No Sunday breakfast is complete without a side of mushrooms – that's pretty much a fact – but it seems we've been missing a trick all along, because the (not so) humble fungi is proven to have a well deserved place in skincare.
There's no denying natural beauty has boomed in the past few years. We've seen more and more brands kicking synthetic ingredients to the kerb in favour of plant-based elements, and now with both stress and air pollution at record highs, it's vital we step up our game when it comes to ingredients and we're turning out attention to the mighty mushroom.
Created over 10 years ago, Origins has been leading the way with Dr. Weil for Origins Mega-Mushroom Relief & Resilience range and now, the formulas have been upgraded and the mushroom supercharged.
It was created by Dr. Andrew Weil, a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine and natural beauty, who has studied the healing properties of mushrooms for years. Using his expertise, he was the very first doctor to incorporate mushrooms into skincare, and they have since gained huge traction in the beauty sphere. The range builds barrier strength, defends against environmental aggressors and turns skin from lacklustre to healthy and hydrated – and it’s now better than ever, thanks to a dream team of mushrooms such as fermented chaga, coprinus, cordyceps and reishi.
Just don't let the complicated names put you off. You're bound to be sold on the whole line's radiance-enhancing properties, and one product in particular has piqued our interest at Refinery29 – the Mega-Mushroom Treatment Lotion. It’s a skin-quenching elixir that calms, soothes, refreshes and restores skin to its optimum health, and takes a matter of seconds to incorporate into your skincare routine. With all four mushrooms as well as anti-irritant sea buckthorn (perfect if you suffer with redness), lactobacillus to strengthen the skin’s barrier, and camelina oil and sunflower seed extract for an extra hit of hydration, it’s likely to trump every other skincare product currently lining your bathroom shelf.
Click through for your best skin ever...
Time for a quick biology refresh: A mushroom is the spore-bearing fruit of a fungus, which typically grows in soil or on another plant it relies on for sustenance. And although they don't look very, well, 'beauty' they are actually full of skin benefits.
Take the reishi mushroom. Just one of a megamix of ingredients in the Mega-Mushroom Treatment Lotion, it serves up anti-inflammatory properties according to Dr. Weil himself, so you can wave goodbye to sensitivity and dryness. The fermented chaga mushroom is another key ingredient – a powerful anti-irritant, it has the power to calm and soothe. It's fair to say that we now couldn't imagine our skincare arsenals without this superfood ingredient.
Then there's the trend for mushrooms in holistic health, too. Those looking for ways to banish anxiety and illness, and to harness better focus have been flocking to alternative cafés for cups of mushroom broth and even coffee (yep, it’s a thing, and you can actually buy it in boxes to whip up at home yourself).
Illustrated by Anna Jay.
The idea of mushrooms in skincare might sound a bit bizarre to us, but they have actually been used for centuries in traditional Chinese, Tibetan and Russian medicine to boost immunity and combat fatigue. Some have even referred to mushroom extracts as an 'elixir of life'. History lesson over.
According to the skin specialists at Origins, mushrooms like reishi and coprinus in particular have the muscle to solve the kinds of skin bugbears that result from the onslaught of environmental stressors flung at us on a daily basis, and it's all thanks to their powerful inflammatory properties. We're talking the ability to shield against environmental agressors and stress (which work in tandem to dull your glow), and the power to calm irritation and raging redness caused by sensitivity.
So why a lotion? Well, we hate to break it to you, but the simple two-step routine of cleansing and moisturising is unlikely to give your skin the intense nourishment and protection it needs, especially if you're a city dweller. Cue dullness, flaking, sensitivity – you get our drift. That's why it pays to take a leaf out of the book of Asian skincare rituals. Our Korean counterparts have been supplementing their regimes with lotions – also known as essences – for years, but it's only recently that we've cottoned on to the idea.
Feather-light, cooling and silky smooth, the Mega-Mushroom Treatment Lotion is a good place to start, especially as the beauty editor-approved elixir has been upgraded with a new mushroom – coprinus comatus – known for its skin-protecting, complexion-calming powers.
We're sold.
But how, and when, should you use it? Because it's much lighter than a serum or a moisturiser, it should be applied first, almost like a toner. Immediately after cleansing in both the morning and evening, soak a cotton pad and swipe it over your face. You can also use your fingertips to directly pat and tap a few layers of the lotion into the skin.
Illustrated by Anna Jay.
One word: yes. According to Dr. Weil himself, the skin-quenching liquid elixir can increase skin moisturisation instantly and cumulatively throughout the day. It calms, soothes, refreshes and restores skin to its optimum health, so you can feel comfortable in the knowledge that it is safeguarded against all manner of invisible stressors that try and ravage your skin on a daily basis. Plus, it only takes a matter of seconds to incorporate into your skincare routine.
The best part? The mushroom complex in the Mega-Mushroom Treatment Lotion is fortified with lactobacillus, a clever probiotic which boosts the mushroom ingredients to increase the skin's moisture level (bye-bye, dehydration lines and tightness) and to improve radiance. Hello, glow.
Illustrated by Anna Jay.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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