The skincare industry, in particular, is one to watch when it comes to technological advancements. It is continuously evolving, with new treatments and procedures being launched every so often. A decade ago, only the makeup artists dared to use the word “contouring,” but ten years from now, will wrinkles, dark spots, and sagging skin be a thing of the past?
Right now, the trend in skincare ingredient is plant stem cells. Read the information ahead to find out if plant stem cells are worth the hype.
What Are Stem Cells?
Stem cells refer to a broad category of cells that participate in tissue generation, regeneration, and renewal. They are the cells that help you heal. Animals and plants have these types of cells as well. Stem cells can divide to make more and more stem cells.
Plant Stem Cells
One exciting area of stem cell research is in treating skin issues such as wrinkles, visible capillaries, and sun damage. In the basal layer of the deepest layer of the outer surface of the skin called the epidermis, stem cells divide and replace lost or dying cells and repairs the skin when it gets injured.
The epidermis is continually renewing. It sloughs off cells every single day, so it also needs cell replacement regularly. It is, therefore, essential to optimize the epidermal stem cell population throughout our lives.
Our skin faces daily assaults from environmental toxins, excessive sun exposure, and improper nutrition, which can overwhelm our epidermal stem cells. When this occurs, our stem cells will have difficulty keeping up with the demand for cellular turnover, which results in excess damaged cells and, eventually, aged and damaged skin.
Recently, researchers have turned their attention to plants as a source for stem cells, and those plant stem cells are proving to be effective in promoting the skin’s cellular turnover.
The use of plant stem cells in skincare was inspired by an unusual source: an almost-extinct apple tree in Switzerland. The Uttwiler Spätlauber apples were originally bred in the 18th century for their incredible shelf life. These apples shrank into oblivion as people devised more modern ways of shipping and storage and caused longevity to take a backseat to flavor.
But what’s even more extraordinary than the Uttwiler Spätlauber apples’ long-lasting freshness was their ability to heal themselves. When the fruit was scratched while still on the tree, the skin would immediately regenerate and close the wound.
Luckily, this ability caught the attention of researchers just in the nick of time. Only a few trees remained in the world when scientists began studying its health benefits. Researchers were able to extract stem cells from the fruit and generate new ones in a laboratory and then began examining how human cells would react to them.
The researchers were astonished by the results: They found the apple’s stem cells could stimulate human stem cell proliferation by 80% and could protect it against UV damage. When the researchers experimented on human skin, they discovered that a cream containing the apple extract and liposomes from lecithin could decrease wrinkle depth by an average of 8% in just two weeks, and by 15% in four weeks.
New Frontiers
Since the discovery of the skin benefits that Uttwiler Spätlauber offers, leaders in the natural skincare industry have been looking for other sources of plant stem cells. After extensive research, they found two more plants that offer exciting and unique stem cell potential.
*Edelweiss, or Leontopodium alpinum, is an herbaceous plant endemic to the mountain ranges of Pyrenees and Alps to the Himalayas. Over time, it has developed much resistance to the extreme climates in which it grows. It contains powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
In one study, 20 participants who applied a cream containing Edelweiss stem cells to their faces twice daily for 40 days saw reduced wrinkle depth of the eye contour area by 15% percent after only 20 days. Edelweiss stem cell is also believed to help prevent collagen loss, and firm and restructure the skin and prevent premature aging and UV damage.
*Gotu Kola, or Centella asiatica, is a small herbaceous plant found in Southeast Asia, Australia, and Africa. It grows in wet, muddy, high-altitude areas. In traditional Indian medicine, it is used to heal wounds, burns, and varicose ulcers. Gotu Kola stem cells also aid in firming and restructuring the skin, targeting stretch marks, managing cellulite, and supporting good blood vessel tone.
Plant stem cells are the popular crowd in the skincare industry. They’ve been widely accepted and welcomed with open arms, primarily for their skin-regenerating abilities. The idea is that if stem cells help a flower flourish in the freezing temps in some far-off exotic locale, then it must also be able to keep your skin dewy and glowing.
Sea Active® Skincare spent ten years of research and development on plant stem cells. Along with the benefits of seaweeds, plant stem cells are integrated into their products to aid in skin regeneration and address many of the signs of skin aging, such as wrinkling, sagging, mottled pigmentation, changes in the skin due to medications, and U.V. radiation damage.
Sea Active® Skincare’s Marine DermaSeatical® Skin Repair Serum w/ stem cells was examined on fifty women (ages 38-71). 90% of the women in the study saw visible dramatic results in the reduction of lines and wrinkles, skin discolorations, and improvement in the appearance of skin volume, which they felt gave their skin a firmer and lifted appearance.
To know more about Sea Active® Skincare’s unique plant-based delivery system, you may call us at (858) 676-9727 or [email protected]. If you’d want to see a full list of the products we offer, you may visit our website at https://seaactiveskincare.com/.
