Crazy about Kombucha! The Beauty Behind it's External Use.

Kombucha: Fermented Tea

 Kombucha:
Many of us have become familiar with this probiotic rich drink over the last 2 decades (introduced into mainstream America in the early 1990's) but did you know that this sweet fermented tea has been around in different parts of the world for at least 2,000 years? There is record of it's uses and benefits in China (Qin Dynasty) dating back to 220 BC!  Early records indicate it's traveling to Japan and Russia early on as well and then continuing it's spread through out many cultures.

This "elixir of health" as it has been referred to world over, has a naturally effervescent (bubbly carbonation), and known for its probiotics, antioxidants, and B vitamins, and almost too many to name bacterial acids (yes this is good for you and your skin).

Kombucha Scoby

 This strange membranous thing pictured above is called a kombucha scoby.  It is a cellulose membrane that forms with all the health giving bacterias colonizing on it. This is what turns your tea from regular a sweet tea to a fermented and health giving "liquid gold".

So how can this fermented tea be of external use for our health and beauty regime?  Many people who love kombucha begin home brewing, caring for their  scoby, and making their own delicious concoctions. Sometimes by accident (or purposefully) we let a batch sit just a little too long, turning into a vinegar like drink instead.  Many people prefer the stage right before the kombucha turns to a vinegar for drinking purposes.  Here are some wonderful reasons WHY  to let a batch or two every once in a while sit a little too long...

Facial Toner:
Kombucha, just like regular vinegar, helps to balance the pH of your skin.  But unlike normal apple cider or white vinegar it also has many different acids and healthy bacteria to help fight bacterial imbalances that come with conditions such as acne.  Kombucha also gently tightens, firms, and tones the skin that it is applied to.  It has been seen to over time reduce dark spots and color imbalances fro the face and neck as well.  Application with a cotton pad followed by a cool water rinse, or kombucha added to a small amount of other facial ingredients (aloe water, hydrofoils, etc.) and spray misted on to the skin are both great ways to incorporate this into your daily (weekly) routine.

Hair Rinse: 
Another application that can be substituted for regular apple cider or white vinegar; the hair rise!
The longer you have allowed your kombucha to ferment the better.  This rinse will strip your hair of all of the build up from daily usage of hair sprays and gels, shampoos and conditioners, as well as the build up that happens from toxins in our environments.  It gently takes off residue and helps begin the repair process of damaged, dry, and over treated hair strands.  Not only does it work with each strand of hair, it gently removes the built up oils from the scalp, helps balance pH, and is great for reducing and eventually eliminating unwanted itchy scalp and dandruff.

Vitamin C... Topically?!

Vitamin C

Vitamin C: a vitamin that is well known for its ability to help fight off cold and flu season, but much less known for it's ability to maintain healthy and youthful skin. Vitamin C has been used  topically for ages by women (like you and I) searching for that something to maintain our healthy and vibrant glow.  As early as the Tang Dynasty of Tibet (618-907 AD) women would crush and use Seabuck Thorn berries (a very note worthy source of vitamin C) and apply this to their skin.  It is also known that Native Americans would take wild rose petals and rose hips and use topically on their face and hands as a way to care for the skin that was so exposed to outward elements. So why would women, world over, use these fruits and plants as sources of maintaining youthful, taught, healthy and glowing skin? What is it that makes vitamin C so notable for maintenance of healthy skin cells?

As we all know, vitamin C is an important nutrient for over all health. However very little of what is ingested actually reaches our skin, and humans are one of the only mammals on earth that do not produce vitamin C on our own.  This vitamin is crucial for the synthesis of collagen, and collagen is what keeps our skin vibrant and plump with hydration, healthy and smooth looking.  Collagen production naturally begins to decrease as we age.  Along with oxidative stresses such as exposure to out door elements, sun shine, UV rays, harsh chemicals, and smoking, as we enter our early to mid 30s we begin to notice the smile lines that do not go away.  We see the little wrinkles at the edges of our eyes that become a permanent fixture to our facial features.  This is due to the slow decline of collagen production. 

How Our Skin Ages Naturally

As above pictured, over time with the reduction of collagen production and it's partner elastin (enter vitamin E) our skin looses it's ability to maintain it's structure, firmness, and tensile strength. Vitamin C applied topically is known to help with many sensitive aging "issues".  It helps with things like: improving the appearance of elemental damaged skin, supports skins structure from UV/external stressors and damage, reduces inflammation, lessens hyper pigmentation (dark spots), increases collagen production, and mitigates effects of free radicals.  Reading all of this, PLEASE remember aging is beautiful, but there are things we can do to help this process and change take hold gracefully.

 Vitamin C is unstable at best, if packaged poorly it is one of the first essentials to go, if under heat it vanishes into thin air (sort of). The most stable forms of vitamin C are: ascorbic acid, L-ascorbic acid, ascorbic palmitate, sodium ascorbic phosphate, retinal ascorbate, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, and magnesium ascorbic phosphate.  Looking at packaging (if you are buying a product that contains vitamin C for topical use) it is important that it is in opaque and or dark package/container, lest the degradation of the vitamin that your are trying to purchase.

Do you have experience with product that contains topical vitamin C? Has it been a success story in your quest for healthy and beautiful skin? We would love to hear from you!! All questions and stories are welcome.

To Your Health and Ours,

Sincerely,
Recherch'e Organics

Radiant Skin with...Rose Hip Seed Oil?!

CLICK HERE

Rose Hips from Wild Rose: Rosa rugosa

Fall is in the air and these vibrant beauties are out in abundance right now!  Rose hips are the little red fruits found on wild rose bushes throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, and even China. Wild rose bushes are willing to grow most places that have seasonal (autumnal) change world wide.

Possibly best known for their abundance of vitamin C (1,770-2,000 milligrams/ 100 grams vs. an orange approximately 50 milligrams of vitamin C. per 100 grams) these small fruits are packed with a plethora of antioxidants, vitamins, essential fatty acids, and minerals.

Pictured above are the small seeds found within the rose hip fruit.  It is here, in these small group of seeds,  that the precious rose hip oil is extracted from. Rose hip seed oil is the only vegetable source oil known to contain retinol (vitamin A).  This little known, yet highly revered oil also contains great amounts of essential fatty acids, linoleic acid (omega 6,), and linolenic acid (omega 3), a powerful antioxidant called lycopene (what makes tomatoes red) as well as beta-carotene.

Unadulterated Rose Hip Seed Oil 

So what does all of this mean for you and your skin?
The essential fatty acids (EFAs) give this oil it's moisturizing properties.  It is very beneficial for tired, dull, weather worn skin. The vitamin A helps the oil to penetrate into the skins epidermal layers,  deepening the effect of the oils moisturizing ability. Vitamin C antioxidants help with collagen production reducing the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles. Over all rose hip seed oil has been noted to improve the over all tone, moisture content, appearance of dark spots and blemishes, healing damaged skin cells and helping to slough off cell's that are beyond repair.
This leaves your skin feeling fresh and new after each application.  Rose hip seed oil is very gentile in nature making it an oil that can be directly applied to most skin types.

It is important to note however that due to the delicate nature of this oil, through cold pressed extraction process, it should be kept refrigerated in order to prolong it's shelf life.

DIY:

an easy application of this oil is to take a small amount of your favorite lotion, skin cream, night treatment and add a few drops of rose hip seed oil. Mix it together thoroughly and apply to skin.  This oil is considered a "dry oil" and will not leave your skin looking shiny or feeling greasy.
Using rose hip seed oil in this way allows you to keep a larger amount stored safely in the fridge while making it accessible and an easy way to add it to your daily or nightly beauty routine.