Lycopene, carotenoids, skin resilience, and a very good late-summer tomato sauce

If you’ve opened a bottle of Batch 110 RENEW, you may have noticed that it is particularly red.

That color is not decorative. It comes from the functional plant compounds in the formula — namely carotenoids.

Carotenoids are a family of naturally occurring pigments responsible for many of the reds, oranges, and yellows we see in fruits, vegetables, flowers, and algae. Think tomatoes, carrots, sea buckthorn, peppers, and microalgae.

Plants do not make these pigments simply to look beautiful. Carotenoids participate in photosynthesis and help protect plant tissues from excess light and oxidative stress. That protective chemistry is one of the reasons they are so interesting to us in skincare.

What carotenoids do

Oxidative stress occurs when reactive molecules, including free radicals, exceed the systems available to neutralize them. In skin, UV exposure and other environmental stressors can contribute to the formation of reactive oxygen species, which can affect lipids, proteins, DNA, and components of the extracellular matrix.

Carotenoids are particularly interesting because they can help quench reactive oxygen species and participate in the skin’s broader antioxidant defense network. Research into dietary carotenoids such as lycopene and beta-carotene has shown effects on the skin’s response to UV-associated oxidative stress, although they are, of course, not substitutes for sunscreen.

A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis of human intervention trials found that tomato- and lycopene-rich interventions were associated with improvements in several markers related to UV-induced skin damage, including erythema and some measures of skin structure.

This particular research is largely on dietary lycopene rather than topical application, so it is important not to conflate the two. But it gives us a compelling window into the biological activity of this particular pigment.

The carotenoids in RENEW

RENEW contains several naturally carotenoid-rich ingredients.

Tomato-derived lycopene provides the deep red pigment that inspired this whole conversation. Lycopene is one of the dominant carotenoids in tomatoes and is particularly effective at quenching singlet oxygen, a reactive species generated during photooxidative stress.

Carrot extract brings carotenoid chemistry of its own, most notably beta-carotene and related pigments responsible for carrots’ characteristic orange color.

And then there is astaxanthin, derived from Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae. Astaxanthin is another intensely pigmented carotenoid — red rather than orange — and one of the reasons a carotenoid-rich formula can have such extraordinary visual intensity.

This is also why I resist making our formulas aesthetically neutral simply for the sake of uniformity.

RENEW is a very clear expression of the LINNÉ formulation philosophy: whenever possible, we want ingredients in a form that retains as much of their naturally occurring chemistry as is appropriate for the formula.

No bleaching the personality out of the plants.

Why tomatoes are such an interesting source of lycopene

Tomatoes are one of our best-known dietary sources of lycopene, but there is an interesting twist: lycopene can actually become more bioavailable after processing and cooking.

In raw tomato tissue, lycopene is held within the plant’s cellular matrix. Heat and processing can disrupt that matrix, making the carotenoid easier for the body to access. Lycopene is also fat-soluble, so eating tomatoes with a source of fat can improve absorption.

One small human trial compared cooked tomatoes eaten with or without olive oil. After five days, the group eating tomatoes cooked with olive oil showed substantially greater increases in circulating lycopene.

Which is excellent scientific justification for something we were all going to enjoy anyway: cook tomatoes in plenty of olive oil.

Another randomized controlled trial had participants eat tomato paste providing 16 mg of lycopene in olive oil daily for 12 weeks. Researchers observed differences in several measures of UV-associated skin response compared with the olive-oil-only control group.

Again, this is nutritional research — not evidence that eating tomato sauce replaces topical skincare or sunscreen. I simply love that the same plant chemistry we find so interesting in the lab is also sitting on the kitchen counter at this time of year.

A Very Simple Fresh Tomato Sauce

This is less of a formal recipe than something I make repeatedly while tomatoes still taste like tomatoes.

You’ll need:

2 overflowing pints of small, ripe tomatoes — Sweet Prince, Sungold, grape, or whatever looks best; the sweeter the better
1 med-large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, interior sprouts removed
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil — I’m using Oracle
Maldon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A generous handful of fresh basil
A pinch of red pepper flakes, optional

Warm the olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the onion with a good pinch of salt and cook for about 6–8 minutes, until soft and translucent but not browned.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, if using, and cook for another minute or so, until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes. I usually leave the small ones whole and halve anything larger. Season with salt and pepper and cook for roughly 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to collapse and their juices mingle with the olive oil.

Press a few with the back of a wooden spoon, but leave others intact. You want sauce, not purée.

Turn off the heat and tear in plenty of fresh basil.

Toss with pasta and a little pasta water, spoon over grilled bread, serve alongside fish, or eat it directly from the pot ;)

Keep the skins. Drink the olive oil. Keep it simple.

Tomato season may be fleeting, but thankfully lycopene has more than one way of finding its way into my daily ritual.

RENEW for the bathroom. Sauce for the kitchen.

May you enjoy both in good health. 
xo,

Jenna