One of the most beautiful mushrooms you will ever see, Tremella Fuciformis, also known as snow fungus, silver ear, and white jelly mushroom is a fungus that is cultivated in Asia, mainly China since the 19th century for culinary, cosmetic and medicinal purposes. In China it is traditionally used in sweet dishes to give them a gelatinous texture.
Why does Jacinthe use it, you might ask? Well, Tremella Fuciformis in cosmetics works in a similar way to Hyaluronic Acid (HA) due to its high percentage in polysaccharides. Topically applied HA works as a humectant, meaning that it draws water to the skin from the surrounding environment hence keeps the skin moisturized, plump-looking and fresh. As you know, the body naturally produces HA and it is mainly found in the skin, the connective tissues and in the eyes. In the skin, HA is found the deep dermal areas and in the visible epidermal layers and its purpose is to keep the skin well hydrated and moist. As we age, the skin loses moisture due to less production of HA by the body. This results in problems such as less lubrication in the joints, drier eyes and drier skin and decreased skin elasticity. For this reason, skincare specifically formulated for over 35s skin contains HA.
Medicinal HA mainly comes from rooster combs or made by bacteria in the lab. Since our products are vegan and cruelty free, with the exception of the Eye Balm and Lip Balm that contain fairly traded organic beeswax, you can understand why we do not use HA in any of our skincare products.
Instead we make use of the medicinal qualities of this gelatinous mushroom that is ECOCERT and COSMOS approved (two internationally renowned certification bodies that certify ingredients that can be used in natural and organic skincare). Studies indicate that its use suggests potent anti‑oxidative, anti‑inflammatory and anti‑aging effects (see Shen 2017 and Ruan 2018).
Tremella Fuciformis is widely used in high performance skincare in Korea, Japan and China as well as western skincare brands such as La Prairie and Kanebo for its wound-healing and skin brightening properties (see Truth in Aging 2012, Kaylor 2019).
Even though it is an expensive active ingredient to add to skincare, it has been suggested that it might even keep skin better hydrated than HA plus it gives many of the other benefits we mention above that cannot be found merely in HA.
References:
Shen, T. et al. (2017) Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide suppresses hydrogen peroxide-triggered injury of human skin fibroblasts via upregulation of SIRT1. Accessed on 12 August 2019 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5561887/
Ruan, Y. et al. (2018) Tremella fuciformis Polysaccharides Attenuate Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Macrophages through miR-155. Accessed on 10 July 2019 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5954968/
Truth in Aging (2012) Tremella – A natural alternative to sodium hyaluronate. Accessed on 9 August 2019 from https://www.truthinaging.com/review/tremella-a-natural-alternative-to-sodium-hyaluronate
Kaylor, M. J. (2019) Tremella Mushroom – China’s Secret for Healthy and Beautiful Skin (podcast). Accessed on 12 August 2019 from https://healthquestpodcast.com/308-tremella-mushroom-chinas-secret-for-healthy-and-beautiful-skin/