Aboutus Mb

Marcin Brynda, PhD

Dr Marcin Brynda studied physical chemistry at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), where he also earned his PhD in 1999. Until 2002, he was employed at the same university as a postdoc and then as a junior faculty member. He also spent over 6 years as a Visiting Lecturer and Faculty Specialist at the University of California at Davis, USA. Dr Brynda co-authored 60 book chapters and publications in top chemical journals, including Science and Nature Materials.
Aboutus Kw

Kamil Wojciechowski, Prof.

Prof. Kamil Wojciechowski earned his PhD in analytical chemistry at the Warsaw University of Technology, WUT (Poland) in 2001. Until 2007, he was employed at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) as a junior faculty member before returning to WUT. He worked in laboratories of University of Twente (Netherlands), Paul Scherrer Insitute (Switzerland), Brookhaven National Labs (USA), and others. He co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters.

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HISTORY

The idea of founding SaponLabs started from a scientific collaboration between two researchers employed at the time at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Geneva in Switzerland. With time, they shifted their scientific interest from pure chemistry towards more complex and fascinating natural products. Dr Marcin Brynda started working on mechanisms of photosynthesis in plants and Prof. Kamil Wojciechowski got fascinated by the world of biosurfactants. Having solid grounds and experience in modern chemistry, they quickly realized that despite an enormous scientific progress, synthetic molecules will never be able to outperform their natural counterparts in cosmetic formulations. With increasing fascination in the complex chemistry of natural products they started to experiment with medicinal and cosmetic formulations of herbal origin. To formalize this collaboration, the SaponLabs company was eventually launched in 2015.

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SAPONARIA OFFICINALIS

Our name, SaponLabs, derives from the Latin name of Soapwort (Saponaria ofiicinalis), a common source of natural detergents widely employed in traditional natural cosmetics. Both the English and Latin names well reflect the soap-like properties of the plant’s extracts, especially its roots. Soapwort has been used for production of home-made skin and hair cosmetics for many generations. Even today, a Soapwort-based shampoo is one of the most popular home-made cosmetic products. The rich in saponins, cosmetically-active fraction can be easily extracted from the plant with the use of hot water. This easily available richness of Soapwort and other saponin-containing plants has greatly inspired us in creating our formulations. Besides several compounds from the saponin group, plants like Soapwort contain numerous other compounds, some responsible for color and smell, some even having unwanted cosmetic activity. At SaponLabs we use our scientific knowledge to extract only the components which are beneficial for cosmetic purposes, not only from Soapwort, but also from many other natural products. For more news about saponins, Soapwort and other plants visit our news section.

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