海參除了吃可製護膚品含豐富膠原蛋白抗氧化功效高｜Mer-Veille Hong Kong

In addition to eating sea cucumbers, you can make skin care products that are rich in collagen and have high antioxidant effects.

The therapeutic value of sea cucumber has long been heard, but it turns out that research from foreign countries and the mainland has shown that its important ingredients can also be used to make skin care products. There is a local start-up company that uses sea cucumber collagen and other extracts, combined with polar brown seaweed extracts and mother-of-pearl essence to create skin care products. It is a rare skin care brand in Hong Kong and even internationally that combines marine scientific research concepts.

Mer-Veille Hong Kong co-founders Dr. Chen Lixuan, Xu Biqin, and Zhao Kairong all joined Mer-Veille Biotechnology Co., Ltd. in 2020. The latter was the first company to locally produce sea cucumber health products (launched at the end of 2017). Among them, Chen Lixuan and Zhao Kairong are both engaged in research and development, while Xu Biqin is responsible for marketing. They read a lot of research literature and found that in addition to its therapeutic effects, sea cucumbers can also be used to make skin care products. Sea cucumbers are rich in collagen and have strong repair and regeneration capabilities. Even if part of their body is amputated, they can slowly recover. In addition, the antioxidant effect of sea cucumber collagen is higher than vitamin C or even fish collagen.

Mer-Veille R&D foundry production

The process of making skin care products from sea cucumber extract

Except for a few American and Australian brands, there are almost no companies on the market that use sea cucumbers to make skin care products. Therefore, they felt that there was a lot of room in this market segment, so in November 2020, they proposed the idea of developing skin care products using sea cucumbers to Xue Zhiwei, one of the founders of Liwei Biotechnology. As a result, Xue Zhiwei not only agreed, but was also willing to be an investor, allowing the three of them to form a new company, Mer-Veille. They spent a year and a half on research and development and testing, and by the middle of this year they had developed two skin care products, "Hydra Defense Marine Antioxidant Repair Essence" and "Hydra Revital Marine Repair and Radiance Cream", and handed them over to a local GMP factory for production.

Although the concept of using sea cucumbers to make skin care products sounds simple, there are some barriers to practice, including choosing suitable varieties and overcoming decomposition and extraction technologies. They import dried sea cucumbers from Southeast Asia. After being washed, soaked in water, and enlarged, they use vacuum freeze-drying technology to remove the water, and then grind them into powder. After that, two important procedures are followed to extract the required key substances.

The first is "enzyme hydrolysis". Since most of the important ingredients of sea cucumbers are macromolecules that are insoluble in water, if sea cucumber powder is used directly to make skin care products, it is difficult for human skin to absorb it. Therefore, complex enzymes and water must be added to cut off the chemical bonds of those macromolecules and make them become into small molecules that can be dissolved in water. "Enzymatic hydrolysis" requires a specific temperature to react, so the above mixture needs to be placed in a "constant temperature rotary shaker" for several hours. During this period, the temperature is maintained at 50 to 60 degrees Celsius, and the rotation speed is maintained at 220 revolutions per minute. Only when the substances are thoroughly mixed can the "enzymatic hydrolysis" reaction be completely completed.

The second is to use a centrifuge to repeat the purification several times, each time extracting only the liquid in the upper layer and discarding the water-insoluble powder in the lower layer. The finally extracted liquid mixture uses vacuum freezing technology to remove the water again and becomes a powder. The company calls it "MV-BIO Sea Cucumber Extract". The main component is sea cucumber collagen peptide, followed by a variety of amino acids.

The three said that "MV-BIO Sea Cucumber Extract" can provide five major skin care effects, including regeneration and repair, antioxidant, firming and anti-wrinkle, moisturizing and moisture-locking, and fighting sensitive inflammation, and can help repair damaged and aging skin. Both of the company's skin care products contain "MV-BIO sea cucumber extract." In addition, both also have "MV-Bio Polar Brown Seaweed". The latter uses brown seaweed that grows in extreme environments such as Chile or the Antarctic Ocean. The seaweed solution is concentrated and extracted at high temperature, and then atomized, dried and purified. The mixed substance contains rich alginic acid and 17 kinds of amino acids, which can quickly replenish water. It locks in moisture, increases natural moisturizing factors, and promotes the synthesis of collagen and proteoglycans.

Added brown seaweed and mother-of-pearl extract

"Hydra Revital Marine Repair and Radiance Cream" is added with mother-of-pearl essence. The so-called "mother of pearl" refers to the inner layer of the clam shell used to cultivate pearls. Its active ingredients are very close to those of pearls. It is rich in pearl protein and a large number of trace elements, which can strengthen the collagen layer and the skin's natural barrier, and inhibit melanin. Precipitate and prevent the formation of acne marks and spots.

The extraction methods and operating procedures of "MV-BIO Sea Cucumber Extract", "MV-Bio Polar Brown Seaweed" and "Mother of Pearl Extract" were all developed by the company, but are produced by OEMs. The three emphasized that the company's skin care products only use these essences to promote the skin's self-repair and do not add preservatives, mineral oils, artificial colors, fragrances, plasticizers and other substances that are harmful or burdensome to the skin.

Although mainly promoted through Instagram, the two skin care products were launched through the company's website in early June and soon attracted an invitation to cooperate with a beauty website. They were sold at the latter's pop-up store in Harbor City for a month and a half. ; Sales in August also increased by approximately 36% compared to July. They plan to continue to raise public awareness through some pop-up stores and markets in the future, and intend to establish long-term distribution relationships with some natural skin care stores. In addition, products may also be given to some internet celebrities for trial use.

Get support from your employer to start a business while working

Just like Chen Lixuan, Xu Biqin, and Zhao Kairong, who suddenly started a new company from part-time jobs, I believe many office workers would be envious of them. According to the three people, in fact, they continue to work for Liwei Biotechnology on the one hand, and manage Mer-Veille on the other. They said Xue Zhiwei, co-founder of Liwei Biotechnology, is very open-minded and supports intrapreneurship.

Xue Zhiwei emphasized that there are differences between the two companies. At Liwei Biotechnology, he is one of the founders (the other founder is his uncle) and a decision-maker. At Mer-Veille, he is just an investor, not even the founder. The other three are the founders. Regarding Mer-Veille's affairs, he completely let the three of them handle it and let them do whatever they wanted.

Chen Lixuan and others revealed that in addition to hoping that Mer-Veille will break even within one year, they have also set a three to five-year goal. The first is to gain a certain level of recognition and be recognized by the public as a sea cucumber skin care brand; the second is to export the products to some Asian countries or regions; the third is to develop B2B business and sell "MV-BIO Sea Cucumber Essence" Wait for it to be sold to other skin care product manufacturers; fourth, it is to open its own specialty store.

Ming Pao reporter: Xue Weijie Photography: Lai Junjie