The skin is the body’s protective layer. It maintains moisture levels, insulates the body, and protects it from harmful or foreign substances. Your skin works hard and goes through a lot during the course of a day. Skincare products nourish the skin, providing it with nutrients that promote elasticity, healing, and strength.
Baobab seed oil, a natural ingredient found in a tree native to the African continent, is loaded with nutrients your skin craves and needs. It’s the key ingredient in SkinResourceMD’s Baobab Skin Correction Facial Cream. Derived from Africa’s “tree of life,” this powerful ingredient contains nutrients that hydrate, heal, and restore the skin.
What’s Baobab?
The Baobab tree goes by many names, including the tree of life and the upside-down tree.The Baobab’s leaves, fruit, fruit pulp, and seeds have offered medicinal, nutritional, and cosmetic solutions to the people of Africa for centuries.
While there are nine Baobab species, it’s the Adansonia digitata L. that gets the most attention and use. It’s used for everything from cooking oil and soup thickeners to analgesics and moisturizers. Today, it’s cultivated beyond the African continent as the world has learned more about its potential as a natural alternative in cooking, medicine, and cosmetics.
The Nutrient Content of Baobab Seed Oil
Baobab leaves and seeds contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, and phosphorus. But when it comes to skin care, it’s the nutrient-rich baobab seed oil that packs a powerful skin-rejuvenating punch. This cold-pressed oil is loaded with proteins, fatty acids, and other nutrients the skin needs to thrive. We’ll cover just a few of the key nutrients this oil provides when absorbed into the skin.
Beta-carotene
During the normal course of the day, your skin gets exposed to solar radiation, cigarette smoke, and general air pollution. All of those things attack and break down the skin’s natural resources and defenses. Baobab seed oil contains high amounts of beta-carotene—twice that of palm kernel oil and seven times that of corn oil. When absorbed into the skin, beta-carotene acts as a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes the oxidative stress caused by environmental stressors.
When applied to the face, beta-carotene absorbs into the skin, where it’s converted into retinyl esters. In your skin, those retinyl esters have the potential to be turned into retinol, a form of vitamin A. (The ability to convert beta-carotene into retinol is also a genetic trait. Not everyone’s body can make this conversion.)
There’s quite a buzz about retinol in the cosmetics world. That’s because retinol is a favorite in skincare products for its ability to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by promoting and increasing collagen production. (Collagen is a protein that maintains and boosts the skin’s elasticity.)
Fatty Acids
Baobab seed oil also contains the right balance of essential fatty acids (EFAs), namely linoleic acid and oleic acid. Fatty acids are broken down into two basic categories, saturated and unsaturated fats. In Baobab seed oil, there are 73 percent unsaturated fats and 27 percent saturated fats. It’s a balance that’s particularly suited to strengthen the skin’s outer protective layer.
If you think of the skin as a brick wall, the skin cells act as the bricks with fatty acids as one ingredient of the mortar that holds it all together. If the skin is running low on fatty acids, the bricks (cells) can fall apart, becoming dry and flaky. Baobab seed oil’s fatty acid ratio renews and restores this protective layer. That not only helps reduce dryness but also strengths your body’s barrier against harmful and foreign substances.
Cholesterol
Usually, when cholesterol enters the conversation, it’s a bad thing because it can clog arteries. However, it’s an important component of your skin’s “brick and mortar” system. Like Omega-3 fatty acids, cholesterol helps hold the skin cells together. Cholesterol is also a lipid that plumps skin cells, giving them structure and fluidity. In short, it keeps them young.
Campesterol
Campesterol fits into a category of substances called phytosterols, which also happen to include the more familiar and previously discussed cholesterol. Campesterol prevents the loss of collagen, helping to maintain the skin’s elasticity. Better elasticity helps it bounce back from daily wear and tear with fewer lines and wrinkles.
Final Thoughts on the Skin’s Nourishment and Healing
Your skin will be with you for a lifetime. Ingredients like Baobab seed oil provide natural nourishment without harsh chemicals or artificial substances. It breathes new life into tired, damaged, and dehydrated skin cells, helping them heal. That’s why it’s an essential ingredient to SkinResourceMD’s Baobab Skin Correction Facial Cream.
Using Baobab seed oil and a host of other nourishing, gentle ingredients, this facial cream evens skin tone, promotes healing, and protects the skin from oxidative stress. Daily use can brighten and hydrate the skin with visible results, keeping your skin healthy and strong.
