Allantoin – The Best Soothing Ingredient that Nature Has to Offer?

Tags

acne, acne scars, alcohol, algae extracts, Allantoin, anti-irritant, Arnica, blue Lotus extracts, botanical, botanical extracts, breakouts, chamomile, cleansers, combination skin, Comfrey, cuts, debris, decongest, dirt, dryness, dullness, Europe, exfoliate, face masks, Glycerin, glycolic acid, hands, herb, hydrate, hydrolipid, ingredient, ingrown hairs, irritation, itching, Lactic Acid, lightweight, lotions, Magnolia Essential Oil, moisture, moisture balance, nails, natural sources, normal skin, nourish, oil, oily skin, organic, pore minimising, pores, purify, Salicylic Acid, salicylic acid serum, scrapes, sensitive skin, serums, Shea butter, skin problems, skincare, smooth skin, soothe, sugar beat, tobacco seed, urea, uric acid, Vitamin E, water, wheat sprouts, white meadowfoam oil

Photo by Ron Lach

As you’ll know if you’re a regular visitor to our site, we like to keep our fingers on the pulse when it comes to skincare ingredients and trends. One such ingredient which has been popping up a lot lately is allantoin. It’s something which has been around for some time, but it’s going through something of a renaissance, with many major skincare companies including in their products. Here’s the lowdown on allantoin:

What is allantoin?

As we mentioned above, allantoin is used in many skin care products, including cleansers, lotions, serums, and face masks. Due to its anti-irritant properties, companies tend to add it to products that hydrate and soothe the skin. This ingredient is perfect for sensitive skin and is usually derived from natural sources.

Where is it found? 

In its natural form, allantoin is found in several plants, such as sugar beet, chamomile, tobacco seed, and wheat sprouts. A popular source of allantoin is the extract of comfrey, a species of herb native to Europe. It can also be prepared synthetically for cosmetic use, either by oxidation of uric acid, reaction of dichloroacetic acid and urea, or condensation reaction between glyoxylic acid and urea. (Don’t worry, that’s the last time today that we’ll get so scientific!)

What is it good for?

Allantoin might be your ticket to super smooth skin. It’s one of those amazing ingredients that offers a major bang for your buck and is great if you’re dealing with dryness, dullness, irritation, acne scars and even cuts and scrapes. Allantoin is also known for its ability to add more water to your skin. It can help your skin hang on to moisture longer, and helps fight annoying skin issues like dryness, itching, and irritation, which can ultimately lead to more skin problems, like acne or oily skin. 

Which products contain allantoin?

Decleor White Magnolia Hand and Nail Cream

This light cream is ideal for use throughout the day to leave skin beautifully scented and provide essential care for hands and nails. Key active ingredients include white meadowfoam oil to regenerate the hydrolipid film, shea butter and allantoin to nourish and soothe, plus magnolia essential oil to help protect and reinforce the skin.

Lycon Ingrown X-It Solution

With allantoin, salicylic acid, lactic acid and arnica, Lycon Ingrown X-It Solution is a break through spray formula for the face and body. It mildly exfoliates, decongests and helps minimise the appearance and discomfort of ingrown hairs. 

Medik8 Blemish Control Pads

Pre-soaked in a clarifying maximum strength salicylic acid serum, Medik8 Blemish Control Pads dissolve oil and dirt from deep within the pore to purify problem complexions. Crafted without alcohol and infused with allantoin and glycerin, they protect the skin’s natural moisture balance to ward off dryness, while caring for the most sensitive of skin types.

Murad Clarifying Body Spray

Murad Clarifying Body Spray is a quick-drying formula that helps prevent body breakouts. Salicylic acid helps clear up blemishes as glycolic acid helps clear away pore-clogging debris. Allantoin and blue lotus extract help soothe irritation for healthier-looking skin.

SkinCeuticals Daily Moisture

SkinCeuticals Daily Moisture is a lightweight, pore minimising moisturiser, designed to hydrate and nourish normal, combination and oily skin. It contains an exclusive combination of vitamin E, three nutrient-rich algae extracts, and a blend of seven botanical extracts including allantoin. 

Five of the Best Ingredients for Youthful Skin

Tags

acidic, acne, ageing, all skin types, allergic reactions, alternative, anti-aging, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, ayurvedic medicine, bakuchiol, blemish prone, breastfeeding, ceramides, Chinese medicine, collagen, combination skin, complexion, dark spots, dehydrated, delicate, dermatology, dry skin, dryness, eczema, epidermis, Eyes, fats, firm, firmer feeling, germs, glowing, healthy, humectant, hyaluronic acid, Indian Babchi plant, inflammation, leaves, lines, lipids, melanin, moisture, oceans, oil based, oily skin, pigmentation, plump, plumper, potent, pregnant, products, Psoriasis, rainforests, reinforce, retinoids, retinol, rosacea, seeds, sensitive skin, sensitivity, skin, skin barrier, skin care, skin cells, skin issues, smoother, sun damage, topically, useful, vitamin A, Vitamin C, water, wrinkles

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

Here at Pure Beauty, we’re well aware of how confusing skincare can feel. There’s a different product for every different skin issue and a wealth of ingredients which vary from things found in your pantry to things found in the deepest oceans or rainforests! Looking at ingredient lists often feels like trying to decipher an unknown language, but there are some key things that you can look for if you’re in the market for anti-ageing products. Here are five of the best ingredients for maintaining a youthful complexion:

Retinol 

Retinol is a form of vitamin A that’s suitable for the skin. It belongs to a group of vitamin A derivatives, known as retinoids. Retinol has multiple uses and can be used to combat conditions like acne and can target areas of pigmentation. It can also reduce signs of ageing and sun damage. Retinoids don’t work equally well on everyone. If you suffer from rosacea, eczema, or psoriasis, it’s probably best to avoid retinol since it can be too powerful on skin that needs a gentle touch – it can increase inflammation, dryness and sensitivity in already delicate complexions.

Try Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Serum

Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic Acid is a humectant — a substance that retains moisture — and it is capable of binding over one thousand times its weight in water. This substance is naturally found in many areas of the human body, including the skin and eyes. Hyaluronic acid helps skin stretch and flex and reduces skin wrinkles and lines. Hyaluronic acid is also proven to help wounds heal faster and can reduce scarring. Allergic reactions to hyaluronic acid are rare, so that means whether you have oily skin, sensitive, dry skin, or combination skin, you have the green light to use hyaluronic acid products.

Try SkinCeuticals H.A. (Hyaluronic Acid) Intensifier Serum 

Vitamin C

Vitamin C can help keep skin looking plump and firm. This is because it’s highly acidic when applied topically and can help to promote collagen production and reduce the appearance of ageing skin. It also contains a property that inhibits the skin’s melanin production levels, two of the culprits that can lead to dark spots and hyperpigmentation, making it an absolute hero at giving you a glowing, healthy complexion. It’s usually found in oil-based products, so may not be ideal for acne and blemish prone skin, but it’s great for pretty much all other skin types. 

Try REN Clean Skincare Glow Daily Vitamin C Gel Cream

Bakuchiol

If you’re looking for an alternative to retinol that can be used on more sensitive skin, bakuchiol is a good place to start. Bakuchiol is found in the seeds and leaves of the Indian Babchi plant and has been used in traditional Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for centuries. It also has calming anti-inflammatory and healing antibacterial properties and is even safe for use when pregnant and breastfeeding. It’s a potent-yet-kind ingredient which the British Journal of Dermatology found was just as effective as retinol and significantly less irritating, which is great news for anyone looking for an alternative.

Try Medik8 The CSA Bakuchiol Edition Kit

Ceramides

Ceramides are fats or lipids that are found in skin cells and make up 30% to 40% of your outer skin layer, or epidermis. Ceramides are important for retaining your skin’s moisture and preventing the entry of germs into your body. If your skin’s ceramide content decreases, which often happens with age, it can become dehydrated. Skincare products with ceramides will help reinforce your skin’s barrier and increase hydration, giving you plumper, smoother, firmer-feeling skin with fewer visible lines and wrinkles, as well as fewer signs of sensitivity.

Try Advanced Nutrition Programme Skin Moisture IQ

Pure Beauty helps ease your skincare worries

Tags

acne, amazing, antioxidant serum, areas, Avellana Seed oil, beauty regime, blemishes, blended, body, brightened, brightens, Camellia, central heating, chapped hands, cold weather, combination skin, combo, creams, decongest, deeply cleanses, delicate eye area, Dermalogica Hydrating Lotion, detoxifies, dirt, dry patches, dull skin, Elemis Absolute Eye Mask, Elemis Balancing Lime Blossom Cleanser, Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Body Cream, enriched, excess oil, Eyes, face, fine lines, firm, Frangipani flowers, hands, happy, health, help, hydrates, ingredients, issues, Jan Marini C-ESTA Serum, jasmine, lacklustre, Litsea, luxurious product, luxurious texture, Macadamia and Sesame Oil, magnolia, make-up, Milk Protein, nails, need, nourishing, Omega 7, Pure Beauty, reduce, revitalised, rich formula, shower gel, silky-smooth, skin, skin loving, smell, smoothing, soothes, spots, super soft, tighten, tired, tired eyes, tone, trouble, Virgin Plum, vitality, Vitamin C, water, white flowers, work, worse, wrinkles, youthful

Whether it is acne, dry patches, fine lines, blemishes, chapped hands or deepening wrinkles you struggle with when it comes to your skin, at Pure Beauty, we sell a range of products that can help you get to grips with the issues that trouble you the most.

All about the eyes
We love the Elemis Absolute Eye Mask because it does so much to help your eyes look fantastic. When applied to the delicate eye area it helps to decongest, firm and tone, whilst nourishing and smoothing at the same time – amazing. You can use it twice a week and by leaving the ingredients to get to work for 10 minutes, tired eyes will be brightened and revitalised.

It’s all about the combo
If you have combination skin, the Elemis Balancing Lime Blossom Cleanser could be what you have been looking for. It deeply cleanses your skin so that dirt and make-up are removed and excess oil is balanced, but not totally wiped away. Extracts of Lime Blossom, Lecithin and Vitamin E soothe and moisturise so that skin is bursting with health and vitality.

Tighten up
Adding the Jan Marini C-ESTA Serum to your beauty regime can help tone and tighten your skin in the areas you most need it. Packed with skin loving Vitamin C, this powerful antioxidant serum helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Ongoing use means lines will be less pronounced and skin will look even-toned and healthy.

Spot it
Let’s face it, we have all suffered with spots at one time or another and sometimes the creams used to help make things better, actually make them worse. The Dermalogica Hydrating Lotion soothes discomfort and hydrates dryness so your skin feels happy once again.

What about your body?
You might take care of your face, but the rest of your body needs more than shower gel to keep it in check. The Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Body Cream is the answer to your prayers as this luxurious product is enriched with Macadamia and Sesame Oil and it leaves skin feeling super soft and silky smooth. Thanks to Frangipani Flowers you will smell great too.

Hand it to me
The cold weather, central heating and endless contact with water, means that our hands really do take a battering during the day. To ensure your hands are soft and smooth, we would suggest you keep a tube of Elemis Pro-Radiance Hand and Nail Cream in your bag. It has a luxurious texture which is quickly absorbed by the skin so that hands and nails are instantly rejuvenated and conditioned. Milk Protein, Avellana Seed Oil, Omega 7, Camellia, Virgin Plum and Macadamia have been blended to create a rich formula that locks in moisture. White flowers, Litsea, Jasmine, Magnolia and a hint of Vanilla, means that hands don’t only look youthful and radiant but they smell sensational too.

Tired, dull skin
If you need rescuing from tired, lacklustre, dull skin, add the Dermalogica Charcoal Rescue Masque to your basket. This all-in-one treatment detoxifies, brightens and invigorates your skin and can be used by everyone.

If you have any questions about these, or any products we stock, get in touch and we would love to help.

Team Pure Beauty

Combination skin doesn’t have to be hard to deal with

Tags

combination skin, dermalogica

If you have skin that fits into more than one skin type then you have combination skin which can be really hard to deal with, but lucky for you Dermalogica has got it covered.

Combination skin is generally made up of a mixture of dry and oily skin, normal and dry or normal and oily skin. When you have combination skin you will find that different areas of your face show signs of different skin types; for example, people who have oily and dry skin tend to have a shiny nose, chin and forehead where they are prone to blackheads as well as dry patches on the rest of their face. Although you might think it’s quite easy to deal with both of these skin types trying to find products that are suitable for both can be tricky.

However, thanks to Dermalogica, looking after combination skin no longer has to be a nightmare. Dermalogica have a whole range of products that are intended for use on combination skin. There are skin kits that are intended for people with normal to oily skin and normal to dry skin as well as a whole range of products that can be used together in order to treat both skin types at the same time; for example, if you use Dermalogica’s Active Moist mixed with their Skin Hydrating Booster you can easily treat both problems and keep you and your skin happy.