Silk creams gliding over to Europe

The cosmetics industry's shift of focus towards natural ingredients has provided opportunities for developers of alternative products to emerge. The New Silk Road has tapped into this trend, providing silk-based cosmetics and beauty care products through its private label line of cosmetics, Miriam Gayle and Essence of Silk, first in America and soon in Europe.

The New Silk Road has been providing silk products to North America for over 10 years, during which time the company claims it recognised that silk's essential qualities were a perfect fit for the cosmetics industry.

Robert Averill, director at The New Silk Road told CosmeticsDesign.com​ that discussions are currently underway with potential distributors to bring its products to the UK and eventually Europe, although he was unable to reveal any names at this point.

"With the worldwide trend towards healthy and natural products increasing, we saw that we are well positioned with our silk-based products,"​ said Averill. "Silk has been around for thousands of years. It's an exciting ingredient that fulfills market demand,"​ he added.

Silk is reputedly delicate to work with and processing requires care, but Averill says it is worth the effort as "silk is almost universally known and recognised as a natural ingredient, and, similar to other natural elements, it can not be duplicated by chemistry."​

There are 18 amino acids in silk, of which glycine, alanine, serine and tyrosine are key components. According to Averill it is these acids that make silk a natural moisturiser which is readily absorbed into the skin.

The company asserts that due to its ultra-violet ray-reflecting properties silk can be used to relieve minor burn redness and pain, without leaving the skin oily or greasy. It can also act as a natural anti-allergenic and anti-microbal, which, The New Silk Road suggests, makes it ideal for use as a natural oral care ingredient.

Although Averill confirmed that no clinical trials had been performed to date, he added that silk's properties were widely known as one of the oldest used cosmetics around and that, to date, the company felt testimonials were sufficiently good proof of the product's effects.

With facilities in Massachusetts, Quebec and Vermont, The New Silk Road currently has a manufacturing and marketing partnership with ServiGlobe International Manufacturing, which it says has facilitated the distribution of their products throughout North America.

For further details contact contact​ Robert Averill.