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A Snells Beach inventor is aiming to revolutionise the sunscreen market and a range of medical products through the use of a special gel and natural plant products.
Dr Alistair Lane was gifted the formula for the gel from friend Graeme Robertson, who attends the same Vineyard Church in Snells Beach.
The gel is anhydrous, meaning it contains no water and is naturally absorbed into the skin; whereas most skin care products do contain water and are repelled by the skin.
An anhydrous product will stick to the skin even when swimming, whereas water-based sunscreens will tend to wash off.
Mr Robertson previously created a sunscreen from the gel and has also demonstrated its uses in curing wounds and severe burns.
Alistair decided to develop the sunscreen further by reducing the synthetic chemicals from Graeme’s original sunscreen product and instead loading it with natural plant oils and plant butters.
Alistair’s interest was spurred because his 12-year-old son, Aidan, is extremely sensitive to synthetic chemicals used in skin products and by a growing realisation of the healing powers of plants.
“I began to realise that there’s this massive field out there of plant-based fighter chemicals that have incredible healing properties and could be used for all sorts of things,” he says.
Alistair has a PhD, specialising in quantum physics, but had to “dredge up from his memory” all his earlier studies in chemistry to get started.
He set up a laboratory in his garage using standard chemistry lab equipment, and other tools normally found in a chef’s kitchen, and started perfecting his sunscreen formula.
He admits he had a few disasters at first. One early formulation emerged as a “pool of slop” that nobody would want to use.
But after two years of rigorous research and development, Alistair was able to have his CoSkin sunscreen internationally certified with an SPF 40 rating.
In October, Alistair and his wife Stephanie, began selling the sunscreen online, along with a regenerating moisturiser that also uses the anhydrous gel and plant products.
In addition to being naturally absorbed by the skin, the plant products in the sunscreen serve to combat any ultra violet damage, soften and smooth the skin, and serve as an insect repellent.
Alistair says reaction to the products from people who have tried them has been overwhelmingly positive.
One individual who suffered extreme adverse reactions to regular sunscreens, and was thus prevented from going out in the sun, has had no problems using CoSkin.
Alistair has also had success treating open wounds with the moisturiser and is eager to develop the medical applications further.
“I know that the product we have got has some really potent healing powers,” he says.
For the moment, Alistair will continue his day job as a systems engineer working in Auckland, but will consider devoting all his energies to CoSkin should the products take off.
