Guide Book Superfoods, Ayurvedic formulas add organic dimension to skincare.
Shopping for skin care products is beginning to look a lot like browsing your local Whole Foods as superfood ingredients like green tea, chia seed and turmeric have their moment. But is this just the latest marketing trend, or do these healthy ingredients actually nourish the skin when applied topically in the same way as when ingested?
“Green tea has the most hard science behind it for skin and antiaging,” said New York dermatologist BEAUTY Dr. Macrene Alexiades, scientist and founder of skin care brand 37 Actives. “The epigallins in green tea have been studied for the treatment of cancer.”
Bay Area skin care brand True Botanicals uses green tea seed oil and green tea leaf extract as a foundation ingredient in many of its products. “It thrills us that consumers are learning that superfoods really nourish our skin and body in the same way,” said True Botanicals CEO Hillary Peterson, who noted the brand also uses superfoods avocados, chia, kiwi and papaya in its formulations.
“Free radical damage causes inflammation, inflammation causes aging. These superfoods have incredible antioxidant value that can prevent that damage. So you see what these foods can do for your gut from a nutritional standpoint; the same thing is happening for your skin.”
Dr. Robert Applebaum, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, discovered superfood-rich Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum from the praise of several of his patients. “I have a practice in Sun Valley, Idaho, and I kept hearing from my patients there that this serum called Vintner’s Daughter was doing wonders for hydrating their skin. Given the harsh, dry environment (in Sun Valley), and that most people are usually on the disappointment side when talking to me about products, I decided to try it myself. I found visible levels of improvement after regular use.”
Applebaum credits the quality of the formulation and superfood ingredients like avocado oil, carrot seed oil, alfalfa leaf and turmeric with making the serum effective. “A successful skin care product is based on formulation and ingredients. Lots of products have active ingredients but they aren’t formulated well, therefore they aren’t effective. Vintner’s Daughter has both elements — very nicely formulated with a lot of great actives that also happen to be natural,” Applebaum explained.
“How do we know products like this really work?” he continued. “You have to try and really analyze ‘Does my skin look and/or feel better over time?’ People buy expensive creams at boutiques or a department store because when they test them instore, the cream smells or feels good. But these people have to ask themselves if these creams actually do anything beneficial for the skin. When you look at the science, studies at universities and skin care companies have found hard-core evidence that when antioxidant therapy is used on the skin, it reduces sun damage, creates cell rejuvenation and has a protection effect against environmental factors.”
Skin care brand Maya Chia founder Susanne Norwitz discovered chia, the superstar of superfoods, when she was doing a detox and her doctor recommended incorporating chia into her diet. “I bought a package of chia seeds and started to read the nutrition panel and was floored by the benefits. Then I started doing research and found the Nutritional Science Research Institute tested the nutritional value of chia seeds and said it contains ‘the highest amount of antioxidants we have ever measured’ and cited chia as one of the most powerful whole food antioxidants we know.”
Norwitz decided to look into whether the antioxidant benefits would translate when applied topically. “We found a study published in the annals of dermatology citing that the topical use of chia oil was clinically proven to significantly increase skin hydration, reduce trans-epidermal water loss and increase skin-barrier function.”
She was so impressed with her research findings that she created her entire skin care line based on chia. “We use chia seed oil as our carrier oil across the line or at a significant level in our products — meaning chia seed oil is likely the first or second ingredient in our line. In fact, our signature chia seed face oil is 98 percent chia seed oil.”
As a scientist and dermatologist who has conducted studies for skin care companies, Alexiades believes that the benefit of naturals isn’t limited to superfoods.
“My expert opinion is that most of Western medicine comes from Eastern medicine. In other words, we have derived a multitude of drugs from plants, so it stands to reason that many plants have active ingredients to offer. Therefore, there is justification for actives to be isolated from virtually all plants.”