29 Oct 2009 --- With SymSitive 1609, Symrise is launching a market innovation: this soothing active ingredient is a breakthrough in treating sensitive skin

Sensitive skin and the dermal irritations it causes have a major effect on people’s quality of life. In Europe, the US and Japan, some 50% of women and 30% of men suffer from the condition. In China, around 36% of the entire population is affected. And the numbers are rising, since harmful environmental factors, stress, fatigue and other issues all exacerbate the skin.

Sensitive skin should not be regarded as a disease like allergic hyperreactions or neurodermatitis. Instead, it is a neurological symptom. Symrise has identified two key factors involved in the physiological mechanism: increased permeability of the stratum corneum (the upper layer of the skin) and hyper reactivity of the peripheral nervous system. These both heighten the skin’s response to external factors. Symrise has done research in this field and concentrated on two specific sensations: stinging and burning of the skin. SymSitive 1609 is the result of their research.

“Symrise’s SymSitive 1609 represents the next generation of active ingredients for sensitive skin. It minimizes hypersensitivity reactions and the peripheral nervous system while simultaneously targeting certain receptors in the skin,” states Dr. Joachim Röding, Senior Vice President, Life Essentials, Global Head of Cosmetic Ingredients.

SymSitive 1609 acts as a sensitivity regulator by increasing the skin’s tolerance threshold. The substance has a major impact on burning and stinging  as demonstrated in a clinical study of 20 subjects. Capsaicin-induced stinging and burning was lowered below the sensory threshold immediately after using SymSitive 1609.

SymSitive 1609 calms down the skin and minimizes irritation, making it the next generation of active ingredients for fast and intense relief of sensitive skin.