9 Natural Ingredients to Look For In Your Skin Care
High quality skincare ingredients usually come with an eye-watering price tag – whether it’s pricey serums, youth-enhancing moisturizers or deep cleaning oil cleansers. No longer are we just content with packing skincare with easy to find ingredients, brands are now sourcing more weird and wonderful ingredients that will work wonders on our faces, and keep us safe too.
If you haven’t noticed the boom in natural ingredients in skin care, you’ve probably been living under a very large rock. Companies big and small are moving towards building a brand around sustainable, natural ingredients and the results are unlike anything you’d ever see from a chemical filled drug store brand.
Min Jun Lee is the founder and formulator behind Saranghae, a 5 Step Anti Aging system. Inspired by the infamous Korean skin routine, she made it her mission to build a brand around products formulated with natural botanicals that will not only work, but are safe to use and can benefit almost any skin type. Min sat down with us to talk about her favorite ingredients and why you should be looking for some if not all of these the next time you purchase skincare products.
Wild Evening Primrose:
Wild Evening Primrose is a powerful anti-inflammatory that’s been used for centuries to hydrate and repair inflamed and damaged skin. It is an incredible source for Linoleic acid, a fatty acid essential for maintaining healthy skin.
Green Tea:
Green Tea is so rich in anti-inflammatory and anti-aging antioxidants that Koreans have been using Green Tea for over 500 years to both maintain and protect healthy and youthful skin. The polyphenols in Green Tea inhibit the formation of free radicals that cause skin at the cellular level.
Apricot:
Described by experts as one of the world’s healthiest foods, Apricot is rare ingredient in North American skin care. The reason is that Apricots need specific conditions to thrive such as nutrient rich volcanic soil and thus are considered a luxury ingredient. The pure essence of Apricot is an antioxidant so rich in Vitamin A that they have been documented to protect the skin from poisonous free radicals that prematurely age and deteriorate your skin.
Safflower:
Safflower known as the oldest medicinal herb, dates back to the age of the ancient Egyptians who used Safflower to treat skin conditions such as Eczema, Rosacea and Acne. The essence of Safflower boasts an impressive amount of Omega 6 fatty acid which supports the skin’s healing and protective process.
Rose Hip Oil:
The anti-aging benefits of Rose Hip Oil comes from its abundant supply of anti-oxidants and Vitamins A, C and E. These critical elements stimulates cellular regeneration deep underneath the dermal layer, stimulates collagen and elastin production which greatly reduces fine and wrinkles.
Sunflower:
Coconut oil may be hogging the beauty spotlight at the moment but a new study in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science found that sunflower seed oil may actually be better for anti-aging. The results of our own trials have shown that sunflower oil greatly outperforms coconut oil. You will definitely see more and more sunflower oil on store shelves in the coming years. Clinical trials show that sunflower seed oil significantly reduces skin irritation and improves skin hydration by accelerating the production of ceramides (a key component of healthy skin cells). In other words, sunflower oil equals softer, smoother and healthier skin.
Edelweiss Flower:
The Noble and pure white flower called the Edelweiss contains powerful regenerative and protective agents such as Vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, Chlorogenic acid and Luteolin. The ancient Europeans used the Edelweiss flower to protect against UV sun damage because of its UV light absorbing characteristics. Edelweiss is a super flower that nourishes and protects the skin from the inside out and an ingredient that many North American brands rarely use.
Witch Hazel:
The American Indians knew the power of Witch Hazel. It’s been pressed, boiled and steamed for usage for hundreds of years. Witch Hazel’s unique ability shrink blood vessels and tighten pores makes in incredibly effective for treating inflammation, puffiness, discoloration and sun damage. It’s also an incredible healing agent. It accelerates the skin’s own healing for bruised and damaged skin by increasing blood flow around the skin’s surface thus dispersing any blood that pools or clots.
Chamomile:
Do you enjoy a little chamomile tea before bedtime? If so, then you are one of millions of Americans who use Chamomile to sooth and encourage restful sleep. You’ve probably guessed that Chamomile is also an amazing soothing agent for the skin. It contains powerful anti-oxidants that protect the skin from free radicals and helps slow down skin’s aging process. It also boosts your skin’s immune system encouraging it to be stronger and more resilient to damage, infections and inflammations.