Cornflower as a cosmetic ingredient for around the eye

The wild cornflower is known as Centaurea cyanus and although used in eye care skin care products, is not widely used in the cosmetic field, and is also a rather expensive ingredient to use.

Cornflower is used in the following products: Dermaxime Rejuvenating Eye Cream

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• Botanical information on the cornflower 
• Cosmetic properties of the cornflower

Botanical information on the cornflower

It is an annual plant, growing 0.30 and 0.80 meters in height has thin, flexible stems which carry long, narrow, more or less denticulate leaves, deeply split and whitish in color with hairs on the upper surface and down underneath. The higher leaves are sessile, whole and narrow, while the lower leaves are petiolate and split.

The plant's flower is bright blue and blossoms from May to September in great capitula, with bracts embroidered with silver, tuberous cilia. The flowers in the centre are hermaphrodites, while those on the periphery are sterile. The fruit are light achene’s with short, hard, red tufts. Traditionally, the entire plant was used, but today mainly the flowers are used.

The flowers of the cornflower are rich in mineral salts (around 10%), and they also contain pectin and a bitter ingredient. The most noteworthy components of the plant are the polyphenols: flavonoids and anthocyanins.

The flowers contain a colorant, cyanin, which is a diglycoside of cyanidin. A blue pigment has also been isolated, cyanocentaurin, which appears as an iron complex and is made up of 4 molecules of anthocyan (cyanodol - 3,5 - diglycoside) and 3 molecules of a biflavonol glycoside (methylapigenine and a methyl derivated of vitexin). ^{REF 322}

Cosmetic properties of the cornflower

The flower of the cornflower has appeared in the French Pharmacopoeia since 1884, thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties, and it is used in ophthalmology.

The plant was not used until the middle of the XVI century, which was when its qualities for all kinds of eye complaints were first observed, particularly in cases involving inflammation. In traditional medicine, based on anecdotal proof, a cream to fight eye irritation was also made. ^{REF 191}

The anti-inflammatory qualities of the plant are well documented. ^{REF 321}

The cornflower is also a bitter diuretic and its flowers have often been used in the preparation of infusions.

Due to its anti-inflammatory and slightly astringent properties, cornflower is used in cosmetic preparations for the area of the eyes.