Agent Nateur

A very medicinal ingredient in holi(body) that does wonders for those of you who suffer from psoriasis. That Ingredient is Orza Sativa– a Japanese rice bran oil that is Full of antioxidants, vitamins B and E, and wonderful natural emollients.

Psoriasis is one of the commonest chronic inflammatory disorders. If you have psoriasis flare ups, you’re not alone—2 to 3 percent of the total population suffer from this condition.This skin disease results from a complex and dynamic interplay between genetic and environmental factors that trigger an excessive inflammatory response in the skin.

A study was done aiming to evaluate the role of Orza sativa in alleviating the symptoms of psoriasis .The results showed that the rice extract reduced the severity of psoriasis by “decreasing the epidermal thickness, acanthosis, hyperkeratosis, epidermal inflammation and degree of apoptosis induction via caspase-3,increasing the expression levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β), reducing the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-20, IL-22 and TNF-α), chemokines (CCL-20) and anti-microbial peptides (psoriasinand β-defensin), enhancing the antioxidative property (Nrf-2),downregulating the levels of psoriasis-associated genes (psoriasin, β-defensin, koebnerisin 15L and koebnerisin 15S) andupregulating the levels of psoriasis-improving genes (caspase-14, involucrin and filaggrin) Thus, the extract appears to exert therapeutic effects on psoriasis through its antioxidative and immunomodulatory properties”

Here’s an amazing fun fact that is really mind blowing. Our skin is our largest organ in the body. There’s a whole ecosystem living on our skin that’s made of billions of bacteria, microbes, fungi and virus’s! Working in unison with our skin barrier, our skin microbiome protects the body from external sensitivities and different types of pathogenic invasions. When our microbiome is flourishing and balanced our skin looks gorgeous and feels healthy, but when we tamper with this ecosystem our skins defence system fails and we start to deal with a broken skin barrier. Our skin barrier is our first line of defence! When this barrier becomes damaged our skin becomes vulnerable. Irritants and allergens seep in and water evaporates leaving the skin dull, dry, dehydrated, and prone to inflammation. What’s key here is diversity and keeping this ecosystem in balance!

• Use a daily cleanser that is oil based like our Holi(cleanse) that is gentle and wont strip away the skin barrier
• Pay attention to your diet and eat nourishing foods that feed the gut microbiome. We have something called the gut-brain-skin axis which shows that the bacteria we have residing in the gut influences all the bacteria we have on our skin and vice vera.
• Get full spectrum sunlight on the skin
• Protect the skin barrier integrity using products that keep the skins PH balanced and moisturized. All of my skincare products are full of ingredient’s that help heal your skin and retain more water. This water retention helps the enzymes on your skin work optimally! These ingredients include things like hyaluronic acid, fatty acids.
• Replace other acids that dry out the skin and damage the skin barrier for lactic acid found in my acid (wash) lactic acid brightening cleanser which increases moisture levels in the skin by binding to water! Unlike other acids that weaken the skin barrier, lactic acid strengthens it by encouraging it to make more ceramides. These protect the skin from pollution and other environmental stressors.
• Reduce your stress levels as your skin is an extension of your nervous system 
• Make sure to hydrate on the cellular level. Your cells loose water throughout the day through things like physical activity, environmental pollution and generally just living life. Keeping the body hydrated is fundamental! The skin is always a last priority so if the body is lacking proper hydration the skin will be the first to suffer. Thing is, drinking water doesn’t guarantee hydration as this water needs to get inside your cells!  Fiber helps your body absorb water at a higher level so eating things like fruits and vegetables are sometimes more hydrating than drinking water itself. To build a charge necessary for proper hydration you can use electrolytes to increase the charge across membranes.