How doing these two things may be the key to keeping your skin young.
We humans are trying our best to live and age gracefully. Yet a fellow carbon based organism, a tree (Methusela), is pushing the limits of nearing 5,000 years. How does another multicellular living organism exposed to the harsh environments of the outdoors live 50x as long as we humans?
Somewhere within this question lies the answer to unlock truly better skin care, and perhaps, one day, longevity.
Moreover, we’ve seen the beautiful green leaves of trees out in the hot arid sun maintain their beauty. Why doesn’t ultraviolet light cause havoc on the leaf’s DNA and begin an inflammatory cycle similar to what we humans experience in our skin?
Somewhere within this question lies the answer to unlock truly better skin care, and perhaps, one day, longevity.
What’s exciting is that observing nature has led to a new, and in retrospect, very intuitive next chapter in skin health. If skincare 2.0 was all about natural topical ingredients, skincare 3.0 is using an inside-out approach. Let’s dig in.
Deeper Dive — some basic plant biology
Plants use two mechanisms to protect themselves from harmful UV radiation. They have an outer layer, similar to our skin, called a cuticle and an inner system of molecules that absorb UV rays and repair DNA damage.
Placing topical creams on our skin is akin to strengthening the “cuticle” layer. And as a result, we’ve seen the emergence of skincare serums which penetrate the skin and contain antioxidants, anti-inflammatory molecules, and even agents promoting DNA repair. This is as far as we’ve gotten with mainstream skincare.
If skincare 2.0 was all about natural topical ingredients, skincare 3.0 is using an inside-out approach.
But there is so much more!!
Plants also have an array of phytonutrients, plant nutrients, that protect them from UV damage from within, as opposed to the cuticle layer. Some of you may have heard of flavonoids and carotenoids, found in fruits and vegetables, and other phytonutrients have even been converted into derivatives used in sunscreens (e.g., cinnamates). There is strong evidence supporting their protective role from ultraviolet damage.
Plants use an ultraviolet defensive system consisting of inside-out protection: the cuticle on the outside and the phytonutrients on the inside
And with this finding, we can progress to skincare 3.0.
Skincare 3.0 — human adaptation
Plants use an ultraviolet defensive system consisting of inside-and-out protection: the cuticle on the outside and the phytonutrients on the inside. Inside-out skincare for humans is our way of copying our green friends. We can continue protecting the outer layer of our skin with effective serums while supplementing with daily doses of phytochemicals for additional protection.
Human curiosity and appreciation of nature has gotten us far. This is one step further.
-Allon Jacobs, Founder and CEO of Alon Labs
