The Best Ingredients to Look for in Natural Skincare

Natural skincare products may be safer and more effective than the conventional items created by major cosmetic companies.  Here’s a look at some naturally occurring compounds and what they can do for your skin’s health and appearance.

Vitamin B5, also known as D-Panthenol, is present in many foods in small quantities.  It is an essential nutrient.  A deficiency in the diet can cause many symptoms.  Those that are visible include skin lesions and problems with the hair.

The vitamin is necessary for the body to make structural proteins from amino acids.  The skin’s cells and fibers are composed of those structural proteins.

So, skin creams enriched with vitamin B5 support the skin’s cell renewal process, which would speed healing.  Anti-aging benefits (fewer wrinkles, improved texture) would be seen as well.Maracuja is an extract derived from passion fruits.  It is an emollient, which is a substance that softens and soothes the skin.  It is particularly beneficial for combination complexion types, because it helps to balance sebum production.

Sebum is the oil produced by the human body.  Excessive sebum production is a cause of oily skin.  Deficient production and stripping sebum away are causes of dryness.

Seaweed is an ingredient found in many natural skincare products.  There are a number of seaweed varieties.  One of the most nourishing is wakame.

Wakame contains many of the B vitamins, as well as minerals like sodium and calcium.  These nutrients help to maintain the skin’s moisture balance.

Sorbitol is found in seaweed.  Sorbitol is a humectant.  Humectants are compounds that increase the moisture-holding capacity of the skin’s outer layers.

Wakame has the unique ability to inhibit enzymatic activity that would normally break down the skin’s hyaluronic acid content.  A growing number of natural skincare products contain hyaluronic acid.

It has become a very popular ingredient, but its inclusion is misguided.  Dermatologists say that hyaluronic acid molecules cannot penetrate into the skin.  Therefore, the ingredient provides no benefit.

However, the skin’s hyaluronic acid levels are known to decrease with age.  The decrease results in slow cell renewal and turnover, lost firmness, lost thickness and splotchy complexions.

By inhibiting the enzymatic activity responsible for the low hyaluronic acid levels, wakame helps to stimulate the cell renewal rate, improves firmness and evens out tone.
Allantoin when used in natural skincare products can help to reduce redness and inflammation.  The compound is found in comfrey root and plants.  The plants were used historically to treat a variety of inflammatory conditions.  Allantoin is the active compound in the botanicals.

Reducing and preventing inflammation is important, because it is one of the things that degrade the skin’s collagen fibers.  It is also one of the causes of cellular aging.

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