Essential Fatty Acids for Skin

Essential fatty acids are a key component of the hydration puzzle, but what exactly are they and why does your body need them? Essential fatty acids are a category of polyunsaturated fats that your body doesn’t produce on its own, but needs in order to maintain healthy tissue. Because of this, it’s necessary to supplement your body with dietary and topical additions of essential fatty acids, making them perfect additions to organic skin care.

Why Our Bodies Need Essential Fatty Acids

Essential fatty acids are the building blocks of healthy cell membranes, and are essential for the maintenance of healthy skin cells and an efficient natural oil barrier in the epidermis. They can be found in oily plant foods like walnuts, flax seeds, and soy. They’re used to build specialized fats called omega-3 and omega-6. Both Omega 3 and Omega 6 are important for the normal functioning of skin tissue, and consequently are essential for the maintenance of suppleness and elasticity in skin.

Your body needs essential fatty acids for a variety of processes. Deficiency in essential fatty acid poses both external and internal problems, ranging from reduced immune system functioning to chronic dryness and flaking of the skin. Fatty acids are considered subunits of fats, meaning that the fat-cells we store in our body are a combination of fatty acids and other chemical bonds. They’re critical for keeping skin plump and hydrated, reducing inflammation, lowering risk of heart disease and stroke, and reducing symptoms of joint pain.

Essential Fatty Acid Benefits for Skin

Essential fatty acids can also play a key role in keeping skin hydrated. They keep skin plump and hydrated, which can also help lessen signs of aging. Essential fatty acids help the skin retain water, so regular application means that you’ll have more consistent and self-sufficient hydration. That can mean fewer fine lines and wrinkles, and a smoother canvas for applying any makeup on.

UV Protection

Research suggests that the consumption and topical application of fatty acids reduces sensitivity to UV exposure, making them an important component of a summer skin protection plan.

Acne and Oil Production

Essential Fatty Acids are also effective at reducing inflammation associated with acne, and maintaining healthy levels of oil production in the skin’s oil barrier, resulting in even and un-congested pores and a healthy glow.

Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids for Skin

Omega-6 fatty acids and Omega-3 fatty acids are both essential for healthy energy metabolism and skin tissue maintenance. Given the anti-aging and also oil-balancing properties of essential fatty acids, it’s evident that they’re super essential for all skin types. They can help mature skin, acneic adolescent skin, and every combination skin type in between. We all need essential fatty acids for normal and healthy tissue functioning, and each essential fatty acid plays an important role in tissue maintenance.

Omega-3s in particular have been proven to improve heart health and circulation, and decrease inflammation. Omega-6s are also known to lower blood pressure and cholesterol and promote healthy skin cell regeneration. Skin regeneration is key for reducing signs of aging like wrinkling and decreased tautness. Both types of fatty acid are absolutely essential when is comes to skincare, and can be found in a range of plant-based oils.

Essential Fatty Acids in Puristry Skin Care

In Puristry products, essential fatty acids can be found in a variety of plant-based and fruit oils and extracts. They are able to enhance our skin care with powerful moisturizing properties. They can also balance oil-production, reduce inflammation, and relieve dull, patchy, or flakey skin. They work synergistically with other active ingredients to produce healthy skin tissue that’s most able to absorb other targeted active ingredient.

Restorative Facial Oil

Our cult favorite Restorative Facial Oil contains four powerful, essential fatty acid packed ingredients: Jojoba seed oil, Rosehip oil, Pomegranate Oil, and Blackcurrant oil.

Jojoba seed and rosehip oil are both skin and hair healers that are chock full of essential fatty acids. Both are commonly used to treat sunburn, psoriasis, acne, and chapped skin. Their emollient properties allow them to cover skin in a protective layer, effectively trapping other active ingredients from evaporation. Jojoba oil is an ultra effective carrier oil, meaning that it delivers and absorbs more volatile essential oils deep into your pores, making it a key ingredient for keeping the texture, composition, and integrity of skin care in tact. Rosehip oil is unique in its high levels of Omega-6 fatty acids, which can help reduce the appearance of aging and keep the skin looking plump, smooth and youthful.

Pomegranate oil and blackcurrant oil are both antioxidant packed nutrition powerhouses for your skin, boasting high levels of skin nourishing essential fatty acids. Pomegranate oil is known for its immense anti-inflammatory properties, making it an excellent tonic for skin irritation and redness. Blackcurrant oil is unique in that it contains a rich balance of both omega 3 and Omega 6, making it effective for the maintenance of skin’s cellular health and reproduction.

Yerba Mate Eye Cream

Our Yerba Mate Eye Cream reduces swelling and increases moisture retention in the under-eye area. It gets a shot of essential fatty acids from its key ingredient: yerba mate. Yerba mate is a caffeine rich infusion made of plant material from the Ilex paraguariensis plant. Its rich essential fatty acid content makes it an excellent addition to an eye cream formula. It effectively delivers targeted moisture and hydration to the fragile eye area, in order to decrease fine wrinkles caused by dehydrated pores. Coconut oil and grapeseed oil in this eye cream are also packed with essential fatty acids. These plant oils endow Yerba Mate Eye Cream with the capacity to shrink dark circles and brighten the fragile skin around the eye.

Seaberry Moisturizer

Our antioxidant packed Seaberry Moisturizer is a deeply nourishing, concentrated formula that also boasts a healthy dose of essential fatty acids. The central ingredient – seaberry – contains over fifty phytonutrients, as well as the hard to find omega-7 fatty acid. Omega 7 is an immensely beneficial component with proven abilities to rejuvenate the skin and promote healing and growth at the cellular level. Seaberries also contain ultra high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, making them an effective anti-inflammatory and skin soothing agent. In the Puristry Seaberry Moisturizer, these essential fatty acids work in tandem with organic shea butter and coconut oil -- additional essential fatty acid packed ingredients with powerful emollient properties.

Vine Therapy Serum

Last but not least, our Vine Therapy Serum is an anti-aging treatment that powerfully corrects fine lines and wrinkles thanks to a formula rich in essential fatty acids. Grapeseed oil in particular is a rich source of EFAs in this product, working to effectively fortify the formula and allowinging it to strengthen the skin’s natural moisture and oil barrier. In particular, Grapeseed oil is full of Omega-6 fatty acids, which stimulate the production of collagen and elastin and enhance the formula’s anti-aging properties. Grapeseed oil works alongside collagen enhancing algae and skin-cell stimulating bergamot oil, both featured in the ingredient list and adding to the product’s therapeutic benefits for mature skin.

We believe that essential fatty acids are necessary ingredients for achieving hydrated and supple skin, making them key components in our plant-based skin care.