If Gotu kola isn’t in your vocabulary, it’s time to add it. This unassuming herb has natural properties that revitalize, heal, and hydrate the skin, making it an ideal addition to your favorite skincare products. Gotu kola has a long history of medicinal applications, and thankfully, it’s now found its way into modern skincare.
What is Gotu kola?
Gotu kola is an herb naturally found in tropical climates like those found in the South Pacific, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, and China. You might know it under one of many other names, such as thick-leaved pennywort, Centella, Indian pennywort, or marsh penny.
This aggressive plant grows without fuss in the moist climates where it thrives. Over the centuries, it’s been used to treat illnesses from arthritis and indigestion to swelling reduction and memory loss. Many are familiar with Gotu kola as a common herbal supplement, but it’s natural properties, which bring out the best in your skin, make it ideal for use as a topical application.
3 Ways Gotu kola can help your skin:
1. Reduce inflammation
Gotu kola has natural anti-inflammatory properties that help maintain the skin’s natural moisture barrier. Skin inflammation can manifest in different ways. Your skin may be red, dry and flaky, or feel bumpy. Gotu kola helps the skin's natural defense barrier stay strong and hydrated. This barrier also keeps your skin looking hydrated and helps resist injury and infection.
Inflammation can come from sun exposure, exposure to pollutants, the climate, or even the food you eat. Daily treatments with ingredients that address inflammation can improve the texture, tone, and health of your skin.
2. Reduce wrinkles
Any skincare ingredient that helps with hydration can also prevent wrinkles. Gotu kola does more than keep your skin hydrated. It contains saponins, sometimes called triterpenoids, which boost collagen production deep in the skin.
Collagen is a fibrous substance made of amino acids that gives your skin flexibility. As you age, your body slows down collagen production, which contributes to the development of wrinkles. Collagen production can also slow due to sun exposure, poor diet, lack of sleep, and lack of exercise. Gotu kola acts as a jump starter for collagen production to help your skin naturally stay supple, improving its ability to bounce back from daily damage.
3. Promote healing
A 2015 study found that Gotu kola improved skin healing in rats. While you are definitely not a rat, the study supports what many cultures have suspected for centuries, that Gotu kola aids skin healing. The collagen production that Gotu kola stimulates isn’t just used to keep your skin flexible. It’s an integral part of the healing process.
Whether it’s scrapes and cuts that need healing or daily sun damage, collagen is there to aid the process. Gotu kola boosts collagen production to aid healing from sun damage and other types of daily damage, contributing to its ability to slow visible signs of aging.
How to use Gotu kola in your skincare routine
At SkinResourceMD, we’ve combined Gotu kola with other powerful natural ingredients to create our Baobab Skin Correction Facial Cream. Gotu kola isn’t the only healing, anti-inflammatory, wrinkle-reducing part of the cream. This soothing correction cream has a host of natural healing ingredients, including Gotu kola, baobab seed oil, licorice root extract, lily extract, and red dulse algae.
Baobab seed oil, a seed that hails from a tree native to Africa, and licorice root extract also soothe inflammation. Baobab also hydrates, heals, and brightens your skin when used regularly over a period of weeks.
The Baobab Skin Correction Facial Cream can be used as a daily moisturizer or as an additional skincare treatment. You may also want to alternate its use at nighttime. For example, you could use it every other night, alternating with Ultra Rich Biolipid Cream. Nighttime application gives the Baobab Skin Correction Facial Cream time to absorb into the skin without getting rubbed off or the skin acquiring sun or pollutant damage. The cream helps the skin focus solely on healing and rejuvenating.
This light cream can be layered underneath additional moisturizers and sunscreen without leaving your face feeling thick or sticky. It’s also an excellent option for soothing your skin after daily sun exposure.
Final thoughts on Gotu kola
Your skin is an amazing organ that protects you from a harsh environment. However, to do its job and look its best, it needs daily care. Gotu kola is a natural ingredient that can enhance the look, feel, and healing of your skin. Making it a regular part of your skin care can bring out the best your skin has to offer.
