Nature’s Love Language

How does nature show us love? Let me count the ways. Nature is writing you a love letter every day as it sustains, nourishes, and heals us. The sun shines down on us, the magnificent source of life on earth. It provides vitamin D, nutrients for plants and food, and is an abundant energy source. The plants we grow provide nutrients, minerals, and sustenance as food sources. Spending time in nature has been proven to reduce inflammation, lower cortisol levels, boost mood, and connect us with the energy of the earth.

Among its other wonders, nature is an amazing resource for skin health. Many plants have wonderful, promising, and proven benefits for our skin, from the inside out AND the outside in. Whether plant matter is consumed nutritionally or applied to the skin topically, health benefits abound.

It’s important to remember that skin health is not just about the external layers - it’s about the entire body and all its systems. As I’ve mentioned in other journal entries my approach to skincare goes beyond just treating symptoms on the skin with products. I believe in a truly holistic approach when it comes to caring for the skin - one that factors in all the other complex systems in our bodies, like hormones, emotions, stress, psychological factors, hydration, nutrition, and more.

This month, I want to walk you through my favorite “garden of love,” which is the array of plants that contribute directly to your skin’s health and vitality.

We’ll start with roses - the most romantic of all flowers.

Roses, a fragrant and beautiful plant, are a surprising powerhouse of skin benefits. They are brimming with antioxidants, like vitamins A and C, which can help strengthen skin cells. The antioxidants in roses can help neutralize free radicals in the skin, which are a cause of premature aging and skin stress. Products infused with rose can also be incredibly hydrating, like rose water. The anti-inflammatory benefits of all the antioxidants contained in roses means that they’re a perfect ingredient for combating redness and irritation, since they help balance and soothe the skin.

Elements of Comfort contains fragrant Bulgarian Rose to help moisturize the skin and provide a relaxing aromatherapy experience. This incredible oil helps promote skin health in multiple ways. First, it provides intense hydration through hempseed, avocado, and grape seed oils for improved skin carrier health. Second, the aromatherapy experience is incredibly relaxing, which can help lower cortisol levels. Cortisol, is a hormone released in excess when you’re experiencing stress, has been linked to inflammation and acne.

Take a moment when you smooth this oil on your skin to breathe in deeply, hold, and exhale. Repeat ten times, slowly, and center yourself before moving on with your day. You deserve these moments.

Does this ingredient sound familiar? If you’re a tea lover, it should! Camelia sinensis is a tea plant native to Southeast Asia.

A number of teas, like green, white, and black, are harvested from this plant. Camellia Sinensis is another plant that has a myriad of benefits when consumed as a drink or supplement, and it’s also a powerful topical ingredient for skin health. Camellia Sinensis is rich in catechins, which contain EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate). These are said to possess an incredible amount of skin-boosting antioxidants that fight free radicals effectively.

Camellia Sinensis can also help prevent the process of metalloproteinases, which is the process by which collagen and elastin are reduced in the skin. Collagen and elastin are structures in the skin that help it remain firm, elastic, and healthy, so it’s important to do what you can to protect collagen and elastin.

Consuming teas can help prevent metalloproteinase processes from occurring, which helps keep skin elastic and healthy for longer. Antioxidants in white and green tea have also been linked to reading oxidative stress in the skin, which can help reduce damage from UV rays.

Several serums and creams contain camellia sinensis, and they are effective for reducing redness and inflammation on the skin and improving hydration levels. Applying antioxidants topically to skin can help improve several skin conditions and reduce free radicals on the surface of your skin.

This is especially important to consider if you live in a big city, an area with a lot of pollution, or regions with a lot of traffic. An antioxidant barrier is essential for skin health in highly-polluted areas.

Exposure to high levels of car exhaust and city pollution can increase the amount of free radicals on your skin at the end of the day, and applying an antioxidant booster in the morning (under sunscreen, of course) can help shield you from these skin disruptors. Layered under a sunscreen in the morning, this is one of the best skin protecting strategies to prevent signs of premature aging.

Evening Primrose: A healthy skin barrier is one of the most essential signs of skin health, and evening primrose is an excellent ingredient to help bolster your skin barrier - or revive a damaged one.

Signs of a damaged skin barrier? Excessive dryness, excessive redness, stinging and burning, flaking, highly-sensitive skin that reacts to almost everything, and sensitivities to products that you used to tolerate well.

Your skin barrier is important for so many more reasons than just your skin’s appearance: The barrier is essential for keeping out external threats like infectious agents, chemicals, toxins, and allergens. Your skin helps promote homeostasis and protects your body from losing too much water. So keeping your skin barrier strong and healthy is absolutely essential! Evening primrose is a rich source of linoleic acid, which helps promote skin barrier health.

Evening primrose oil is full of omega 3, omega 9, and stearic acids. These acids are incredibly important because the body relies on external sources - it cannot create its own fatty acids. A deficiency in any fatty acid can have symptoms like rough, dry skin, redness, or even acne. Supplementing with evening primrose oil can significantly boost skin barrier health and regulate oil production - a deficiency in stearic acid can actually create excess sebum and buildup on the skin, leading to acne.

Evening primrose oil is an excellent oil to supplement with, and it’s also a great ingredient in a topical skin care product. It’s a great final step to a skin health routine in the winter months to lock in moisture and give you an additional barrier-boost.

Camellia sinensis and evening primrose are both present in Unseasonal Kind our replenishment facial oil. This formula is unique because it’s both antioxidant-rich and lipid-restoring, making it suitable for all skin types and all seasons. This treatment is an excellent pick for promoting skin health - it enforces skin barrier health, energizes fatigued skin, helps repair damage done from environmental pollutants and irritants.

Not just for a delicious dessert, cocoa is another surprising source of skin health. Did you know that cocoa can help improve the condition of your skin both internally and externally?

Cocoa is an incredibly rich source of antioxidants and polyphenols, and studies have shown that its antioxidant powers may even surpass green and black tea. These antioxidants are an incredibly important and potent way to improve the overall health and condition of the skin, and consuming cocoa can help improve several skin conditions, reduce inflammation, and reduce damage from UV light. It’s also worth mentioning that cocoa is chock-full of omega-3 fatty acids, minerals, iron, potassium, sodium, and zinc.

Did you have any idea that it was such a superfood? When applied topically in the form of an extract, butter or oil, cocoa can help prevent and reduce scarring, symptoms of intense dryness and dehydration, and promote radiance.

How? Cocoa is rich in theobromine, which helps improve blood flow in the skin and bring it to the surface. Cocoa is a wonderful skin protectant and damage-mitigator. Next time you want to give your skin a boost, nibble on some dark chocolate, enjoy a cocoa elixir or slather yourself in some cocoa butter during the dry winter months.

Supreme Seed is one of my favorite products to highlight because it contains every single superpower ingredient from our “garden tour.”

Supreme Seed is part of a super powered skin health regimen. It contains all of the skin health ingredients above - rose, cocoa, camellia sinensis, and evening primrose oil. It’s an incredibly powerful, effective source of skin nourishment, protection, and soothing.

Supreme Seed is a weekly exfoliating mask that contains all of nature’s most potent antioxidants and biodynamic plant extracts. It helps to reset and restore fragile skin and treat skin conditions like dryness, irritation, and redness. Whether your skin is dry, oily, congested, stressed, or fragile, this mask provides assistance in the form of powerful botanicals.

How to use: This product has been expertly formulated for weekly use. Once per week, use this product to revitalize your skin by removing impurities, infusing with antioxidants and nutrients, and soothing.

The results? Brighter, healthier, revitalized, healthy skin.

As always, I am sending you wishes of wellness, skin health, and positive, grateful emotions during the month of February. Let your abounding love for yourself drive you to focus on healthy skin habits that serve you - inside and out.