From The Straits Times    |

It may seem like a small issue in the beginning. Several small issues, actually. Your skin doesn’t feel hydrated enough with your usual face moisturiser. You find yourself moisturising your hands before meeting new people. You’ll also notice that your heels are dry – even if you moisturised them in the morning. 

As you get older, dry skin becomes a part of you. On top of that, your skin is also exposed to dryness from urban causes – constant blasts of air-conditioning, damage from ultra-violet rays and blue light, to name a few. In short, dealing with dry skin becomes a way of life. 

A breakthrough in oral skincare

When your skin becomes dry, it means the skin barrier is compromised. Gaps start to appear between skin cells, causing moisture to escape easily, leaving you with dry skin.

You could switch to a richer moisturiser for the face or start moisturising your body regularly. But there is an easier – and more effective – way.  

To give dry skin a helping hand, Japanese cosmetics company ORBIS launches Japan’s first oral skincare: ORBIS DEFENCERA – a breakthrough 10 years in the making. This ingestible skincare is not a supplement. It is skincare that is taken orally. It is also Japan’s first FOSHU-certified skincare (FOSHU stands for Food for Specified Health Uses). Before DEFENCERA, FOSHU-certified products were all health-related, such as cholesterol-reducing products.

DEFENCERA was put through even stricter tests than the usual supplement products, or food with functional claims. Rigorous screening has earned the product certification by the Consumer Affairs Agency of Japan (in other words, the Japanese government), so it is not only safe for consumption, but promotes effective results too.

ORBIS DEFENCERA: How it works


Designed to prevent moisture from evaporating from the skin, DEFENCERA uses a ceramide extracted from brown rice. The ceramide is purportedly highly purified, which means that all known allergens have been removed from it. (Fun fact: One ton of brown rice is needed to extract 1 to 2g of ceramide.)

After you consume the yuzu-flavoured DEFENCERA powder, the ceramides in the formula enter your body, where they are broken down. This process signals the skin to produce more ceramides to help it form a protective layer. Picture ceramides as the mortar and your skin cells as bricks. Ceramides fill in the gaps between skin cells, and hold skin cells and the different skin layers together to form a three-step barrier that helps limit moisture loss, and protect the skin against environmental stressors. 

According to ORBIS, one sachet of DEFENCERA a day offers the same effect as you would expect from applying moisturiser for 24 hours. Since the product is ingested, you don’t just experience the effect on your face, but everywhere on your body too. 

A first-person review  

Photo: ORBIS. L- Before DEFENCERA, R- After 3 months of DEFENCERA (Images taken from a test participant who consumed the product over a continuous three-month period.)

Reviewer: 37-year-old woman with combination-dry skin and mild eczema.

(Disclaimer: ORBIS recommends continuous consumption of the product for at least three months for most visible results. Results may vary among individuals, and ORBIS recommends a balanced diet with sufficient nutrients to complement DEFENCERA.)

Her verdict: “The yuzu-flavoured powder dissolves quickly, like those melt-in-your-mouth sweets. It tastes slightly sweet and is quite yummy – I had to resist having another pack. I like that I didn’t need to dissolve the product in water or juice, although you can do that too, if you prefer. I continued with my usual skincare and body-care routine and took DEFENCERA every day. 

 

On the first day, I didn’t notice any changes to my skin. Then, on the fourth night, as I was sitting in a cold room and rubbing my arms to warm myself, I noticed that my skin felt more supple, like there was a soft veil over it. I was pleasantly surprised – I wasn’t expecting much from this small sachet of powder. 

My face, too, felt moisturised enough that I could make do with using a lightweight moisturiser instead of my usual cream. Some nights, I even got away with using any skincare I liked. 

I have mild eczema, so my skin gets itchy in response to different triggers such as stress and hot weather. However, I noticed that during the testing period of three weeks, while the eczema would still cause my skin to become itchy or red, or both, it didn’t feel as dry as usual. 

After three weeks, my skin all over felt more supple, and smoother than before I started consuming DEFENCERA. I noticed, too, that my elbows were not rough and dry anymore. The dry cracks on my toes are healing on their own without my using a moisturiser on them. And my heels, while they still feel a bit dry, feel less rough.” 

DEFENCERA is available at ORBIS in Takashimaya S.C., on www.orbis.com.sg, Robinsons Raffles City, Metro Causeway Point (M Beauty) and at selected Sasa stores.