XZ Skin Care
Ricinus Communis Seed Oil - Castor oil
The oil of castor tree seeds has been used for skin and wound care for many thousands of years. Castor oil has been found in tombs that are four thousand years old - it keeps well.
For our purpose, castor oil is the only source for ricinoleic acid, which is an excellent barrier oil and very anti-inflammatory.
Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil - Sunflower oil
Sunflower oil is light and clear, and contains some surprisingly wonderful compounds, which is why we use cold-pressed only.
Fun fact: Studies have shown that sunflower oil works almost as well as steroid creams in infants with atopic dermatitis. Good stuff!
Some science you can look up: The Benefits of Sunflower Oleodistillate (SOD) in Pediatric Dermatology, Lawrence F. Eichenfield, M.D., Alexandra McCollum, M.D., and Philippe Msika, Ph.D. Pediatric Dermatology Vol. 26 No. 6 669–675, 2009
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride - Coconut fatty acids
The best of the oils in coconuts, these fats are smoothing, soothing, and can improve skin barrier properties. Best of all, unlike raw coconut oil, it is very unlikely to clog pores while still being almost magic.
These compounds can be anti-convulsants in diet, and are considered to be anti-microbial on contact in many applications. Check out the safety profile!
Copaifera Langsdorffii Oil - Copaiba oil
Copaiba oil is one of those tropical treasures that should be crazy famous. Aside from many other uses, there is growing evidence that the traditional uses for wound healing are due to a combination of anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory action.
We first started adding this to SKIN RELIEF about a year ago and it makes a real difference, for us, especially with heat triggered eczema that seem prone to fungal infections. PS - it is very sustainable and supports indigenous communities.
Pimenta Dioica Leaf Oil - Pimento leaf essential oil
Everyone loves a good jerked fish or meat dish, right? In Jamaica, where they do it right, the food is cooked over pimento wood. The leaves are used in traditional medicine, and you know the dried flower buds as “allspice”.
We mentioned traditional medicine: pimento leaf extracts are applied topically to promote healing without scarring, to treat baldness and impotence (we merely report), and have been shown to temporarily increase local circulation.
Origanum Vulgare Essential Oil - Oregano essential oil
Don’t use all your oregano in your tomato sauce, because this kinda-weedy relative of mint has hidden super powers. Might be magic!
We have to be careful, the FDA has a weird hard-on about oregano claims, so we’ll just quote this: “Oregano oil presented the best antibacterial effect and was the only tested oil that presented bactericidal effect on all tested bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and MRSA.”
Lavandula Angustifolia Essential Oil - Lavender essential oil
We think everyone loves lavender, some just a little, some a lot. Cooks need it for their Herbs de Provence, but you need it for your skin as well. Not too much! Just enough.
We include it in formulations for a couple of big reasons. First it has some interesting effects on microbes (antimicrobial) and secondly it is considered anti-inflammatory in traditional medicine. Smells nice, too!
D-alpha-tocopherol - Vitamin E
Vitamin E can be complicated! We use a highly bio-available version since it is applied to the skin. So hit the Wikipedia link for lots of info, but for our formulation we include Vitamin E because it does great stuff for your skin - in eczema we already have skin barrier and inflammation issues. Vitamin E has been shown to be very helpful and anecdotally can be magical for many.