A delivery method or system is simply how a product gets distributed in the skin once on and how it makes it to the receptors, or cells, in the skin where it’s able to perform its intended function. 

If a product does not have an effective delivery system, it will sit atop the skin—rendering the active ingredients somewhat useless. Take, for example, the curious case of hyaluronic acid, says Otsuki. 

“A really, really great example of this is all of the hype around hyaluronic acid products. We’ve been teaching consumers that HA is a great thing for your skin. But HA is also incredibly polar, which means it’s repelled by your skin,” she says. “So many of these HA products that are out there are great at creating surface hydration, but they aren’t getting to the place in the skin where the problem is actually occurring, which is inside the layers of the skin.”

There are a few types of delivery systems available, some more sophisticated than others. For example, microneedling is a type of delivery method, albeit a physical one.

As Otsuki explains, in the case of biotech options it can come down to the polarization of the ingredients and formula: “All molecules have a positive or negative charge to them, and we have to put the right charge balance with them in order to make a formula that will literally just melt into your skin,” she says. 

If this all sounds very technical, it is. But that’s what makes these new advancements in biotechnology so exciting—they’re bringing a level of efficacy to the beauty industry we’ve yet to see before. 

For more intel on how biotechnology is shaking up the beauty space, tune in here.