Topically applied products meant for localized fat loss of problem areas have been on the market for a few years now. These products contain lipolytic ingredients such as yohimbine hydrochloride, aminophylline, and forskolin. The intention of these products is to deliver the active ingredients through the skin and into the subcutaneous adipose tissue, where they will then act to break down and remove the fat (a process called “lipolysis”).

While somewhat effective, these products suffer from some insufficiencies that prevent the formulations from exhibiting their full potential. I will present to you what these insufficiencies are, and also the solutions to these insufficiencies – solutions that ErgoPharm has now incorporated into Skulpt.

Here I present to you a little chemistry lesson. The topic of this lesson is the properties of a class of compounds called alkaloids. Alkaloids are natural compounds from plants that contain a basic (as in alkaline) nitrogen atom in their chemical structure. Examples of alkaloids are:


 

In nature, alkaloids exist in their “free base” form. However, since alkaloids contain basic nitrogen atoms, they can also form crystalline salts with acids such as hydrochloric acid. For instance, the addition of hydrochloric acid to ephedrine gives ephedrine hydrochloride


 

Alkaloid acid salts (such as hydrochloride) are usually the preferred form of alkaloids that people deal with because they are usually high melting, stable, and crystalline – as opposed to the free bases which are often low melting, somewhat unstable, and often semi-solid (sometimes even liquid).

The hydrochloride salts are also quite water soluble, as opposed to the free bases that have very poor water solubility – but high lipid solubility. This high water solubility is often a big advantage for pharmacists and chemists under certain circumstances, however for the purposes of transport through the skin (as in a topical spray) this high water solubility and low lipid solubility is not desirable.

Why is this? Simple – the barrier layer of the skin (stratum corneum) is composed of dead skin cells surrounded by channels comprised primarily of lipids. Obviously we want something that can dissolve through these lipid channels and penetrate this natural barrier. Hydrochloride salts cannot do this well, free bases can.

It is for this reason that the alkaloid content of Skulpt – which includes yohimbine and octopamine – are present within the formula in free base form. Mind you, this is not an easy thing to do. Yohimbine is notoriously unstable in the free base form. ErgoPharm had to conduct extensive research into finding a formula that would allow the free base yohimbine to exist with a reasonable shelf life. Fortunately we were successful, and the end result is the premier topical fat loss formula — Skulpt.


 

A topical fat loss formula can have the best active ingredients at the best ratios yet if the vehicle it is delivered in is not able to assist in their penetration through the skin and into the subcutaneous fat then the product will be a failure.

The use of penetration enhancers such as IPM, Azone, and salicylic acid can be used (alone or in combination) to enhance the diffusion of active lipolytic compounds through the skin. While effective, none of these enhancers are as potent as the gold standard of penetration enhancers – dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO).

So why don’t people just use DMSO in their formulas? There are a couple of good reasons for this. Standard DMSO is quite irritating to the skin (especially in high concentrations). Its continued use often leads to irritation, rashes, and skin peeling. Another compelling reason not to use DMSO is its awful smell and taste. DMSO has a somewhat foul garlicky odor, but not only that, after rubbing it on your skin it quickly penetrates into your blood and travels to your lungs and mouth where it leads to the dreaded “DMSO breath”. These are not things most people are willing to put up with.

Interestingly enough, it actually is not the DMSO itself that is responsible for these nasty effects; it is impurities present in the DMSO – foul smelling and caustic sulfur containing compounds that exist in very small concentrations. Pure DMSO is actually odorless and tasteless!!

The problem is it is also extraordinarily expensive. Pure DMSO (DMSO USP) costs 20 times as much as regular DMSO!! It is worth it however; as it makes a topical formula extraordinarily effective, while simultaneously being free of excessive irritation, foul odor, and bad breath related problems. ErgoPharm uses DMSO USP in Skulpt, and it is in fact the most expensive single component of the whole product!! We had to put it in there though, because we were determined to make the best product regardless of cost. We also are well aware that our consumers are intelligent people, and they understand that there is truth to the old adage “you get what you pay for”

Anti Gyno!!

In addition to ingredients designed to enhance localized fat loss, ErgoPharm decided to also include an effective amount of a combination of potent aromatase inhibitors — 6-OXO and 4-hydroxyandrostenedione — in the Skulpt formula.

In males and post-menopausal females, the main site of estrogen formation (aromatization) occurs in the adipose tissue. With this fact in mind, ErgoPharm decided that it would make sense to include an aromatase inhibition component to Skulpt. By including this we not only attack the subcutaneous fat, but we also attack the main site of estrogen formation in the body. The end result is a reduction in the level of subcutaneous fat coupled with a positive effect on the body’s endocrinological balance.

The inclusion of the estrogen suppression complex also opens up a whole new use for Skulpt as an “anti-gyno” tool. It is aromatization in the breast area that is responsible for the formation of the ugly and dreaded bitch tits. This growth of the breast tissue in men can occur naturally, however it is most common in men using anabolic steroids, or certain prohormone products.

The use of Skulpt applied to the lower pectoral region can deliver estrogen suppressing ingredients directly to the breast glands and surrounding estrogen sensitive fatty tissue. The result is a substantial increase in the leanness of the area, and a very noticeable improvement in the definition of the lower and outer pectorals.