The Skin Whisperer Shares Botanical Skin Brightening Tips
Skin brightening is a huge topic with skin care professionals. Physicians, aestheticians and consumers are all searching for skin care solutions to brighten blotchy skin and minimize hyperpigmentation, and are wading through the quagmire of conflicting treatment approaches and ingredient information that floods the internet and leaves even the most seasoned skin care enthusiast jaded and bleary.
Traditional skin lightening agents such as hydroquinone, corticosteroids and laser treatments can raise several safety concerns; for example, ochronosis, pigment flash-back, skin atrophy and systemic toxicity. When you combine this with the rising rate of inflammatory skin conditions consumers experience, it leaves consumers and skin care professionals very conflicted about how to safely and effectively treat this condition.
With the recent safety concern regarding use of hydroquinone, the need for alternative natural, safe and efficacious skin lightening agents is becoming all the more necessary. The quest for healthy ingredient alternatives and the exploding green beauty market has flooded the professional skin care world and new trends are emerging all the time. Unfortunately, there is too little education available on the science of herbal and plant medicine and too often it becomes marketing hyperbole.
I’ve studied the use and application of herbal medicine and its use for aging and problem skin conditions for over 30 years, and I never cease to be amazed at how powerful some of these plant roots, extracts and infusions can be in professional skin care. Herbalism has a long tradition of use outside of conventional medicine and has become more mainstream as improvements in analysis and quality control, along with advances in clinical research, show the value of herbal medicine in treating and preventing disease. Plants and herbs have been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history and are now more mainstream than ever as consumers search for healthy alternatives to drugs and invasive procedures.
The holistic approach I use in my private practice for pigmentation issues incorporates Dermaplaning, Nano Channeling, Apple Wine Acid Peels and Celluma LED Light Therapy – alternated in an intensive 6 week treatment series with a targeted home protocol that includes niacinamide, biopeptides and Pumpkin Wine Enzymes. UV protection is NOT optional in the quest for brighter skin, and Zinc and Titanium Oxide are the ingredients of choice to reflect harmful UV rays. A targeted home care program that begins with deep cleansing and detoxification and targeted plant-based skin lighteners is how I get results.
The Skin Whisperer
Emily Fritchey, Founder / CEO Sunshine Botanicals
Emily is the Founder and CEO of Sunshine Botanicals.
She is a Holistic Skin Therapist whose cutting-edge approach to dramatic skin transformation has made her not only a respected trend-setter among her peers in the field of aesthetics and cosmetic surgery, but an award-winning product formulator and expert on the use and application of herbal medicine and botanical skin treatments for aging and problem skin conditions.
Preceding her many years in the aesthetics field was her own painful struggle with problem skin that conventional medicine could not resolve. This led her to intense study in the field of cosmetic chemistry, nutrition, herbology and natural medicine that ultimately led not only to the solution and resolution of her chronic skin disorders, but to the development of her own results-oriented line of natural skincare products – Sunshine Botanicals. Her company was awarded the “Beauty with a Conscience” award from Natural Solutions Magazine for excellence in product formulation – three times.
Her unique approach to product formulation has been published in beauty media, as well as major medical journals, including Cosmetic Surgery Times, and Dermatology Times – June and August 2008, respectively. Emily is a member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists and is dedicated to the advancement of cosmetic science and the use and validation of herbal medicine in contemporary, corrective skin therapy – from a botanical perspective.
Botanical Skin Brightening Ingredients
That being said, let’s take a deeper dive into nature’s ingredient apothecary and look at some very interesting botanicals that have specific effects on skin discoloration.
8 Botanical Skin Brightening Ingredients
Let’s take a deeper dive into nature’s ingredient apothecary and look at some exciting botanicals that have specific effects on skin discoloration.
1. Bearberry Extract
Derived from the leaves of the Uva Ursi plant, bearberry extract is a botanical skin lightener with the active agent arbutin. It can help your skin tone appear brighter while helping to get rid of dark blotches. Pure Bearberry Extract for Skin Lightening is effective in treating sunspots, age spots and melasma.
2. Solomon’s Seal
Solomon’s Seal has a unique phytocomposition, when studied under lab conditions. This fascinating plant is rich in steroidal saponins, polysaccharides, flavonoids and allantoin and its’ medicinal properties have been chronicled throughout history. Herbalists and native Americans alike have written about how redness and discoloration of the skin due to environmental exposure is almost magically reduced and reversed using a tincture or steam distilled concentrate of the entire plant.
3. Licorice Root
Licorice is also a natural skin lightening agent because its extract contains an active called glabridin, which inhibits tyrosinase, the enzyme that causes pigmentation in response to sun exposure.
4. White Birch Bark (Betulinic acid)
Chemist Pavel Krasutsky calls it nature’s pure “white gold.” Betulin, a powdery substance in the outer bark of the birch tree, has been shown to help wounds heal faster and cut inflammation. The extract of birch bark is a compound called betulinic acid, and it is being tested as a treatment for melanoma and other serious diseases.
Betulinic acid has been explored as a potential treatment for skin cancer for more than a decade. Betulin, its derivatives and other birch bark compounds also are being tested for effectiveness in treating HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can cause severe cold-like symptoms and pneumonia. The impact of this research and the effect it has on environmentally damaged and discolored skin is very impressive to say the very least and is an ingredient to look for in effective topical treatments for sun damaged skin.
Therapeutic levels of white birch bark extract derived from the bark of the white birch tree, is believed to help decrease the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by maintaining the skin’s natural levels of firming collagen and elastin. In test-tube studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, researchers found that the betulinic acid in white birch disrupted the activity of human melanoma cells.
Betulinic acid has been explored as a potential treatment for skin cancer for more than a decade. Betulin, its derivatives, and other birch bark compounds are also tested for effectiveness in treating HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can cause severe cold-like symptoms and pneumonia. Therapeutic levels of white birch bark extract derived from the bark of the white birch tree extract are believed to help decrease the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by maintaining the skin’s natural levels of firming collagen and elastin. In test-tube studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, researchers found that the Betulinic acid in white birch disrupted the activity of human melanoma cells. The impact of this research and its effect on environmentally damaged and discolored skin is awe-inspiring, to say the least, and is an ingredient to look for in effective topical treatments for sun-damaged skin.
Featured in Sunshine Botanicals Rapid Repair Fluid and Cellular Firming Cream
Sunshine Botanicals is Clinical Skin Care – From a Botanical Perspective.
Jenni Used Rapid Repair Fluid
Jenni had an Actinic Keratosis removed and used Rapid Repair Fluid after, you can see how it worked on her skin in the Instagram Post. It helped to even out the skin tone on the area where the Actinic Keratosis was removed.
5. Lady’s Mantle
This beautiful plant is named for its reputed ability to aid a number of women’s problems, from heavy periods to sagging breasts. Lady’s Mantle also boasts a reputation for lightening and softening skin. Widely used in folk medicine, it is now better recognized for its skin regenerating properties.
6. Niacinamide
Niacinimide is one of the most extraordinary skincare ingredients with multi-functional clinically proven activity, non-sensitizing, and well tolerated by all skin types, even rosacea. Niacinamide minimizes pigmentation by disrupting the action of one of the key enzymes required for the production of melanin. Additionally, niacinamide helps prevent the production of keratin which increases the thickness of the epidermis. Niacinimide is known as vitamin B-3 and is a component of the vitamin B complex group used for skin concerns.
Featured in Sunshine Botanicals Bio-Peptide Brightening Serum
7. Pumpkin Enzymes
Pumpkin is packed with fruit enzymes and natural alpha hydroxy acids which increase cell turnover, to brighten and smooth the skin. Pumpkin contains antioxidant Vitamin A and Vitamin C to help boost collagen production to prevent the signs of aging. Pumpkin enzymes make for a safe and very effective exfoliator and chemical free skin brightening treatment.
Featured in Sunshine Botanicals Pumpkin Power Peel System
8. Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid Polypeptide)
A strong antioxidant, our vitamin C is derived from citrus fruit and is in an ascorbic acid polypeptide form that’s highly stable in contrast to synthetic vitamin C. Upon application it penetrates to the melanocytes, which produce the protective pigment known as melanin. Melanin is reduced to a colorless substance, inhibiting the formation of freckles and age spots. Ascorbic acid is one of the protective substances which are involved in the capturing or neutralizing of free radicals formed upon exposure to UV radiation. Vitamin C is widely used in dietary supplements. Its dermatological and cosmetic use has been inhibited due to its lack of stability in the vehicles employed in products. This important use can now be implemented on the basis of the availability of this form of Vitamin C, the stable form of ascorbic acid.
Featured in Sunshine Botanicals Brightening Moisture Fluid
I’ve studied the use and application of herbal medicine and its use for aging and problem skin conditions for over 30 years, and I never cease to be amazed at how powerful some of these plant roots, extracts, and infusions can be in professional skincare. Herbalism has a long tradition of use outside of conventional medicine and has become more mainstream as improvements in analysis and quality control along with advances in clinical research show the value of herbal medicine in treating and preventing disease. Plants and herbs have been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history. They are now more mainstream than ever as consumers search for healthy alternatives to drugs and invasive procedures.
The holistic approach I use in my private practice for pigmentation issues incorporates Dermaplaning, Nano Channeling, Apple Wine Acid Peels, and Celluma LED Light Therapy – alternated in an intensive 6-week treatment series with a targeted home protocol. This protocol includes niacinamide, biopeptides, and Pumpkin Wine Enzymes, alternated in an intensive six-week treatment series with a targeted home protocol that includes niacinamide, biopeptides, and Pumpkin Wine Enzymes. UV protection is NOT optional in the quest for brighter skin, and Zinc and Titanium Oxide are the ingredients of choice to reflect harmful UV rays. Look at the Sunshine Botanical’s Total Eclipse BB Cream.
A targeted home care program that begins with deep cleansing and detoxification and targeted plant-based skin lighteners is how I get results.
I encourage you to expand your perspective and explore the incredible healing power found in nature and get to know some of the most effective ingredients found in nature. There are two of my most favorite resources I want to share with you. Get outside, explore, and discover medicine right underneath your feet!
Practical and Herbalism by Dr. Philip Fritchey
The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine by Daniel Mowery