How Does Age Affect Body Malodor? Persimmon Extract May Help

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It’s no secret that diet affects body malodor, but what about age? The chemical nonenal just may be responsible for the proverbial “old person smell.” As we age, our skin’s natural antioxidant properties deteriorate, causing lipids in our sebaceous glands to oxidize more easily and produce nonenal. Nonenal is characterized by a greasy, dusty and grassy smell, or what the Japanese call, “karei-shu.”

Asia’s growing cosmetics and personal care market has led many F&F companies to expand into the region to improve product development. Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido and Japanese F&F house Takasago teamed up to develop technology to eliminate body malodor caused by nonenal.  

Mirai Clinical, for example, may just be ahead of the trend with their persimmon extract soap bar. Not just a popular flavor trend, persimmon is loaded with powerful antiseptic properties and vitamins to naturally deodorize and dissolve nonenal. The company explains that conventional soap bars simply don’t do the trick to eliminate nonenal's components.

Reaching a New (Non-Millennial) Consumer

With the presence of karei-shu in the fragrance realm, this could be an opportunity for the industry to reach aging consumers outside of the Asian market who are looking for more than just a change in their diets in order to smell pleasant.

As consumers continue demanding transparency and natural ingredients in products, companies can use this knowledge to develop malodor technologies to improve the expanding cosmetic actives sector.

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