Healthy looking skin is a quest for many people to achieve. There is a mountain of information which can be confusing and very overwhelming. The truth is its quite simple; rejuvenate the skin topically and feed the skin internally.
The important fact is that skin turns over every 28 days so we must give the skin time to rejuvenate. So the first thing off the list is an instant, fast acting skincare product that give you the complexion you want. The problem is that the effects aren’t long lasting and with time consistent use of the product wont actually improve the health of your skin.
A more effective approach is to feed the skin it needs based on what the symptoms and signs are. Herbal extracts are a wonderful package of goodness that delivers all the essential nutrients straight to the epidermis of the skin. Nature provides all the vitamins and additional nutrients for the utilisation and absorption of the necessary vitamins for the body to use. Science doesn’t have all this data at hand, so leaving the answers to natural extracts is the best way to go.
Despite the condition of your skin, the objective should always be to focus on a healthy skin barrier. This will support the skin’s basic functionality to keep your skin healthy but also to protect your inner health from nasty pathogens in our environment.
When looking at Pro-Age formulations extracts such as White Peony, Rehmannia, Angelica Sinensis and Zizyphus all act to hydrate and moisturise the skin to improve its natural ability to heal.
For sensitive skin, the focus on repairing the damaged skin barrier is even more important as the broken skin is allowing larger molecules to enter straight into the bloodstream. This is what initiates a reaction of redness and irritation on the skin. Ingredients essential for this skin type include:
Avocado Oil – a great source of enrichment for dry, damaged and chapped skin as it has scientifically proven to replenish the skin barrier.
Borage Oil – high concentrations of essential fatty acids makes borage oils important in the rejuvenation of skin issues where the healthy skin barrier is affected. Trials have shown that children with dermatitis, had a decrease in dermatitis without the presence of any side effects.
Baobab Oil – is rich in omega 3 making baobab oil effective to restore hydration in the skin, promotes the skin’s natural ability to heal, reduce inflammation, and assist with promoting elasticity in the skin. A great all-rounder for the supplementation of skin concerns such as eczema and psoriasis.
Calendula Extract – is an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial plant that is able to calm and sooth irritated skin. By relieving redness in the skin, Calendula has shown positive effects for eczema, psoriasis and acne.
Jojoba oil – due to its high content of wax esters, jojoba oil is a great repair option for people with altered skin barriers such as in eczema, dermatitis, acne and psoriasis. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect on the skin, so furthering its positive effect on problematic skin.
Psoriasis and eczema need extracts and healing oils more focused on reducing redness and inflammation in the skin. These ingredients include:
Kokum butter – a non-comedogenic butter that has powerful moisturising effects on the skin while having anti-inflammatory properties to assist with helping ease common skin issues.
Kukui Nut Oil – a potent moisturising effect on the skin to lock in moisture and assist with relieving dry skin, anti-bacterial and anti-anti-inflammatory effects as well as encouraging wound healing.
Tamanu oil – is highly anti-bacterial and wound healing so is beneficial for acne and acne scarring. It also contains anti-oxidants and deeply moisturising effect makes is useful for the mature and sun damaged skin. Finally, its anti-inflammatory effect has seen it to be beneficial for eczema and psoriasis.
Pumpkin Seed Oil – contains anti-oxidants, vitamin C and Zinc which has been shown to make the skin look fuller as these nutrients are involved in the production of collagen and elastin. It also has the ability to moisturise the skin due to the essential fatty acids in the oil.
Finally, the health of our body is directly affected by the food we eat.
Check out our article on which inflammatory foods should be avoided to help the healthy rejuvenation of your skin.
About the Author
Dr. Prantalos (chinese medicine) has dedicated her life to skin health after suffering from debilitating psoriasis for most of her childhood and young adult life. She helps hundreds of people to manage their skin issues at her practice and skin clinic in Surrey Hills, Victoria and online at https://salubre.com.au/
