12 Surprising Ingredients Used In Skincare Products 

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When you begin to think about how you are getting to know different ingredients used in skincare products, you may find that there are many more to explore. Taking care of your skin can be a journey, and sometimes you want to change or try various new things. When you move to explore and find ways to make your journey exciting, you may like to learn about some of the surprising ingredients used in skincare products. You may find that trying different skincare products benefits your skin and suits your needs better. 

As time passes, things around you and yourself can change, such as your skin and environment. Therefore, you might benefit from not limiting yourself to certain ingredients and skincare products unless necessary. Also, new things are often developed or found, which goes for skincare products too. Discoveries like ingredients or new ways to formulate skincare products could be found and innovated. You may find exploring these surprising ingredients used in skincare products only a starting point. 

You may have heard or seen about the slimy substances that snails have and use. Snail mucin is one of the surprising ingredients used in skincare products. They are like superfoods for your skin, providing numerous benefits, ranging from boosting collagen production to keeping your skin hydrated. Snail mucin consists of moisturising properties like hyaluronic acid. These moisturising agents help retain moisture for your skin while repairing the skin barrier and defending the skin from environmental irritants.

Furthermore, as snail mucin is excreted from induced stress, it contains repairing and protecting agents. So, it can stimulate collagen production and support new cell growth. In turn, the new cell and collagen increase help your skin look younger and reduce the rate of developing skin ageing signs such as fine lines and wrinkles. Snail mucin is also naturally filled with various rich compounds and nutrients not limited to moisturising agents like hyaluronic acid. 

Some of these include vitamin A and E, allantoin, zinc, copper peptides and manganese, which emphasise how utile snail mucin can be for skincare. After all, these compounds and nutrients are often used as ingredients in skin care products for numerous benefits like vitamins A and E as antioxidants and zinc as an anti-inflammatory.

Try the iUNIK Black Snail Restore Serum

When you hear about mung beans, what comes to your mind? Perhaps it might be food, especially used more commonly in Asian cuisines and tastes both savoury and sweet. While mung beans are used in food, they can make a great ingredient for skincare products. It contains numerous rich nutrients and substances such as vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants. Specifically, mung beans have vitamins A and C that act as antioxidants and help brighten your skin. 

Additionally, mung beans contain an enzyme called phytoestrogen, which promotes collagen production, helping your skin look more youthful and decreasing the rate of developing skin ageing signs. Furthermore, the rich vitamins and enzymes within mung beans support your skin to keep it hydrated. Also, mung beans can be pretty utile and are used in powder form in exfoliates for their mild abrasive texture. 

Try the beplain Greenful pH-Balanced Cleansing Foam

Bee venom is also one of the surprising ingredients used in skincare products. You are probably wondering why you would use or put venom on yourself. At the same time, it would likely hurt if it involved getting stung by a bee. However, topical application of bee venom has been known to be safe unless you have an allergic or sensitive reaction, similar to many other ingredients. Additionally, you may find it interesting that it is filled with numerous compounds that benefit skin health, such as amino acids, enzymes and minerals.

For instance, amino acids, especially melittin, contained in bee venoms can soothe your skin and be helpful even with inflammation caused by acne. Additionally, bee venoms help stimulate collagen production to slow down your skin ageing process and decrease the rate of developing visible skin ageing signs. This means that your skin can be firmer and look more radiant and younger.

Try the BENTON Snail Bee High Content Skin

Goat milk is one of the most gentle skincare ingredients because it has the same pH or is at least close to the skin, depending on the milk. This means that you don’t interrupt the skin’s nature microbiome or acid mantle, which can be particularly helpful if you have sensitive skin concerns like eczema. Also, goat milk makes a great compound for skin and skincare products due to its suitable pH. Your skin absorbs the milk with less resistance. Additionally, goat milk is rich in beneficial compounds for the skin, such as lactic acid, probiotics, vitamins and essential fatty acids.

Lactic acid is one of the unique properties of goat milk and an alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA). It provides gentle exfoliating and hydrating functions. Furthermore, AHA is also known to help with repairing your skin damage from the sun. Lactic acid even promotes the production of ceramides which aims to keep positive contents like moisture while blocking out harmful contents such as bacteria. Also, the essential fatty acids in goat milk support your skin by maintaining it softer and repairing your skin barrier. While probiotic stimulates normal skin flora growth and vitamin A provides exfoliating capabilities to keep your skin brighter.

Try the Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturising Cleanser

Baking might come to your mind when you think of yeast and how it can help you make the most delicious bread, but that’s not all. Yeast is known to contain peptides that help to promote an increase in a protein called sirtuin. This protein is considered to influence processes involving ageing, such as potentially influencing cells that produce collagen and elastin to be produced.

Collagen and elastin can help your skin maintain strength and elasticity and be firm to reduce signs of ageing, like fine lines and wrinkles, from forming. Additionally, not to mention that yeast is known to contain other rich nutrients that help your skin stay healthy such as antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and amino acids. So, yeast helps you combat your skin from ageing better and provides numerous other benefits like strengthening the skin’s moisture barrier and calming and brightening the skin.

Try the COSRX Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence

Charcoal is one of the interesting and surprising ingredients used in skincare products. Often, activated charcoal is used in skincare products, particularly those that help cleanse your skin and give gentle exfoliation. It is known to act similarly to chemical peels but as a more natural and gentler alternative, helping to provide a detoxifying effect for the skin. Also, charcoal can help your skin to reduce the excess oil and dirt by absorbing them for clearer and healthier skin. 

Generally, charcoal helps remove dead skin cells, which could be clogging your pores, reducing the chance of acne breakouts. Also, it can help with cleaning impurities and excess oil, helping to keep your skin clean and healthier. Charcoal is also known to help reduce blackheads with gentle exfoliation and cleansing capabilities, improving skin texture and reducing the appearance of blemishes.

Try the Biore Charcoal Whipped Purifying Detox Mask

You might enjoy drinking tea or coffee with caffeine to give you more energy, especially when you are tired. Interestingly, caffeine is also get used in various skincare products. It is known to be a vasoconstrictor, meaning it can make your blood vessels tighter and smaller. In skin care, caffeine could reduce the blood flow to your skin and allow it to have a brighter and tightened appearance. 

So, often caffeine can be seen in numerous skincare products, particularly in anti-ageing, such as combating signs of ageing like wrinkles and fine lines. It also allows a more youthful and live complexion by supporting the skin with reducing dark circles under your eyes and puffiness.

Try the Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

You might be wondering why gold, a precious metal, would be used in skincare products, but it is known to have multiple benefits for the skin. For instance, gold is considered to consist of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It can help the skin reduce redness and swelling, which irritations or other skin conditions could have caused. 

Also, as an antioxidant, gold helps to better protect the skin from free radicals like UV rays. Free radicals often contribute to developing signs of ageing, such as wrinkles and fine lines. Furthermore, this precious metal, with its iridescent effect, can help to promote and improve the skin to have a more radiant and youthful-looking appearances.

Try the JUYOU Crystal Collagen Gold Powder Eye Mask

Another surprising ingredient identified as part of the precious collection is Pearl. It has been considered a beauty symbol and has been used for quite some time in skincare. Particularly the powder of freshwater pearls known to have anti-acne and anti-ageing properties for the skin. This luxurious ingredient helps to reduce and calm acne breakouts.

Additionally, freshwater pearl extract is known to help your skin look younger and more radiant. The pearl powder contains various nutrients essential to keep your skin healthy such as zinc, calcium and magnesium. These nutrients could also be helpful for the skin to maintain balance, boost healing and reduce the rate of skin ageing.

Try the SNP Black Pearl Renew Black Ampoule Mask Sheet

You may have tried liquorice, a somewhat controversial ingredient that some people enjoy the taste of and others do not really. However, putting the unique flavour and taste aside, it can provide numerous benefits for the skin. For instance, liquorice can help brighten and even tone the skin by reducing dark areas and hyperpigmentation. 

Also, liquorice is known to contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It helps the skin soothe irruption, acne and redness while helping to protect your skin from free radical damage such as UV rays. In turn, liquorice could support your skin to reduce the rate of skin ageing and development signs like wrinkles and fine lines.

Try the Inkey List Fulvic Acid Cleanser

Marshmallow is also one of the surprising ingredients used in skincare products. Often, marshmallow root extract is used as it can help the skin with its anti-inflammatory property and soothe irritation. Also, it consists of mucilage which is known to have healing capability, so it may help the skin heal wounds and reduce swelling faster. 

Furthermore, marshmallow root extract is considered a natural emollient with skin-rejuvenating properties. It could be helpful for the skin to slow down signs of ageing from forming, such as wrinkles and fine lines. Overall, marshmallow root extract can help the skin reduce irritations and redness while allowing it to stay hydrated.

Try the Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Hydra-Gel Eye Patches

Not only does honey taste sweet, but it has been used in skincare for some time due to its known benefits for the skin. It can help the skin with its microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. Honey helps your skin combat better against infections and boosts the healing of wounds. 

With its anti-inflammatory properties, honey can support the skin to calm and soothe skin conditions like acne, irritation and redness. It is also known that honey could help improve skin complexion and potentially reduce skin ageing, decreasing the chance of developing skin ageing signs.

Try the I’M From Honey Mask

If you think about some of these surprising ingredients used in skincare products, perhaps you may think we only scratched the surface, and there are many more to explore. After all, we can and could expect to see more discoveries being found, whether they relate to the ingredients or innovations in skin care products and formulation ways. It can be essential to explore new skincare products to see if they provide better improvements and change according to your conditions. Numerous factors could have changed your needs, such as environment and skin. 

Also, skincare can be a journey, and during the trip, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to explore what you can and keep it exciting. You never know if there could be more beneficial ingredients and skincare products that suit your needs better. So, don’t feel you must always stick to the same skincare products and routine. You might be limiting yourself or missing out on better options, but don’t feel pressured by the feeling of missing out and do explore at your own pace.