Koah Skin Naturals

Bakuchiol

ORIGIN: Seeds and leaves of the seeds of the Psoralea corylifolia plant (native to India and used in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries)

BENEFITS: Many scientific studies now prove that bakuchiol shows similar regenerative results to retinol in terms of improving signs of aging, UV damage and scarring, but without the sensitivity issues that retinol can bring as it functions differently in the skin. It repairs and calms, and improves texture of the skin.

This rest and regenerate formulation blends the maximum recommended use level of bakuchiol with squalane, rosehip, vitamin E and beautiful neroli essential oil for a moment of caaaaaalm before bed, or ahead of a busy day.

USE: I love this as a few drops on damp skin as a face oil, or added to a usual moisturiser to supercharge it (daytime followed by SPF).

RESULTS: One week in, skin feels really lovely and soft, though I'm yet to measure the wrinkle depth for comparison 😍

Let's see how it goes!

A box of loveliness has been delivered!
Squalane, organic rosehip seed oil, salicylic acid...

Time to get creative 🌿

Happy World Environment Day!

https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/

Thank you for everything, planet. You're amazing ❤️

In honour of your awesomeness, I thought I'd include a few of my favourite recent photos to show my appreciation 🌿

Wow, I smell amazing! 😁
My Neroli essential oil blend arrived this morning - I'm obsessed! I had forgotten how much I love it.

Neroli - or Orange Blossom - is an expensive oil.
The fragrant white flowers (which would go on to be Seville oranges) are hand picked and the oil extracted by steam distillation.

As a by-product of this distillation process, Orange Blossom floral water is produced - this makes an amazing toner base!

Neroli is known for its ability to promote healthy glowing skin and is highly effective in products for mature skin, stimulating the growth of new cells.

Emotionally, it's the go-to for anxiety, nervous tension and depression, with a euphoric, sweet, floral fragrance.

It's often the base of high-end perfumes too!

I think this essential oil will be finding its way into a facial serum very soon!

Big shout out to CLEAVERS
(also known as goosegrass, sticky w**d, bedstraw, and lots of other names!)
At some point in our lives, we've all walked around with a piece unknowingly stuck to our backs!

But here's a fun fact: it's often enjoyed as a refreshing cold infusion made by infusing the aerial parts (leaves and stems) in boiling water, and enjoyed with ice throughout the day. It is a powerful diuretic - flushing out toxins, decreasing lymphatic congestion and reducing swelling.

It appears in the spring when immune systems are sluggish and in need of a boost (clever!)

And for the skin, it has a long history of traditional use in Chinese medicine to treat skin infections and wounds and has been used for centuries to treat sunburn, eczema, psoriasis and acne.

I just love that these little miracle plants are all around us, appear when we need them most, and we don't realise just how amazing they are!

This was an early attempt at a potent overnight moisturiser with:

🌱 zero-waste and super-light cucumber seed oil
🌱 luxurious and rich rosehip seed oil
🌱 fabulous squalane for softness and elasticity

🌱 Two botanical extracts are added to address wrinkle depth and skin smoothness (YES, please!)

And I wish you could smell it: just a very delicate fragrance of clary sage, which is believed to help ease frazzled nerves.

Perfect combo for bedtime!😴

Back in my happy place at the formulation bench with some lovely botanical ingredients around me and I'm so excited to get to work on my list of formulation ideas! 😁🌿

Gorgeously light and quick to sink in, cucumber oil is also ZERO WASTE. I use this oil in a number of formulations where a light feel is needed. It's another one of my favourites

Everyone loves getting parcels, especially when they know they're full of lovely things!

Floral waters, seed oils, AHA fruit complex, preservative... have all arrived. Today I will be mostly making hand cream, yay!

It's 22nd April...
Happy 52nd Earth Day, everyone!

You can see more about World Earth Day here: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-live.
I never even knew it was a thing!

Thank you for everything (good), Earth!
I plan to get out and continue on my (responsible, of course) foraging journey over the next few days, in appreciation of the complete awesomeness of what nature offers. May sound like an excuse rather than a legitimate contribution to Earth Day, but it's a positive at least 😁🌱

Have a great day, whatever you're doing!

Antioxidants are important for skin health as they protect the skin cells from degredation and damage, which contribute to the formation of lines and wrinkles.

This light antioxidant oil can be used as a booster for your daily moisturiser or on its own (and always with SPF).

KIWI SEED OIL - Light, highly nutritious, high in vitamin C
WHITE POPPY SEED OIL (UK grown) - Great moisturising properties, helps nourish and soften skin
PLUM KERNEL OIL - Helps soften and nourish, rich in antioxidants and vitamins A and E
VITAMIN E - Highly effective antioxidant, helps prevent water loss from the skin. Excellent for dry skin. Helps to protect the skin from environmental pollutants. Very soothing to irritated or burnt skin.
COENZYME Q10 - Powerful antioxidant, especially when coupled with vitamin E. Protective against environmental aggressors. The amount of coenzyme Q10 that your body creates naturally, diminishes with age.
PLANKTON EXTRACT (plant plankton) - Protects the skin and restores balance.

By adding even just one or two water-soluble actives to floral water, as well as the crucial and correct preservative, a really lovely product can be created, such as a simple toner or facial spritz.

Find out more about floral waters here and look out for my toner formulation later this month.

Have you used hydrosols before? Tell me below!

Essential oil? Carrier oil? What's the difference?

A little bit of *ahem* 'essential' Sunday reading for you. I'd love to know how you use essential oils in your life - in burners, diffusers, compresses?

I love love love geranium essential oil and the instant emotional lift if gives me (unless i use too much, then i get headache) 😁

Cold pressed, expressed, chemical extraction, refined or not... there's not just one way to produce a carrier oil. And what is a carrier oil anyway? Well, allow me to help answer that :-)

Time flies!
It feels like forever since I was last here. But I've still been creating and formulating and learning, and I'm looking forward to sharing more here soon.

Thanks for sticking around!

For protection from the elements:

🌱 Bakuchiol daily face serum
White poppy seed oil, kiwi seed oil and bakuchiol light blend helps soften, support and protect skin, used either on its own or as a few drops added to your normal moisturiser daily
🌱 Hydrating boost for dry hands (and body, but not face), with a gorgeous lemongrass essential oil blend and super-nourishing avocado oil. I love this slapped on at night.

A complimentary pair! 😁

Neroli and Apricot Apres-Shower Body Oil

Applied to freshly showered skin, this super-light body oil absorbs easily into skin leaving no oily residue and sealing in moisture. Great all year round.

Neroli essential oil is reported to offer wonderful skin benefits. It's great for sensitive skin and it has excellent rejuvenating and balancing properties. Therapeutically, its subtle floral fragrance is described as 'euphoric', helping to relieve stress and anxiety and bring about a more positive and hopeful mood.

And combined with nourishing apricot oil and light watermelon... well, if I were a confident swimmer, I'd happily jump in a vat full of it 😁🌼🌱

And whilst still plastic, these lovely tinted bottles are made from recycled PCR plastic. Reuse and recycle!

Some oils have a very intense colour which can easily dominate a blend. I find pumpkin to be one (not included here), even though it is known to have fabulous toning properties.

I have had a relaxing afternoon making a little palette of selected oil colours, in preparation for an Après-Shower Body Spritz. I'm thinking either clear or a light rose colour. But what I think and what I achieve might be two very different things... 😁🌱

I get just as much enjoyment from looking at these oils as I do using them. I love to watch the different colours swirl together in a blend.

This golden watermelon (zero waste) and poppy seed (grown and farmed sustainably in the UK) antioxidant facial oil is packed with powerful and protective plant-based goodies. And with a hint of geranium to help lift the spirits and alleviate stress, it's like a protective hug in a bottle 🌱❤

Thank you to my next lot of volunteer testers! Another batch of samples now out there.🌱

There's a lot of hype about bakuchiol, and for good reason!

It takes around 100lbs of rose petals to distill approximately 5ml of rose oil. Just as well we appreciate every one of those petals 🌹

So many of these gorgeous Oxeye daisies (or 'Jumbo daisies' as we affectionately call them) growing wild right on our doorsteps. They're a lovely happy smile - in plant form 🌼

Here's why I love it: it's sustainable, it's beautifully light, quickly absorbed, great for all skin types (dry, mature, acneic, oily, sensitive) and high in omega 6 and 9, so helps to improve the softness of the skin. Perfect in a summer body oil - stay tuned!

Bored with colourless skincare? We're loving the red of this body oil - which doesn't colour the skin, just adds a bit of fun and interest. And on the subject of colour, the plant in the background is a white lavender - white! Who knew! 🌿