HEC is reportedly derived from an extremophile organism and leverages rare enzymatic properties for skin care and personal care applications.
“This ingredient represents a new era of functionality in skin care,” said Dr. Kyle Landry, president and co-founder of Delavie Sciences, in a company press release. “It delivers incredible tactile results making it one of the most exciting ingredients we’ve developed.”
Addressing limitations of existing cleansing agents
“It is very hard to strike a balance between efficacy and harshness,” Dr. Landry told CosmeticsDesign US, but “the HEC finds the perfect balance by being highly efficacious at removing oil and surface buildup while at the same time being gentle to skin and the skin microbiome.”
HEC achieves this through a combination of hydrolytic enzymes and emulsifying proteins, he explained, offering a surfactant-free approach that is both effective and microbiome-safe.
HEC’s performance is rooted in its biological origin. “Because extremophiles have adapted to live in environments that are hostile towards life, their enzymes are forced to be more efficient,” Dr. Landry explained. “Due to this property, HEC can address multiple skin care-related concerns, such as scaliness, oiliness, elasticity, collagen production, and the skin microbiome, [and] this broad functionality allows it to do the job of multiple ingredients.”
The source organism was originally studied in collaboration with Dr. David Sinclair at Harvard Medical School, leading to the patent that covers the use of extremophile-derived enzymes in personal care formulations.
Clinical and laboratory validation
HEC’s efficacy was demonstrated through both in vitro and clinical testing. “The ability to solubilize/remove artificial sebum was assessed and found to be as effective as 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate,” Dr. Landry shared with CDU.
He highlighted that additional tests using Sebumeter, D-Squame skin surface sampling, and Cutometer analysis showed measurable improvements after a single application:
- 77% reduction in skin surface lipids
- 46% reduction in skin scaliness
- 8% increase in firmness and 11% increase in elasticity
In its press announcement, Delavie also reported a 37% boost in Type I collagen and a 26% increase in skin cell viability in lab conditions.
Formulation compatibility and regulatory considerations
With a performance profile comparable to that of sodium dodecyl sulfate, Dr. Landry stated that HEC presents an alternative for formulators seeking to reduce their reliance on traditional surfactants. “We see the HEC being used in a variety of products, ranging from hair care to general body care,” he illustrated to CDU.
“The fact that the HEC has been certified face and scalp microbiome friendly and sulfate free,” he added, “can help formulators have amazing sebum removal without causing harm to the microbiome, which has become a major focal point within the industry.”
HEC is stable across various formulation parameters, the press release confirmed, making it compatible with a broad range of pH levels, textures, and delivery formats.
Delavie is positioning HEC for inclusion in products targeting oily, acne-prone, and combination skin types. “This ingredient allows formulators to tackle some of the hardest and most pressing issues within skin care with a gentle, natural, microbiome friendly, clinically proven ingredient,” Dr. Landry concluded.
