Did you know minerals are not only beneficial for your health but also your skin? Minerals are nutrients that your body needs to function properly. By adding products into your skincare routine that are infused with minerals, you can help support the health of your skin, while also maintaining the necessary balance that your skin needs to thrive. In this blog, we’ll dive into the skin’s layers and the actions of minerals on your skin.
Your skin is a vital protector when it comes to the environment around you (AKA bacteria, chemicals, and temperature). It’s made up of two layers; the outer layer is known as the epidermis and the deeper layers are called the dermis.1 The dermis contains living cells, while the outer layers contain keratin. Keratin protects and limits the movement of substances, like water, through your skin.2
In the epidermis, melanin pigments are present to protect you against ultraviolet light (think UV radiation from the sun). The epidermis is attached to a layer of connective tissue, which is responsible for your skin’s elasticity and strength. The layer beneath the dermis is known as the hypodermis, which contains fat cells that control your body’s temperature. In addition, your skin contains sweat glands, blood vessels, and nerves.3
Minerals And Your Skin
Let’s talk about vitamins, amino acids, proteins, and carbohydrates. While these are highly important for your skin, they can’t be metabolized and assimilated correctly without a balance of minerals. When it comes to vitamins, for example, calcium is needed for vitamin C utilization, zinc for vitamin A, magnesium for B complex vitamins, and selenium for vitamin E absorption.4
Essentially, minerals act as catalysts for an abundance of biological reactions, and they’re necessary for the transmission of messages and the update of essential nutrients.5 Plus, minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, sulfur, copper, and iron have been shown to have excellent dermatological effects.6
Minerals play an essential role in protecting the skin against free radicals, UV radiation, and other environmental stressors. They also help maintain hydration levels, slow down cell aging, correct and reprogram healthy skin cell behavior, and treat some skin disorders. However, the body doesn’t create minerals, which is why it depends on external sources.7
Without a doubt, the actions of minerals on the skin are abundant and varied, but they can have a very profound effect on many of the skin’s key functions. Here’s an inside look at the benefits of minerals for the skin along with a few essential and/or trace minerals that specifically portray said actions:
The most important function of minerals in the skin and body is their role as cell communicators. Cell communicators can tell the skin how to act, look, and behave, along with boosting the skin’s natural functions. They also can stop other substances from telling the cell to act abnormally. As cell communicators, minerals assimilate the actions of vital nutrients like enzymes, vitamins, and amino acids.8
Studies have shown that minerals can maintain and restore the skin’s hydration levels, while also preventing transepidermal water loss (TEWL). TEWL is the amount of water vapor evaporating from the surface of the skin. In healthy skin, TEWL is directly proportional to skin hydration. Much like hyaluronic acid, minerals are hydrophilic and hygroscopic, making them extremely important water-binding agents.9
Science has provided an abundance of proof that the body is run electrically, making minerals the conductor of these currents. Minerals provide the needed charge of “ionization” of positive or negative electrical molecules. You can look at ions as a type of battery; they keep the skin charged and ready. However, if there is a deficiency of one or more minerals, the skin and your health could suffer.10
Minerals act as anti-inflammatory agents as they can aid in the reduction of cell damage from inflammation, swelling, pain, and redness.11 Minerals may also soothe irritated skin while improving the skin’s overall appearance and health. By being anti-inflammatory agents, minerals can prevent disease and premature aging.12
Making sure the structure of the epidermis and the stratum corneum (the outer layer of the skin) is intact is one of the primary elements in keeping the skin healthy and radiant. Natural moisturizing factors (NMFs) are the repairing components that do this; they typically mimic the structure and function of healthy skin. Minerals can act as NMFs.13
Minerals can help to keep the body’s blood and tissue fluids from becoming too acidic or alkaline by allowing other nutrients to pass into the bloodstream. Minerals are also known to draw chemicals in and out of the cells. A small change in the blood concentration of certain key minerals can cause health issues.14, 15
Minerals can provide the skin with nutrition through osmosis, which is the spontaneous passage or diffusion of water or other solvents through a semipermeable membrane.16 When we apply a high dose of minerals to the skin, we're able to basically “turn on” the skin’s own osmotic pump.17
This results in the drawing of blood, fluids, oxygen, and nutrition from deep within the skin up to the epidermis where it’s needed. Since the skin is not a digestive system, the only food supply that’s beneficial is its own blood and fluid supply. By “turning on” the skin’s osmotic pump, we can feed the skin from within.18
Minerals Are Antioxidants
In short, antioxidants are substances that can protect the body’s cells against free radicals, which may play a role in heart disease, cancer, and more. Free radicals are molecules that are created when the body breaks down food or when it’s exposed to environmental toxins like smoke or radiation. Thankfully, all minerals have antioxidant properties.19
Not only do Mama’s Medicinals formulations utilize all-natural ingredients like nano CBD, raspberry seed oil, jojoba oil, and honey, but our Medicinal Toner is infused with essential minerals, which, along with milk thistle, vitamin B3, honeysuckle, and ginkgo extracts, help to soothe the skin. The pH-balancing Medicinal Toner is made with 72 minerals to help toxins pass through the skin.
For those new to skincare, toners remove any last traces of dirt, grime, and impurities stuck in your pores after you wash your face. We recommend soaking whatever you use during your skincare regime with the Mama’s Medicinals Medicinal Toner, then swipe it over your entire face, neck, and chest for a healthy, radiant complexion.
You can shop the Mama’s Medicinals Medicinal Toner here.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554545/ [5]
https://www.skinfactors.com.au/healthy-skin-starts-with-minerals/ [7][9][10][12][15][18][19]
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/3/644 [8]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5075620/ [11]
https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/vitamins-and-minerals.htm [14]
https://www.skinfactors.com.au/healthy-skin-starts-with-minerals/ [17]