Zonari
Alessandra Zonari, PhD, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, earned her master’s degree in stem cell biology, and her PhD in skin regeneration and tissue engineering at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil in collaboration with the 3B’s Research Group in Portugal. Alessandra did a second post-doctoral at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. She is a co-inventor of three patents and has published 20 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals.
In this episode, we discuss…
- [0:01] Introduction
- [0:25] Guest Introduction
- [4:05] Start of Interview
- [4:28] What Happens to Our Skin as We Age
- [8:48] How to Help Our Skin as We Age
- [11:36] Skin Thinning
- [15:00] OneSkin
- [19:41] Products That Damage Skin
- [20:39] Creating a Peptide
- [26:46] The Importance of Exfoliation
- [28:21] Where to Find OneSkin
- [28:55] Closing Thoughts
- [29:43] Outro
Useful Resources:
Alessandra’s LinkedIn I [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandra-zonari-80262258/]
OneSkin’s Website I [https://www.oneskin.co/]
OneSkin Facebook I [https://www.facebook.com/OneSkinTech/]
OneSkin’s Instagram I [https://www.instagram.com/oneskin.co/?hl=en]
OneSkin’s YouTube Channel I [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvNUO9jiMfYy2kCVUNj8pNQ?app=desktop]
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