From kale cream to probiotic serums, the latest skincare launches sound good enough to eat – and the best of them don’t skimp on the science, either. Leah Hardy talks to skin experts to find out why edible ingredients are on everyone’s beauty menu
WHILE BERRIES, KALE, AVOCADO AND QUINOA may sound like the recipe for an Instagram-friendly smoothie, today’s most sought-after skincare regularly includes ingredients derived from grains, nuts and seeds, fruits, berries and green vegetables, along with probiotics and omega-3 fats. The latest Elemis Superfood range, for example, includes a specially created Supergreen Complex containing goji berry, broccoli seed, ginger, matcha tea, radish, cucumber seed and green mandarin, and a Supergrain Complex with barley, chia seed, quinoa, black seed oil, flax seed and rice bran. The Renewals range from Epionce skincare, created by top US dermatologist Dr Carl Thornfeldt, is based on a combination of plant extracts including date, avocado, flax and apple. So why are superfoods gaining such a hold on our skincare regimes? According to Carl’s colleague Dr Mervyn Patterson, the founder of the Woodford Medical skincare clinic, these smoothie superstars also have distinct skin benefits. ’They contain complex combinations of molecules that can be very helpful in treating skin diseases and reducing the signs of skin ageing,’ he says.