These days cica has become a buzzword in skincare circles. A derivative of the plant centella asiatica, it’s claimed to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and support the skin’s barrier function.

Repairing, soothing and hydrating; it’s the ideal ingredient for dry, stressed skin.

With no shortage of cica creams and serums on the market, it can be hard to differentiate one product from the next… but it doesn’t need to be! Not all cica products are created equally.

Some products contain more diluted versions of the plant, including centella asiatica water or centella asiatica extract (affordable but not very effective options), whereas others contain more potent clinically-tested isolated fractions – such as asiatic acid, madacassic acid and madecassoside – with the latter being the purest and powerful.

The majority of the products on the market contain diluted, generic plant extract in their formulas.

In contrast, Swissline, a western skincare pioneer in the use of madecassoside has been incorporating it into its Cell Shock Age Intelligence formulas since 2006, when it was a patented ingredient from Bayer.

Initally, these products were intended to be used following aesthetic procedures, such as Botox, to calm inflammation. Now, they’re offered as part of an everyday skincare routine.

Standing out from the crowd

Custodio d’Avo, international brand director for Swissline, coined the phrase luxury cica in an effort to further differentiate the brand’s cica offering.

“Luxury cica takes cicatrisation (the activation of cellular repair to address scarring, etc) to the core of our formulas and dresses it in sexy and sophisticated textures, blended with peptides that can boost cellular production as well as ATP, NMF and Ectoin,” he says.

Two of Swissline’s most popular luxury cica serums are Recovery Serum and Essential Serum.