New botanical launch: Phytessence™ Wassai

The super-berry of fulfilled skins

Both Gen Z and Millennials attach great importance to overall wellness, and skin care is no exception. They view their beauty routines as deeply tied to a self-care and overall health approach, contributing to a sense of global fulfilment, their ultimate goal. For them, beauty is not only about looking good – it’s about feeling good, too.

These younger generations are highly informed about skin care ingredients and routines, which fuels their interest in starting early to prevent the visible signs of ageing before they occur. Gen Z and Millennials prefer to prevent problems rather than treating them after they’ve developed. They will therefore adopt proactive routines designed to maintain their youthful skin, recognising that it’s easier to preserve skin health than reverse damage later.

To achieve these aims of prejuvenation and delay the onset of ageing, Gen Z and Millennials look for versatile, preventive ingredients that seamlessly fit their flawless, wellness-driven lifestyle. With its multiple skin benefits, acai berry is an ideal match for this trend, offering opportunities to integrate both internal and external routines a highly sought-after "in-and-out beauty" approach. This small berry is much appreciated for its powerful energy and antioxidant properties, particularly in food, where it is considered as a superfruit.

The ideal natural ingredient for prejuvenation

Phytessence Wassaï helps Gen Z and Millennials maintain youthful, radiant skin for longer, perfectly aligning with their commitment to proactive skincare. Phytessence Wassaï is an extract of organic acai berries in glycerin. The multistep extraction is designed to preserve the richness in phenolic compounds, sugars and vitamins.

The berries are sourced from French Guiana (hence the name wassai, the Creole version of acai), where they are produced and processed into dehydrated pulp by our committed partner. We discuss more about the key steps we have taken towards sustainability and responsibility in this partnership further down.

Acai berries are considered a “superfruit” because they have the following proven effects:

• Stimulates cellular protection mechanisms: anti-radical effect for protection against oxidative stress boosting effect of ATP synthesis (in vitro), anti-glycation effect.
• Helps maintain skin elasticity to avoid skin sagging: inhibition of elastase activity, boosting effect of elastin synthesis.

This new botanical extract is quantified in polyphenols, 100% naturally derived, COSMOS approved, and preservative-free.

Visit our product finder to get technical documentation and request your sample of Phytessence Wassai.

The growing popularity of acai berry in recent years has brought several supply chain issues to the forefront throughout the industry, including rapid perishability of berries, difficulties in securing sourcing contracts, and concerns of unfair returns to local farmers. Additionally, the expansion of acai plantations has posed threats to the local ecosystems and traditional farming practices.

In response to these concerns, Croda Beauty has established a long-term partnership with a dedicated acai producer in French Guiana. This partnership is rooted in our commitment to responsibility and ethical standards. By prioritising sustainable growing and harvesting practices, we minimise disruption of local forest ecosystems and respect local tradition. Meanwhile, we make sure that each step of the supply chain guarantees fair compensation and safe, regulated work practices.

The quality of our acai berry extract is maintained by swiftly processing the berries into pulp immediately after harvest. This pulp is then transformed into powder through zeodration, our innovative, energy-efficient dehydration process, which we’ve helped implement locally at our partner’s site. This step not only preserves the quality of the raw material but also makes it lighter and easier to transport to our extraction facility in France, preventing rapid spoilage. By using this process, we’ve significantly reduced the carbon footprint of transporting the raw material from French Guiana to Europe—by an estimated factor of 50.