Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare blog

As a botanist, you’d be surprised if I didn’t think plants were amazing feats of natural engineering and chemistry. All of this energy is aimed at one end: reproduction.

Some plants are wanton and careless with seed, investing energy in a quantity rather than quality strategy. Others are nurturers, packing their seeds with everything the baby plant inside will need to survive. Then there are the overprotective mothers who go above and beyond to ensure safe germination, even preserving the seed with a generous measure of antioxidant in the form of vitamin E. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that is formed naturally in plants and serves primarily to protect oil in the seed and other parts of the plant against oxidation. Pretty fancy design, I think you’ll agree. So how do we take advantage of all the effort put into seeds? By extracting the oil from them, naturally.

Seeds (I’m including nuts and kernels under this umbrella, too) may be the most common source of plant oils, but turning green with envy (well, minute levels of chlorophyll, actually) on the sidelines is the avocado. It’s an unusual fruit, one of a few that (after water is removed) is composed principally of oil. In fact, the green oil occurs throughout the flesh of the fruit at levels up to 50%, depending on the variety. And extracting that oil? As easy as pressing the flesh.

Also known as ‘fixed’ or vegetable oils, plant oils offer real benefits to the skin. And here’s another of nature’s wonders. No matter how distantly related all these oil-processing plants are to one another (we probably share more DNA with orangutans than avocado, hazelnut and argan do with each other), they all work on the skin the same way. By enhancing the skin’s natural barrier, they reduce trans-epidermal water loss (evaporation from the skin’s surface). Because moisture is retained, the skin is more elastic and supple. Applied directly to the skin where they are easily absorbed into its upper layers, plant oils are some of nature’s best emollients, moisturising the skin and temporarily plumping up fine lines and wrinkles, helping to reduce their appearance.

We use plant oils to your skin’s advantage across Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare, but nowhere do we celebrate their skin-saving benefits more than in Superskin Concentrate. A combination of four precious plant oils, each composed of a unique blend of constituents in an intricate chemical construction that brings its own benefits to the skin. It’s all in the details, or rather, the chemistry. It’s what sets plant oils apart from bland mineral oils, and it’s why we use them throughout Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare.

When my husband says I am a fair-weather gardener, it’s not precipitation he’s talking about. On sunny days I practice the pale-skinned person’s version of vampirism: between 10 am and 4pm you’ll find me tucked up beneath an umbrella, contorting myself to fit into the last available bit of shade or indoors perusing a stack of catalogues. I would never dream of going outside without what my olive-skinned spouse calls ‘factor t-shirt’: a broad-brimmed sun hat that covers the back of my neck, ears, décolletage and of course my face (never mind that I can’t see very far in front of me); a light long-sleeved blouse; and Mineral Sun Cream SPF 20.

Sun damage can creep up on you without you knowing it: the damage you do to your skin today might not show up for decades. So it takes discipline to live by the Aussie adage: ‘Slip-Slap-Slop-Seek-Slide’ while you can make a difference. And creativity if you wish to do so with panache. After all, you’ll be slipping on a shirt, slopping on the sunscreen, slapping on hats, seeking out shade and sliding on sunglasses (with UV protection, of course). This summer, I’ve had a whole series of lovely summer weddings at outdoor venues graced with gorgeous weather. In lieu of an enormous hat that means I take up three seats, I’m sporting a sunbrella. Okay, so it’s a cane-handled vintage beauty, not just any old golf umbrella, but my eccentric shade statement is keeping my skin protected in style.

Having said that, exposing your skin to sun is critical for vitamin D manufacture: our bodies make vitamin D when we are in the sun. Before you groan with confusion, you only need an average of around 20 minutes a day (British weather and season-dependant, of course). Essential for bone health and development, vitamin D helps us absorb calcium. You can top up the vitamin D your body makes by eating fish, dairy, beef and ready-to-eat cereals while you slip, slap, slop, seek and slide with me this summer. To find out more about the science of vitamin D, read Liz’s letter.

If you manage your sun exposure in creative ways I’m missing out on, please do get in touch and share them.

Water is essential to life as we know it: from the smallest single-celled organisms to the largest, most complex plants and mammals, all life forms rely on water. We are made up of around 72% water and a cucumber is a whopping 95%, but in fact almost all known organisms are at least half water.

All human organs require water to function properly, but one, our largest, is visible to the naked eye: skin. The role that skin plays is more complex than just serving as the body’s wrapper. It protects your body from infections, injuries and disease; it is the thermal suit that keeps your body temperature at a healthy equilibrium; and it’s our first point of contact with the outside world. Like a plant with wilting leaves, our skin can reflect what is going on inside our bodies, especially when we aren’t giving it enough water.

Keeping the skin hydrated is important to its health and efficiency. The word ‘hydrate’ has its roots in hydro, the Greek for water. As words go, hydrate is pretty young, dating back to 1802 when a French chemist coined it to describe the act of combining something chemically with water. So to hydrate or keep our skins hydrated, we know we will be involving water.

Natural and man-made environmental factors, from sun and wind to air conditioning and heating, battle with us for the water in our bodies. So hanging on to it requires a strategy. There are basically two approaches to hydrated skin: adding water and preventing your body from losing it.

Hydrate

1. Drink water
   If you’ve ever wondered just how much water the common recommendation of eight glasses a day amounts to, Liz calculates it’s the equivalent of drinking around 1.5 litres of water daily.
2. Apply water topically
   You can also add water to your body by using products that contain water. A lot of our naturally active botanical ingredients are extracted in water because many of the active plant components dissolve easily into it.  The echinacea and hops in the Skin Repair Moisturisers are good examples of extracts made with water.

Like plants, we lose water from the skin’s surface – you might see this referred to in the beauty press as TEWL. That’s short for transepidermal water loss.  Reducing this is the other half of the water battle.

Prevent dehydration

1. Trap water
   Most plants produce a sticky substance called ‘mucilage’ to help them store water, germinate seeds, thicken membranes and store food. While some plants are happy to produce this in small amounts, others take it over the top. When you cut a leaf off an aloe plant, for instance, you can clearly see the sticky translucent strands of goo. And when you blend ingredients with lots of mucilage like aloe, quince, comfrey or marshmallow into skincare, their mucilage works to actually trap water on the skin. In fact, we find that mucilages often attract and pull water from the environment.
2. Plant oils
   All plant oils work in the same way: they enhance the skin’s natural barrier. By enhancing the barrier, plant oils reduce TEWL, which leaves the skin more moist,  flexible, elastic and supple, therefore looking plumper and smoother. All these characteristics help to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, on top of keeping your wearable barrier against the world in the best condition. You can find plant oils in abundance in all of our moisturisers as well as Superskin Concentrate and Superbalm.
3. Plant waxes
   Superbalm contains another of nature’s wonders: plant waxes. Plants which make wax do so to protect their leaves from the elements. In a desert, water is at a premium and the native plants have evolved a whole array of strategies to hang onto the limited amount they get. Take candelilla, Euphorbia cerifera. Native to arid parts of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico, this spurge is related to the native British spurges and the poinsettia you can buy at Christmas. In addition to having small leaves that give the sun less area to evaporate water from, candelilla coats its leaves and stems with wax. This enhanced barrier reduces the water depleted by drying winds and hot sun as well as protecting the leaf tissues from sand particles blowing in the wind. We take advantage of the same protective properties by incorporating candelilla and other waxes in Superbalm.

Plants are faced with many of the same challenges as we are when it comes to water. We can take a leaf out of their book by preventing dehydration. Make the most of the water you drink and use skincare with the right blends of botanical ingredients. With a little effort, it’s possible to rival even the water-frugal aloe (see my article in our summer newsletter) in its propensity to hang on to water.

I can hardly believe that it’s Superskin Concentrate’s 10th anniversary this month! To be strictly accurate, it was Superbalm Concentrate that was created ten years ago but more about that later…

How 10 years fly! When I joined Liz Earle almost nine years ago, I was completely bowled over by the whole of the Naturally Active Skincare range. Having worked in the beauty industry for over 20 years at that time, including major retailers, I knew a good product when I saw one – and these were seriously good. My skin had never looked better!  Cleanse, tone, moisturise has always been my mantra even when I was a ‘grungy’ art student back in the seventies, and I guess that’s why I am blessed with great skin now. Having tried all the latest products over the years, the simplicity and effectiveness of the Liz Earle range was heaven after spending hours and hours in the bathroom, night and morning, performing lengthy rituals with layers of products!

My faithful skin-saver

When I joined the company as a youthful 46 year old, my skin was just starting to become drier. I found that using Superbalm Concentrate, as it was called then, was a great booster to my Skin Repair Moisturiser Dry/sensitive. This wonderful golden elixir not only did wonders for my skin when used overnight under my moisturiser, but it smelt heavenly too (I have to confess that neroli is one of my all-time favourite luxury fragrances).

Superskin Concentrate as it is now known, started life as Superbalm Concentrate and is actually an oil version of our much loved Superbalm, hence its original name.  Many customers at that time were enjoying the benefits of the pure plant oil formulation of Superbalm but found the waxy texture hard to use on the face. Thus the oil that is now our coveted Superskin Concentrate was created.  The rollerball bottle was quite revolutionary in its day and helped to give the face a wonderful lymphatic massage when the oil was applied.

A revolutionary range

In 2006, behind the scenes we were developing our wonderful Superskin Moisturiser
(I simply couldn’t imagine my life without this amazing moisturiser now!) and this was the birth of our Superskin range. Having worked in the beauty industry for a long time, I appreciated the benefits of using high-quality plant oils, such as those found in Superskin Moisturiser and Superbalm Concentrate, on my skin. However, while our customers were sharing their love of the new Superskin Moisturiser with us, at the same time they were telling us that they were confused about Superbalm Concentrate and why and when to use it. More importantly, customers were also letting us know that they had concerns about the effects of ageing on their skin and those slowly appearing lines and wrinkles – issues which I knew Superbalm Concentrate could help to minimise.

As Superbalm Concentrate was such an amazing radiance-booster, and perfect for using with Superskin Moisturiser to help smooth and plump ageing skin, it was decided to rename it Superskin Concentrate and welcome it into the Superskin family. And while we all loved the practicality of the 10ml rollerball pack we wanted more! So, in 2007 we launched the 28ml pump pack.

I was lucky to be able to be on the panel of testers for Superskin Moisturiser when it was being developed. This was a godsend for me as I turned 50 that year and was going through my menopause. Oh the joys of being able to use such wonderful products to soothe and nourish my drying (and ageing) skin.

As one of our customers, Dot Hay, says, ‘Using Superskin Concentrate as an overnight treatment is heavenly. The difference is amazing. ‘

Superskin tips

I am now a huge advocate of the whole Superskin range but can hand on heart say that one of my favourite products continues to be Superskin Concentrate. I get through at least a 28ml bottle every 4 – 6 weeks! How? By using it whenever, and wherever, my skin feels in need of some extra TLC and without fail, each and every night. Here are a few of my favourite ways to enjoy the benefits of this wonderful golden oil. I’m sure you have a few too. Write and let us know – we’d love to hear from you.

•    Never waste your precious Superskin Concentrate. After using it on the face at night time, massage any excess oil into the backs of hands. The rosehip and vitamin E can help to gradually improve the appearance of ageing hands.
•    A few drops of this precious oil in the bath will not only soften the skin while you relax but the fabulous aroma will soothe the senses too.
•    Keep a rollerball bottle of Superskin Concentrate by the bed and before going to sleep, roll a little oil onto backs of hands and across cuticles. Massage in for an overnight treat and wake up to soft, supple skin. The soothing fragrance with essentials oils of lavender and neroli will also help you to sleep.

An award-winning product

The skin-saving properties of Superskin Concentrate have recently scooped this product two awards in The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible. To celebrate, we have created the new Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible Collection, which includes all four of the Liz Earle products mentioned in this must-read publication, which is written by top beauty journalists.

I hope you’ve found my Superskin Concentrate tips useful. I’d like to sign off with one of my favourite customer comments about this product (which confirms that it’s not just for more mature skins like mine!):

‘Absolutely love this product – not only is the smell gorgeous but it also works hard to keep my skin moisturised. I have combination skin and would never have used an oil on skin before finding this product. Keep up the
good work. ‘ Mrs Angela Adkins