Beverage Startups
Skincare Starts With A Sip of Gold Collagen
Nowadays, health and beauty is of great importance in our modern society. People are becoming more and more concerned about taking care of their bodies, which has lead to a major increase in the consumption of products that help to restore and maintain beautiful skin, hair and nails. The success of MINERVA Research Labs’ products has created a new market category – “liquid beauty supplements”. Today I have the pleasure to speak to Tony Sanguinetti, Founder and Managing Director of MINERVA Research Labs Ltd.
Your business values science and research. What inspired you to start this business? How did the idea of creating beverages come to mind?
Everything started with a trip to Japan back in 2009. I became fascinated by the reverence Japanese women had for beauty as an art. In particular, I noticed that a holistic skincare approach was key to their youthful appearance and that their diet was an essential part of their daily beauty regimes. This inspired me to develop a line of products for the Western market, that encompasses the Japanese approach to youthful radiant skin.
The main ingredient in your products is collagen. What are the main benefits of this element?
The main ingredient of our product is hydrolysed collagen. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body and provides structural support for skin and other connective tissues like joints, ligaments and muscles. Collagen is responsible for the skin’s strength and resilience as well as the smooth, plump appearance of young healthy skin. Produced by special cells called fibroblasts that are found in the lower layer of the skin called the dermis, collagen production occurs continuously throughout our lives. However, with time collagen levels start to decline – there is a drop in production and an increase in degradation. The collagen’s structure becomes more fragile and brittle leading to a weakening of the skin’s structural support. The skin loses volume and firmness; it starts to thin and wrinkles begin to appear.
The hydrolysed collagen contained in our product is derived from Tilapia fish. It is treated to reduce its molecular weight by approximately 100 times and as a result the hydrolysed collagen (or bioactive collagen peptides) are small enough to be absorbed in the small intestine into the blood stream to be delivered across the body.
Once in the dermis the bioactive collagen peptides have a dual benefit: they provide the building blocks for the production for new collagen 2) plus it has recently been scientifically proven that they reactivate fibroblast proliferation which in turn increases collagen production.
What are the functions of your beauty supplement? In which way is it better than a lotion or serum?
GOLD COLLAGEN® products are liquid beauty supplements, a new generation skincare solution based on a unique blend of active ingredients such as bioactive collagen peptides and hyaluronic acid, chosen for their anti-ageing benefits. Our European Patented complex has been specifically developed to deliver a potent dose of bioactive collagen peptides together several other vitamins, minerals and active ingredients to the dermis. The advanced formulation and the liquid characteristics allow maximum absorption and availability. Once transported to the dermis the active ingredients (as mentioned) reactivate fibroblast proliferation hence combating the ageing process and helping maintain healthy skin, hair and nails by enhancing natural collagen production and increasing skin hydration as well as elasticity.
In summary the function of our beauty supplement is to provide the body with vital active ingredients in a convenient and effective drink to supplement our own diet and enhance the development of the healthy, more youthful skin, hair and nails. GOLD COLLAGEN® is the perfect complement to creams and serums which act on the outer layer of the skin (epidermis); GOLD COLLAGEN® products actually reach the dermis and work from within helping the body to form new collagen structures to nourish and rejuvenate for youthful and beautiful skin.
Is drinking Gold Collagen enough to have flawless skin, hair and nails? Are there any other relevant factors? Do you have any suggestions for those who struggle with their skin condition?
The beneficial effects of our products have been proven in several clinical studies. For example, the daily consumption of GOLD COLLAGEN® has been proven to increase skin hydration (+12% in 3 weeks), reduce the appearance of wrinkles (-27% in 6 weeks) and improve skin suppleness (+20% in 9 weeks). In studies, consumers also reported an increase in skin radiance (72% agree) and smoothness (76% agree) with 89% saying that they would recommend the product to a friend.
Flawless skin, hair and nails depend on many factors, including our own genes, exposure to UVA light, pollution, stress, smoke and ultimately diet. However, factors like genetics, lifestyle, diet, prolonged exposure to the sun, and smoking also affect our skin. Along with drinking GOLD COLLAGEN® products, women and men, particularly those over 35, need to pursue a healthy lifestyle. Several customers have additionally reported improvements to certain skin conditions such as eczema and acne when taking GOLD COLLAGEN, however we advise all our customers to contact their physician to discuss their specific condition and address them with suitable treatments which may or may not include GOLD COLLAGEN®.
Beauty is becoming more and more important to our modern society. How would you describe the significance of this feature? What is beauty to you?
To me beauty is about harmony. The criteria for judging beauty have recently been evolving to reflect specific cultures, roles in society and personalities. In an ever fast moving and fully digitalised society, appearance is definitely becoming a more important factor when one has to form an opinion about another person.
Many people say that nowadays, the view on beauty has become distorted. Do you agree with this statement? If not, why?
I cannot agree that the view of beauty has become distorted. Beauty is subjective and is influenced by and evolves with time, culture and society. Whatever beauty may have meant at any point in time, from thousands of years ago to the future, it will always reflect its current time even if not aligned with older views of beauty.
Tony Sanguinetti, Founder of MINERVA Research Labs Ltd.
It seems like your products are mostly oriented towards customers who are women. Are only women interested in these kinds of products? What about men? What is their perspective on health and beauty?
Perhaps, yes, woman can spend much more time and money looking after their skin, hair and nails. However, men are becoming more and more aware of their skin appearance. There is a growing demand for products addressing such men’s needs. A growing number of men are using skincare treatments to maintain their appearance and protect their skin; therefore, a reasonable number of our customers are men. They particularly enjoy our product ACTIVE GOLD COLLAGEN created for men and women with an active and busy lifestyle. According to Technavio latest research an ever increasing number of men are investing in skin care products such as anti-aging, sun protection, and anti-wrinkle products. For example, more than 40% of men in the UK, use facial moisturizers according to the Technavio report. As mentioned, from an analysis of our customer base we notice that more and more men start their day with a sip of Gold Collagen®.
At the moment, your product line is dedicated to skin, hair and nail care. Do you plan on extending your product range? If so, what sort of products would you like to produce?
I’m very proud of the success of our products which has created a new market category – “liquid beauty supplements”. The key values of MINERVA Research Labs’ products are: 1) innovative; 2) efficacious; 3) based on the best quality ingredients; 4) produced with best available technology and 5) clinically tested. We collaborate with several Universities in the UK and Italy to develop the most efficacious formulation and measure accurately the benefits provided by the new products. At present we have several new product concepts in the pipeline. All product concepts undergo a thorough scientific analysis before they are launched. Until our pipeline products have been demonstrated to satisfy our strict testing procedure it is difficult to say which one will make it into the market.
Where do you see Gold Collagen in 10 years? Do you think that as time passes by, more and more people will be interested in health care and beauty? Do you think that market trends will change? If so, how?
MINERVA’s vision is to become a reference brand with a range of high quality, innovative products addressing beauty, anti-ageing and well-being. The future is very bright for MINERVA, as the global skincare products market is expected to grow significantly. With the rise of an ageing population and an increase in appearance consciousness, I feel that the current trends will continue to drive the market.
For more information visit Gold Collagen.
