by Jennifer McKinley, Founder, COR Silver Skincare
The fad-following ways of the beauty industry, as you may know by now, drive us a little crazy. Every brand seems to jump onto the bandwagon of certain ingredients at the same time. Hyaluronic acid, peptides, and retinol have all taken turns in the spotlight recently, for example.
On the bright side, those three ingredients really are great for your skin. That's why we included all three in COR from our very first formulation 16+ years ago! So, as long as it helps people build healthy, beautiful facial skin, we should just welcome everyone to the party, whether they're latecomers or not.
But! Here's an ingredient that's newer for COR. You may not have heard of it before. Or, you may be a little confused by this ingredient's MANY names. Either way, we would bet the big skincare firms will figure it out sooner or later — again, it's a truly great natural substance with many benefits.
We're talking about Huang Qin, also known as Chinese Skullcap.
Benefits of Huang Qin (Chinese Skullcap)
The gorgeous purple flower of Huang Qin looks a bit like the shape of medieval soldiers' helmets or caps - hence the name "skullcap."
After doing tons of research and testing, we added Huang Qin to COR Silver Soap's ingredients about three years ago. Here's why.
COR is about more than having a clean complexion - it's about making your skin healthy and resilient. Huang Qin has been used for health benefits in Chinese traditional medicine for hundreds of years.
It is:
- anti-inflammatory
- antioxidant
- anti-fungal
In Chinese medicine, skullcap is used "to treat allergies, infections, inflammation" and other conditions. This quote is straight from the Mount Sinai medical system's health library, and we confirmed these benefits with many other reputable scientific and medical organizations as we considered including it in COR.
For your facial skin, inflammation is the cause of tons of issues, and contributes to breakouts. By reducing inflammation, Huang Qin protects your skin from damage (and gets rid of a "puffy" look too).
Antioxidants protect you in another way, by reducing harmful compounds (called "free radicals") that can build up in the body and start damaging your skin cells.
We put a huge emphasis on revitalizing your skin with natural ingredients. Nature often knows best! So skullcap is a great fit for COR, supplementing the cleansing power of our colloidal silver with ingredients that strengthen your skin's own ability to regenerate, to stay elastic, and to fight off unwanted germs.
All while looking your best!
We use COR every day ourselves, and love the results we get with our new formulation, including Huang Qin.
(Note! As with all our skincare ingredients, we are not recommending Quang Hin for internal use. Talk to your doctor before taking any herbal supplements.)
What's the difference between Chinese Skullcap and American Skullcap?
And why does skullcap have so many different names — it can be a bit confusing!
Here's a breakdown.
American Skullcap is in the same family of plants, but it's a different species.
These are all different names for the same plant:
- Huang Qin
- Chinese Skullcap
- Baikal Skullcap - "baikal" is borrowed from the next term on this list
- Scutellaria baicalensis - the official scientific name of this species. ("Scutella" means "little dish" in Latin.)
These similar terms do NOT refer to the same plant as Chinese Skullcap:
- American Skullcap
- Scutellaria lateriflora - the official scientific name of the American Skullcap variety. It's part of the same plant family/genus as Chinese Skullcap, and it looks similar, but it's a different species.
Like Chinese Skullcap, the American version claims a variety of health benefits including the calming of nerves and antioxidant effects. However, it's not the same plant, and not as well tested as Chinese Skullcap (again according to the fine healthcare professionals at Mt Sinai).
That's the scoop on skullcap
If you haven't tried COR Silver Soap, get ready for a revolution in your skincare. Using just one gram per day, our foaming cleansing bar can replace multiple products, simplify your routine, and make your face a very happy face.
About the author: With twenty years' experience in skincare, COR founder Jennifer McKinley believes feeling healthy is part of looking great (and vice versa).
Read more about COR ingredients for healthy, clean, beautiful skin:
