Our first creation: 10 years of perfecting Phyto Flora

My own journey and struggle with acne is truthfully was propelled me to advance my studying as an esthetician early on, and before that I lived with the misconception so many people had in the 1990’s: oil causes break outs. This misleading information was brought about by many things, but the fallacy of the comedogenic rating which was testing done on various ingredients in the 1970’s on the inside of rabbit’s ears. If the rabbit had clogged pores from an ingredient, it was then rated based on the severity. You can see how this is flawed, (for the record, petroleum jelly is non-comedogenic on this scale, and red algae is highly comedogenic) as what causes one person to break out versus another person is largely different as their chemistry differs, so basing this research done on rabbit’s ears is hardly to be taken as universally valid. Oil used to be a bad guy, but now we are literally cleansing our faces with it, and serums are no longer viewed as products for mature and dry skin, they are considered essentials of even the most basic routine.

Phyto Flora was actually the first product we created for Green Chemistry, and being that my own struggle with acne and sensitive skin propelled me to specialize in acne for my own clients, I wanted to focus on creating a serum that could actually address both dry skin and acne effectively, that also had the ability to make sunblock more effective with high ellagic acid levels, but be truly transformative for collagen building and brightness at night. We use steam distillation, which ensures the nutritional and medicinal benefits from the plant are in tact, without being contaminated by acetone or hexane used in solvent extraction like most essential oils and carrier oils (this is one reason you don’t want to bargain shop for oils). During distillation, stems, flowers, seeds, release their oils naturally as they separate to the top, and are collected. Because we go to great lengths to extract every component of our plants so meticulously, we source every single ingredient from it’s highest quality source in the USA. That means if the best hemp seed is from a farm in Oregon, and the best star jasmine is from a nursery in Ventura County, we get that ingredient from that source. It certainly makes for more work, but with the multitude of serums out there, we wanted to create something that truly stood apart.

Sesame Oil: We started with the Ayurvedic favorite, Sesame oil, which contains two powerful antioxidants, sesamol and sesaminol, for it’s proven wound healing capabilities, and also because I’ve used the same sesame oil from an Ayurvedic doctor for over two decades virtually every day on my client’s skin.

Hemp Seed Oil: Hemp seed oil provides complete protein, nutrition, and  all the essential amino acids, and is not to be confused with hemp oil, which is a general term for all oils that come from any part of the hemp plant, organic raw hemp seed oil is concentrated and made strictly from the seeds. It also regulates oil production.

Spanish Lavender:   A favorite for it’s antimicrobial properties, eczema calming, cystic acne fight, and burns, (pure lavender oil if applied immediately is the only thing I’ve found to stop a heat burn, take it from a facialist who loves to cook). We actually get our Spanish lavender from an organic source in the United Kingdom where my father resides, and this is our only non-USA sourced botanical. It’s divine aroma comes through almost equally to our star jasmine, tempered by the herbal aroma of our other botanicals. Though functionality, rather than scent was our priority, I must say Phyto Flora is quite lovely on the nose.

Jasmine: Star Jasmine is rich with benzoic acid and benzyl benzoate, it’s chemicals that eradicate bacteria and fungi. We use the entire jasmine flower, as it contains an enzyme that balances the PH of your skin and heals pigment damage in the deepest layer of the cell structure of your skin, and we use a new organic extraction method, as steam distillation is not effective for jasmine flowers and actually. Much of what is sold as “jasmine oil” is actually highly diluted and contains fragrance (“natural” fragrance as an ingredient is still fragrance), so be aware of this when making your own blends.

Seabuckthorn Berry Oil: The berries from the Sea Buckthorn plant contain a 12 times the amount of Vitamin C in oranges, and more beta carotene than pumpkin or apricots, and 3 times the amount of vitamin A in carrots, making them super for brightening scars, hyperpigmentation, of course age spots. They also contain over 20 minerals and 60 antioxidants. They also contain fatty acids and Omegas 3, 6, 9 and 7. oil from these sour orange berries has been used for years in Asia to treat acne radiation burns, sunburn, and eczema, making them the perfect ingredient to fight cystic acne in Phyto Flora.

Damask Rose: Possesses an impressive range of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, but rose also has antimicrobial and acne fighting properties to treat sensitive skin, as well as anti-inflammatory properties that help treat redness and cystic acne. Rose oil can also resolve texture and scar conditions, as well as medical conditions including eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis along with  wound healing, not to mention it’s relaxing aroma as well. We source our damask rose from the highest quality source in the USA, and the results have been fantastic.

Tomato Seed Oil: Tomato seed oil (and tomatoes in general) is known for it’s high lycopene content, the vivid red carotenoid researched for it’s ability to make the skin more resilient against photo aging, sun damage, and cell break down. Studies also show that lycopene stabilizes the DNA structure in the nucleus of skin cells, which essentially reverses the aging process on a cellular level.  It also is rich with lutein, phytosterols, and various types of vitamin E, making it’s unique nutritional content perfect for adding benefits to Phyto Flora’s powerful anti-aging profile, along with some natural sun protection capabilities.  

Daikon Radish: Our daikon seed extract from Oregon possesses a rare blend of C18, C20, and C22 fatty acids, and truly “disappears” into the skin as it’s ultra light texture and molecular weight allow the skin to literally eat it up. This is one of the reasons Phyto Flora feels so hydrating yet weightless

Co Enzyme Q10: Though it has it’s reputation as the “Japanese anti-aging secret”, CoQ10 one of the most vital antioxidants and is produced by our own bodies and found in every cell, but decreases as we age. We extract our VoQ10 from plant base sources like broccoli, spinach, and beans. A coenzyme is a substance that enhances the action of enzymes, which makes CoQ10 superb for enhancing the efficacy of the enzymatic activity of Phyto Flora’s other active botanical ingredients.

Camelia Seed Oil: Almost identical in PH and molecular weight to our own skin’s sebum, camelia seed makes the perfect ingredient to balance the skin.  It’s a natural source of collagen and squalene, which are both essential to the skin protecting itself, making it an ideal ingredient for strengthening sensitive skin.

Cranberries: We choose cranberry, as it’s the only oil that has the perfect ratio of omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, and outranks the antioxidant and vitamin C content of strawberries, broccoli and spinach. Cranberry seed oil also has one of the highest ingredients in polyphenols, tocopherols (vitamin E), tocotrienols and proanthocyanidins, and ranthocyanins, purported to revise scarring and sun damaged skin.

Chia Seed: As the highest source of vegan omega-3 fatty acids on Earth, chia seed oil was an absolute necessity when working to create the most nourishing serum concentrate possible. Chia also is a superb source for vitamin B3, which is one of the most effective brightening (and clinically proven) ingredients for hyperpigmentation, along with zinc which helps reduce pore size. It’s of course best known for it’s antioxidant compounds, including kaempferol flavonoids, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, myricetin and quercetin which help protect the skin from environmental stress, and strengthen sensitive skin.

We are currently working on Phyto Flora Supreme Serum, which incorporates rare, limited source botanicals and medicinal plants along with a higher concentrate of Phyto Flora’s most bioavailable ingredients.

Creating and perfecting Phyto Flora has been a 10 year plus journey, and every time we find an opportunity to improve the source for an ingredient, increase it’s nutritional content, or make it more effective in any way, I fall in love with the results all over again. It’s absolutely transformative treatment for myself and my clients, it’s managed to eliminate my Winter (yes, LA has a Winter) dryness and eczema while still stopping my Summer break outs. The aspect of Phyto Flora, and all Green Chemistry’s products, that keeps our products of the best quality, is that our chemists strive to constantly evolve the formulations as better ingredient sources or new plants become available to introduce into the next batch we create. 

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