melnee "Melting Needle" Skincare That Overcomes the Pain Problem: Ingredient Design and Performance

Although awareness of needle cosmetics has grown considerably, a survey released by CosMED Pharmaceutical found that while awareness has reached 100%, only about 19% of people actually use them continuously. About 73% of users said they were worried that the products "look painful or seem too irritating," revealing this as a major reason people skip or stop using them.

Until now, mainstream needle skincare has used ingredients such as hydrolyzed sponge (spicules) and silica. Because their main components, such as silicon, have a structure similar to glass, they do not dissolve in the moisture inside the skin. While they can be expected to stimulate the skin through mild physical inflammation, they also carried the following risks and concerns raised by Kazunosuke:

• Even if needles stuck in the surface are washed off during cleansing, needle-shaped material remaining in the stratum corneum may be recognized as a foreign body, potentially triggering allergic reactions or inflammation in sensitive or atopy-prone skin.
• The irritation from the needles piercing the skin is itself strong, and many people cannot tolerate the pain during use.

Because of these trade-offs, Kazunosuke says they had previously refrained from actively recommending needle skincare in general.

melnee was created by CosMED Pharmaceutical, a company based in Kyoto. Around 2007, the company developed the world's first "hyaluronic acid needle patch" for application around the eyes and other areas, making it the originator of the technology. However, conventional hyaluronic acid needles had the following structural limitations:

1. Insufficient strength and hygroscopicity: Because hyaluronic acid sets into a gel, it lacks strength as a needle and becomes soft and pliable like a gummy. It also quickly softens by absorbing moisture from the air and the skin's surface, making it difficult to maintain a consistent shape and reach deeper layers.
2. Limited product formats: When blended into water-rich serums or creams, the needles dissolve and disappear before use, making it extremely difficult to apply the technology to any format other than sheet patches.

To solve these problems, the company announced the "taurine crystal microneedle" in 2024. Using a technology that processes taurine, which has an aminosulfonic acid structure similar to amino acids, into needle-shaped crystals, the company succeeded in achieving both greater sharpness than hyaluronic acid and moderate resistance to dissolution. The taurine needles have been shown to have the following features and functions:

• Safety through dissolving inside the skin: After piercing the skin, the needles gradually dissolve and penetrate upon contact with moisture inside the skin, so they do not remain in the body as a foreign substance.
• Beauty benefits of taurine itself: Taurine has anti-inflammatory effects, strengthens tight junctions, improves barrier function, and offers high moisturizing properties.
• Clinical data: In a penetration test of taurine needles encapsulating hyaluronic acid, data showed improved moisturization as well as a 12.5% to 14.1% improvement in wrinkle reduction.

Here we examine the formulation design of the flagship serum and cream in the melnee lineup.

Each bottle contains more than 20 million melting needles. The base consists of glycerin and propanediol, and since taurine is listed quite high in the full ingredient list, it is presumed to be included at a high concentration of 1% or more. A wide variety of other beauty ingredients are also included:

• Moisturizing and barrier ingredients: Glycosphingolipids (ceramide analogs), ceramide NP (human-identical ceramide), sodium hyaluronate, ectoin, sodium PCA.
• Vitamin C and E derivatives: 3-laurylglyceryl ascorbate, potassium ascorbyl tocopheryl phosphate, ascorbyl glucoside, tocopheryl acetate.
• Anti-roughness and skin-conditioning ingredients: Niacinamide, dipotassium glycyrrhizate, panthenol, potassium azeloyl diglycinate (an azelaic acid derivative), Centella asiatica extract (CICA).
• Peptides and PDRN: Sodium DNA (rose PDRN). This is a high-molecular-weight ingredient once known from treatments such as salmon injections, and the needles are expected to enhance its penetration. The serum's pink color is presumed to be inspired by the image of salmon PDRN.

An intensive care cream containing more than 13.5 million needles per jar. The base ingredients are BG, dimethicone, and glycerin, with jojoba seed oil and caprylic/capric triglyceride included as ester oils to protect the skin's surface. Like the serum, it also covers ingredients such as Pellicer (sodium dilauramidoglutamide lysine), various vitamin derivatives, niacinamide, ceramide NP, and sodium DNA.

When actually applied to the skin, the texture is clearly different from conventional spicule-based cosmetics.

• Minimal pain: Pressing firmly produces only a slight prickle, and there is none of the intense irritation of conventional needle cosmetics or strong pain when rubbing.
• Physical graininess: Sliding the serum across the skin with a finger produces a fine, silky-smooth texture, like gliding very fine sand or powder.
• Visible crystals: When exposed to light, tiny sparkling particles can be seen. Since no shimmering powders such as mica are included, it has been confirmed that these are the taurine needle crystals themselves.
• Finish: Because the base contains glycerin, it leaves a highly moisturizing, slightly tacky finish that clings to the skin. The texture is well suited to anti-aging care aimed at improving wrinkles and skin firmness.

The lineup also includes the "Positive Skin Mask," which contains 100 million taurine needles per sheet (available in two types: a hydrating "shiratama" type with glutathione and a rich moisturizing type with niacinamide, each priced at 330 yen per sheet). A higher-end version containing 200 million needles has also been released, but based on Kazunosuke's experience trying them, the rough, foreign-body sensation on the skin's surface becomes quite pronounced at the 100-million level, so the serum (Skin Serum) with 20 million needles is rated as offering the best balance for daily use.

In contrast to the conventional wisdom of needle cosmetics, which meant "accepting the risk of residual foreign matter in exchange for stimulation," taurine needles, which are made of a beauty ingredient themselves and dissolve and disappear inside the skin, can be called a groundbreaking technology that greatly reduces the downsides. While the current formulations focus mainly on basic care, further development in the skincare market is expected, such as formulations combining the needles with potent brightening and anti-aging ingredients like vitamin C, retinol, and tranexamic acid.