PUFAs in Skincare
A question came up in my inbox and it's something I've wanted to touch on in regards to our recent product updates. There is a lot of buzz these days in the natural health space about seed oils and PUFAs and their affects on our health and for good reason. Typically these are your soy, canola, safflower, palm, peanut, sunflower, etc. oils that we find in our highly processed and packaged foods. PUFAs or polyunsaturated fatty acids are more unstable and prone to oxidation leading to more inflammation in the body, less resiliency to stressors, and negative impact on overall health. There is a lot to this but I do want to keep this on the simple side and we can always dive deeper later on.
There is some nuance with this. A good quality, fresh, cold pressed pumpkin seed oil is going to have active antioxidants and other constituents that will help protect against the stress and oxidation of the fatty acid. Same with black cumin seed oil, rose hip seed oil, and others.
Most of the negative impacts we are seeing with PUFAs is from ingesting them, but what we put on our skin also has an impact. As we age we tend to have higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids in our skin tissue, I would assume this is largely because of the amount of PUFAs in our food these days, but there could be other factors. Higher levels of PUFAs in our tissue allow the skin to become more prone to damage by stress, aging, UV light, environmental toxins, etc. Because of this, I want to prioritize adding more saturated and mono-unsaturated fats to our skin via our diet and our skincare.
I can't cook for you everyday or provide your groceries, sorry. But I can provide you with good skincare options. This is a topic we took into consideration with our reformulations. Even though we use good quality, fresh cold pressed oils do the benefits of those oils outweigh the negatives? Are there better options?
We chose to remove pumpkin and sesame oils from our cleanser and instead blend our herbal infused jojoba with avocado oil, olive oil, and castor oil which are mostly mono and saturated fatty acids. These all work together in beautiful harmony to remove excess oils, dirt, makeup, sunscreen, etc. while preserving the natural oils on your skin promoting a balanced oil production, reducing blackheads, and promoting clear skin.
In some formulations we have replaced argan oil or black cumin seed oil with grass-fed tallow or olive oil. We like the benefits of black cumin seed oil formulated with acne healing essential oils so we have kept it in our Spot Serum. Rose hip seed oil is one that we still find very valuable for its antioxidants, especially vitamin C levels so you can still find it in our Moisturize and Tallow Balm.
Our mission at Grace Holistic Skin is to provide you with skincare that nourishes your skin. We believe that by feeding and nourishing our skin well, we will age more gracefully and feel more confident in the beautiful bodies we have been blessed with.
- Ashley