If you’ve spent any time reading about skincare or watching our Instagram reels, you’ve probably come across the words free radicals, antioxidants and oxidative stress. They sound complicated, but the basic idea is actually pretty simple — and it’s one of the reasons I love using our wildcrafted plants in skincare so much.
Our skin is constantly exposed to the outside world: sunshine, pollution, smoke, dry air and all sorts of environmental stressors. Our bodies also naturally produce molecules called reactive oxygen species, or ROS. In normal amounts, these aren't necessarily a bad thing. The problem is when there are more of them than our natural antioxidant systems can keep in balance. That imbalance is called oxidative stress.
Research has linked oxidative stress to both natural skin aging and environmental skin aging, particularly the damage caused by UV exposure. Over time, excess oxidative stress can affect proteins, lipids and DNA within the skin and contribute to changes in collagen, elasticity, pigmentation and skin barrier function.
So, Where Do Antioxidants Come In?
Antioxidants help our bodies manage reactive molecules and are already part of our skin's natural defence system. Vitamins C and E, carotenoids, glutathione and CoQ10 are a few examples found naturally within the skin.
Plants have their own antioxidant systems too, which is where this gets especially interesting to me. Many herbs, fruits and berries contain plant compounds such as polyphenols, flavonoids and carotenoids with antioxidant activity.
Plants need these protective compounds because they can't exactly move into the shade when the sun gets too hot or head inside when the weather gets bad. They have developed some pretty incredible chemistry to help protect themselves from their environment.
And then I come along with my basket and start picking them.
The Plants I Use in Prairie Soap Shack Skincare
This is one of the reasons I’m so drawn to using whole plants in Prairie Soap Shack products. I grow or wildcraft many of our herbs and berries here in Alberta and incorporate them into skincare through infused oils, teas, hydrosols, glycerites and other preparations.
Yarrow is one of my favourite prairie herbs and contains a variety of naturally occurring flavonoids and phenolic compounds. I wildcraft yarrow here on our farm and slowly infuse it into oil for our Rejuvenate Face Serum, along with wildcrafted fireweed. The serum also contains rosehip seed oil, prickly pear seed oil, carrot seed oil, vitamin E and other beautiful plant oils.
Rose hips are another favourite. Those bright red fruits we pick in the fall contain vitamin C, carotenoids and phenolic compounds. I use both wildcrafted rose hips and rosehip seed oil throughout our products, including our Rose Hip Lip Balm and Wild Rose Hip Soap.
Carrots are another ingredient I love growing and using in skincare. That beautiful orange colour comes from carotenoids, including beta-carotene, plant pigments known for their antioxidant activity. I juice carrots straight from my garden and use the fresh juice to make our carrot soap. I love that something so ordinary growing in the garden can contain such interesting plant chemistry — and give the finished soap its naturally warm colour at the same time. Watch for our Carrot Pudding soap coming back this Winter.
Then there are plants like calendula, rosemary, fireweed and saskatoon berries. Each contains its own assortment of phytochemicals, which is one reason I find working with plants endlessly fascinating. We're not adding an herb simply because it sounds pretty on a label — there's an entire chemistry happening inside that plant.
Can Antioxidants Stop Your Skin From Aging?
No — and I don't really want them to.
Aging is normal. Our skin changes because of genetics, hormones, cellular changes and simply because we've spent decades living our lives. Oxidative stress is just one piece of a much bigger picture.
Research does, however, show that oxidative stress plays an important role in skin aging and that our own antioxidant defences can change as we age. That makes antioxidant-rich plant ingredients an interesting area of skincare research, but they aren't magic and they're definitely not a replacement for sunscreen.
I prefer thinking about skincare as supporting our skin as it ages rather than fighting aging altogether. Nourish the skin barrier, protect it from unnecessary environmental damage, keep it moisturized and give it thoughtfully chosen ingredients.
From the Prairie to Your Skin
Maybe this is what I love most about making herbal skincare. Plants have spent an incredibly long time developing ways to survive sunshine, drought, insects, temperature changes and everything else nature throws at them.
When I'm out picking rose hips, harvesting yarrow or cutting herbs from my garden, I'm not just thinking about what they look or smell like. I'm thinking about what is happening inside that plant and how I can thoughtfully bring some of that plant chemistry into my formulations.
Growing the plant. Learning about it. Finding a way to use it.
From the prairie to your skin.
References
Rinnerthaler M, et al. Oxidative Stress in Aging Human Skin. Biomolecules. 2015;5(2):545–589.
Papaccio F, et al. Focus on the Contribution of Oxidative Stress in Skin Aging. Antioxidants. 2022;11(6):1121.
Pandel R, et al. Skin Photoaging and the Role of Antioxidants in Its Prevention. ISRN Dermatology. 2013.
Kohen R. Skin antioxidants: their role in aging and in oxidative stress. Toxicology. 1999.
