Skin like Cleopatra - Aromatherapy & Skincare

Wouldn't it be fantastic, like a dream come true.. to have skin like Cleopatra - sultry, unblemished oozing vibrance and power - well read on to learn more - Lizzy explains skincare through the ages in a whistle stop tour.

Cleopatra

SKINCARE AND AROMATHERAPY SINCE EGYPTIAN TIMES

The ancient Egyptians took great pride in their appearance and cleanliness. Most Egyptians bathed daily in the river or out of a water basin at home. A cleansing cream made of animal or vegetable oil mixed with powdered lime and perfume was used instead of soap. Looking after our skin is part of many peoples daily routine, but have you ever wondered when did we decide it was beneficial to look after the skin?

ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

Probably the earliest accounts date back to Egyptian times in 10,000 BC when both male and females used used scented oils and home made ointments to clean and soften the skin. Additionally perfumed oil was used to prevent the skin from drying out in the harsh climate. Egyptians also understood they need to protect their eyesight from the glare of the sun and applied the heavy kholl outline which is clearly seen on all drawings and pictures of ancient Egyptians. Fortunately the kholl pencil we think of nowadays bears no resemblance to the kholl created by ancient Egyptians.

Kholl in ancient Egyptian times was a dark coloured powder made of crushed antimony (a toxic mineral), burnt almonds, lead, oxidized copper, ochre, ash, malachite (a copper based mineral) and chrysolla (a copper ore). Skin care was an inherent part of Egyptians health and hygiene routines. Oils and creams were used for protection against the hot Egyptian sun and dry winds. Myrrh, thyme, chamomile, lavender, lily, peppermint, rosemary, cedar, rose, aloe, olive oil, sesame oil and almond oil provided the basic ingredients of the ancient Egyptians skincare routine and all religious rituals.

THE ROMAN PERIOD

The word 'cosmetae' was first used to describe Roman slaves whose function was to bathe

men and women in perfume

Roman Slaves

ANCIENT CHINA

There is little evidence of any type of cosmetic usage in China before 3000 BC when Chinese people began to stain their fingernails with gum, beeswax and egg. The Chinese upper classes made lavish use of fragrances during the T'ang dynasties that began in the 7th century AD and continued until the end of the Ming dynasty in the 17th Century. Their bodies, baths, clothing, homes and temples were all richly scented as was ink, paper, cosmetics and sachets tucked into their garments.

Chinese Upper Class Lady

China imported jasmine scented sesame oil from India, Persian rosewater via the silk route and eventually Indonesian aromatics - clove, benzoin gum, ginger, nutmeg and patchoulli through India. There is a famous book which was published in the 16th century. The book is called: Materia Medica Pen Ts'ao and it discusses almost 2000 herbs and contains a separate section of 20 essential oils. 

PERSIA

Persian Lady

Persia (and what is today the Middle East) used skincare products and cosmetics from ancients periods.

                                                 

After Arab tribes converted to Islam, some cosmetics were restricted on religious grounds. All branches of Islam relating to purity and and cleanliness, whether in its physical or spiritual form. An early cosmetologist was the physician Abu'al-Qassim al-Zahrawi (936 - 1013 AD)  wrote a medical encyclopedia. Later it was translated into Latin and the cosmetic chapter was used in the West.

EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES

In the middle ages, the lower classes usually worked outside on agricultural jobs and their typically light coloured European skin was darkened by exposure to the sun. The higher class a person was, the more leisure time was available to stay indoors which kept the skin pale. Thus pale skin was associated with the gentry.  

Upper Class Lady - Middle Ages

As a result, Europeans often attempted to lighten their skin using white powder to appear more aristocratic. Amazingly, the white powder often contained toxic white lead paint and arsenic. It remained popular though as a devotee of this skin regime was Queen Elizabeth 1 who created a look know as 'the mask of youth'. After the first world war, fashion and beauty radically changed, and the fashion house Chanel adopted the 'sun-kissed' look and fake tan products entered the market. I find the history of skin care fascinating. Although trends alter, the mainstay throughout is the use of oils, herbs and botanicals and like throughout history, INSKIN Skincare are producing products desirable and needed for today using ingredients from over the millennium. 

If you'd like to read a little more on the subject, then please follow this link; http://www.asiapharmaceutics.info/article.asp?issn=0973-8398;year=2009;volume=3;issue=3;spage=164;epage=167;aulast=Chaudhri

The above link is a research paper written by a doctor within the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, India. He explores the history of skincare and cosmetics in order to understand and address the the rise of purchases in the Indian Cosmetic Market.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and if you've found it interesting I'd be delighted if you'd ask your friends to take a look. 

Many thanks 

Lizzy Radcliffe 

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996 

If you would like to test any of our products - please have a look on our website -  http://www.aromatherapy-skincare.co.uk/inskin-testers/

Aromatherapy Skincare - From field to science, medicine and education

Is aromatherapy old hat? and mumbo jumbo? 

Yes, but I mean seriously old hat - in fact centuries old....

                                        .

Sadly, skin care products with newer names are currently in vogue such as spa, botanical and plant extracts. The reason I find this slightly upsetting, is that all these products are plant based, the same as aromatherapy essential oils.

I adore aromatherapy essential oils as they're highly concentrated plant extracts. A lot of plant extract material is needed for each of those small 10ml bottles of oil that you've seen.

I also believe there is a lack of understanding regarding aromatherapy which isn't helped by its 'new age' image. Many shops selling 'new age' products also sell aromatherapy essential oils and I find a lot of people believe that aromatherapy essential oils are simply about a nice smell.

• This is not true. 
• Aromatherapy is a real science. 
• There shouldn't be any mumbo jumbo. 
• Plants are made up of a host of different chemicals many of which are beneficial to the body. 
• Traditional medicine e.g. your prescription from the GP contain plant derivatives, but these are in the most synthetically produced. 

                                                       

I believe the gap between traditional western medicine and aromatherapy essential oils is not that great and fantastic studies are currently being carried out looking at this overlap. One example is the use of aromatherapy essential oils to treat cancer patients.

Did you know that qualified aromatherapist firstly studies anatomy, physiology and massage to 'A' level standard? Only after qualifying are they able to study aromatherapy. Unfortunately, aromatherapy is an area where many people dabble - without being qualified which can be extremely dangerous. Equally there are a lot of synthetic or fake essential oils on the market which don't have any beneficial properties. 

I qualified in 1996 and below is a link to the syllabus I studied.

http://www.itecworld.co.uk/Syllabus/Unit%20Documents/Aromatherapy%20Syllabus.pdf 

                                                    

I strongly believe in the therapeutic benefits of aromatherapy essential oils in skin care, particularly when considering the damage free radicals cause and the anti-oxidant properties of many aromatherapy essential oils. This passion I have was the focus for creating our aromatherapy skin care company INSKIN. 

I found very few companies which are aromatherapy based with a qualified aromatherapist at the helm. 


Interesting and perhaps a little worrying?

Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and if you've found it interesting I'd be delighted if you'd ask your friends to take a look. 

Many thanks 

Lizzy Radcliffe 

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996

If you would like to test any of our products here at INSKIN skincare - please click on the INSKIN link:  http://www.aromatherapy-skincare.co.uk/inskin-testers/

Phytonutrients - Aromatherapy Skincare

Phytonutrients - 4 Reasons Why You Need Them

Phytonutrients are nutrients derived from plant material that have been shown to be necessary for sustaining human life. These plant nutrients form part of the plants immune system and their role in plants is to protect plants from disease, injuries, insects, drought, excessive heat, ultraviolet rays, and poisons or pollutants in the air or soil. 

Phyto, From the Greek word "phuton" meaning plant - Phytonutrient - plant extracts that sustains human life

As a qualified aromatherapist, I am interested in phytonutrients (plant nutrients) as part of aromatherapy skincare as one of the main benefits are their anti-oxidant properties. 

Anti-oxidants are very important as they deal with free radicals which affect our health, can cause disease and give the appearance of wrinkled skin as we get older. For more information on anti-oxidants, please click here to my Vitamin A blog.

Many clinical trials have considered phytonutrients from two angles:

• Eating certain food types can prevent certain chronic diseases 
• Using oils massaged on the skin are effective anti-oxidants

I believe it is crucial that or bodies receive many phytonutrients, and I would recommend that we: 

1. Eat as few unprocessed foods as possible (phytonutrients are only negligable after factory processing)
2. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables each day aiming to cover as many colours as possible. 
3. Different coloured fresh fruit and vegetables contain differing quantities of the different phytonutrient types
4. Use a face product high in anti-oxidants, if you're concerned about your skin looking tired and older (remember face creams/ moisturisers contain 50 - 60% water, whereas a facial oil contains 100% active ingredients.)

INSKIN skincare produce a truly fabulous facial oil with very high quantities of active anti-oxidant ingredients.

Inskin Precious Anti Ageing Facial Oil 30ml

                                    

Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and if you've found it interesting I'd be delighted if you'd ask your friends to take a look.

Many thanks, 

Lizzy Radcliffe

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996

If you would like to become involved with our work here at INSKIN skincare - please click here to complete the form on the INSKIN website 

Frankincense - Not Just for Christmas

Frankincense is a word we're all familiar with due to the numerous nativity plays we've been in or watched.


I guess it's also something most people know very little about.
Frankincense is a small tree which is native to North Africa and some of the Arab countries. It's usage is best know within two areas - religion as a burning incense (it's a relaxant) and in the world of aromatherapy (it's a relaxant and fantastic in skincare).


When the bark of the tree is damaged the tree exudes a resin in drops and the essential oil is extrcted from this resin by a process called steam distallation.





Glycation is a new buzz word but very imporatnt. Using today's scientific knowledge with age old frankincence glycation can be fought.


Great, but what's glycation? Glycation is a chemical reaction which permenantly reduces your skin's ability to produce and and regenerate high quality collagen and elastin. (Collagen and elastin are fibres within the skin which give it its strength, structure and plumped up look. For more information please visit my blog on Vitamin A which explains the formation of collagen.)


So what is this chemical reaction? When naturally occuring sugar molecules enter the skin, it bonds to skin proteins such as collagen and elastin causing them to become brittle and less elastic which in turn produces the look of older skin.


The next stage is once these sugar molecules have bound themselves to the skin's collagen and elastin, they mutate creating new molecules. These molecules are called advanced glycation end-products (A.G.E.s)


So what can you do about it? Firstly, my advice would be to cut out as much sugar in your diet as possible (including alcohol)


But what has frankincense to do with all this? Something called boswellic acids are extracted from the gum of the frankincence tree and it is this acid that helps with glycation in two ways.

• the formation of new collagen through special cells called fibroblasts.
• the reduction of glycation occuring through the collagen's protein.

Two valuable studies have been carried out. 

The first is a study considering a cream containing boswellic acids and its stimulatory effects on fibroblasts. 

The second is a submitted patent using bowellia carteri (frankincense) as an anti-glycation agent - 3-0-acetyl-11-Ketoboswellic acid for relaxing the skin.

INSKIN Skincare produce a wonderfully beneficial facial oil containing frankincense. 

Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and if you've found it interesting I'd be delighted if you'd ask your friends to take a look.

Many thanks, hugs and kisses

Lizzy Radcliffe

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996

If you would like to become involved with our work here at INSKIN skincare - please complete the form on the INSKIN website 

Aromatherapy - What is aromatherapy?

Aromatherapy is a form of medicine that uses liquid plant material. This liquid plant material is known as an aromatherapy essential oil (EO's). 

Ylang-Ylang

There are a lot of highbrow words in the world of aromatherapy, and I hope to demystify five of the more widely used ones. 


So here goes in alphabetical order:


1) Adulteration - this is the lowering of the standard or character of a product by the addition of one or more inferior ingredients. There are many products on the market claiming to be 100% pure aromatherapy essential oils, yet have had cheaper similar smelling oils added or are bulked out with synthetic oils. Within my own skincare company INSKIN, a lot of our time is spent sourcing oils. We need to know when the crops were harvested, where the crops harvested from, when they were produced into oils and how old they are. We work only with a reputable and highly regarded supplier. Base or carrier oils - aromatherapy essential oils must not be used without being diluted. Unfortunately, many skin care products contain only minute quantities of essential oils and again have been bulked out with base/ carrier oils.


2) Dermal absorption - this is how chemicals go 'through' your skin into the cells below. There are many chemicals that make up an aromatherapy essential oil, and each of these are 'light' enough to pass through the skin. Dermal absorption in a nutshell is considering the density of the chemical put on the skin to see if it is able to pass below the skin's surface into the cells below - I'll do a separate blog on dermal absorption as it's quite a big area - quite mathematical but amazing studies are being carried out within the medicines industry on this.


3) Extraction - quite simply this is how a product gets from being a growing plant to inside a small brown bottle as a liquid.


4) Phytochemicals - These are nutrients that occur naturally in plants.  Phytochemicals are the molecules responsible for colour and odour (think of the deep purple of blueberries and the smell of garlic. There are numerous phytochemicals that are beneficial in fighting or indeed preventing chronic disease. Watch this space - I'll do a separate blog on phytochemicals as it's a really interesting subject area. If you'd like a little more information now, please visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytochemical


5) Steam distillation - There are a number of ways to extract 'oil' from the plant to create essential oils, with the most common being steam distillation. In VERY simple terms, the plant material is put in a container with a tube in; it's heated on the outside; the liquid nutrients travel up the tube as steam then is collected in another container where it condenses leaving the essential oil. Imagine boiling a kettle of water near a window, the steam rises, hits the cold window where it condenses then causes water to run down the window.

Steam Distillation

There are many more aromatherapy terms, but hopefully I've covered the ones that appear time and time again. I'd love to hear from you if you'd like a blog covering in any other aromatherapy area.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and if you've found it interesting I'd be delighted if you'd ask your friends to take a look.

Many thanks, hugs and kisses

Lizzy Radcliffe

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996


If you would like to become involved with our work here at INSKIN skincare - please complete the form on the INSKIN website http://www.inskin.org/testers.htm

Rosehip Oil - silky skin packed with Vitamin C

ROSEHIP OIL

• Rosehip oil nourishes and moisturises the driest of skins.
•  It is readily absorbed into the skin leaving the skin silky soft and NOT looking or feeling oily.
• It is incredibly high in vitamin C ( a powerful anti-oxidant).
• Rosehips are berry like fruits which are left behind after the rosehip bush dies. 

• Rosehip is a dense bush with the foliage having an apple fragrance
• Although it readily grows in the UK, the main supplier of rosehip oil is Chile due to its superior extraction methods.

Imagine your face as a car that's getting a little older. You wash, polish and wax it and it looks fantastic - that's how rosehip oil will leave your skin.

However what about the engine?  There's little point only making the outside look fantastic, the engine needs constant attention, which is where the vitamin C found abundantly in rosehip oil comes in.

Although vitamin C is the only vitamin that cannot be produced by the human body due to the mutant gene -  L-gulonon-y-lactone oxidase, vitamin C is important for both our health and to slow down the ageing process.

There are 2 facts I'd like to share with you about vitamin C

1. There is 20 times more vitamin C in rosehips than in oranges
2. Vitamin C is far more readily absorbed through the skin (dermal absorption) than if taken  orally. If 12g of vitamin C is taken orally, only 16% of it is absorbed.

Rosehip oil is relatively new to the skincare industry but is increasingly popular due to it's fantastic properties both on the surface of the skin, and lower down where the skin's cells are being formed.

One study was carried out using rosehip extracts of 18 samples in order to evaluate their antioxidant activities.


The study showed that vitamin C in its own right had a high antioxidant capacity which was related to high contents of phytonutrients. (Phytonutrients are nutrients derived from plant material that have been shown to be necessary for sustaining human life.)


For further reading, please follow this link: 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1097-0010(200011)80:14%3C2021::AID-JSFA745%3E3.0.CO;2-2/full

I personally find it fascinating how  vitamin C works in conjunction with both vitamin A and vitamin E.

Vitamin C in conjunction with vitamin A

Vitamin A is extensively used in the skin care industry to aid the anti-ageing process. Collagen  is found in the skin and is a set of fibres giving the skin its plumped up appearance. From the age of 30 onwards, the production of collagen rapidly slows down. As collagen is part of our DNA, other treatments using collagen can only be a very short term soloution as the body will reject it as its DNA is not recognised. 

However, vitamin A acts on something called fibroblast cells, and these cells are then stimulated to start the production of collagen again.

Vitamin C then comes into its own. VItamin C goes through a process called hydroxylation which is  important as this process creates hydroxyproline which is essential in the production of collagen. 

Subsequently, this creates a tight cross linking of something called the triple helix. The triple helix are three strands of our DNA wound around each other.

To summarise  

• Vitamin A creates new collagen through fibroblast cells
• Vitamin C works on the newly formed collagen, creating a tight knit collagen structure using our DNA

Vitamin C in conjunction with vitamin E


Vitamin E is used within the skin care and food industry as an anti-oxidant to 'fight' free radicals.


Free radicals are damaged parts of oxygen and are in the air around us with many being created from the sun and pollution. Free radicals age the skin as well as being involved with many illness' such as cancer. Where there are damaged oxygen particles it is known as oxidative stress.


However, vitamin E needs vitamin C to regenerate it, and some studies have shown that vitamin C is able to regenerate 60% of vitamin E proving that both vitamins work in harmony with each other.

For further reading on: 

'Partners in defense, vitamin E and vitamin C', please follow this link: 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8313238

One of the main ingredients in INSKIN Precious Anti-Ageing Facial Oil  is rosehip oil.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and if you've found it interesting I'd be delighted if you'd ask your friends to take a look.

Many thanks, hugs and kisses

Lizzy Radcliffe

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996


If you would like to become involved with our work here at INSKIN skincare - please complete the form on the INSKIN website http://www.inskin.org/testers.htm