The cleansing milk for all skin types from the "The Body and Soul Specialists" line by Ardes gently cleanses, thanks to some of its active ingredients such as jojoba oil, witch hazel, and eyebright. The milk is part of the "Essentials" series, which includes products that are a must-have in every woman's beauty case.
Jojoba oil (pronounced: ho-ho-bah) is a wax, liquid at room temperature, produced from the seeds of jojoba, Simmondsia chinensis, a woody shrub typical of the desert areas of southern Arizona, northwestern Mexico, and southern California.
Its different chemical structure, which differentiates it from other oils like almond, argan, and olive oil, adapts well to the skin: its particularity makes it more similar to the ceramides of the skin. Jojoba oil, consequently, will be more persistent compared to other oils and will nourish the skin deeply, while still feeling lighter to the touch and on the skin.
Finally, it is also rich in vitamin E and B vitamins, as well as antioxidants, which make it a powerful anti-aging agent.
To enrich the formulation, sodium PCA is included: this element is naturally present in our body as a moisturizing agent. With aging, like hyaluronic acid, it tends to decrease, and this is one of the factors of skin aging. It has a structure that allows it to bind and retain water very well, making it an excellent moisturizer and an important anti-aging factor. Among the abilities attributed to it, there is its remarkable capacity to improve the epidermal absorption of other actives present in various cosmetic products.
Witch hazel water (Hamamelis virginiana) is used in this formulation as an emollient even for the driest skin. It is a plant of the Hamamelidaceae family, native to the eastern regions of the United States and Canada, and it grows wild especially in moist forests.
In the cleansing milk, there is also eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis), a plant of the Scrophulariaceae family found in Europe, especially in central-southern Germany, Italy, the Balkans, and Russia. It is an annual herbaceous plant, small in size (from 10 to 30 cm) that is barely noticeable in the flowering of the fields during summer.
Euphrasia is valued in this milk for its soothing properties and help for skin sensitive to external agents: it allows the skin to regain its balance, soothing redness.
The white lily (Lilium candidum) is a flower that, through its extracts, releases bioactive skin properties, as well as emollient and soothing effects, thanks to the presence of mucilages with moisturizing and protective action and tannins with astringent activity. It also contains flavonoids with antioxidant and vasoprotective activity. In this composition, it provides a protective, emollient, and moisturizing effect.
Another precious ingredient of milk is aloe vera (Aloe Barbadensis), "the plant of immortality" and "the queen of all remedies": it is a plant of the Aloeaceae family, native to the northeastern coast of Africa. From the leaves of the plant, a juice similar to a gel is extracted, which contains numerous active ingredients with truly beneficial properties: moisturizing, refreshing, and re-epithelizing.
In the formulation, as in all products of the "The Body and Soul Specialists" line, there is fosfa emotion, a complex of phyto-endorphins, called "molecules of happiness" that promote a sense of well-being.
The fosfa emotion is obtained from the processing of the berries of agnocasto (Vitex agnus castus L.), a plant of the Verbenaceae family, whose shrubs grow in Mediterranean regions and in Asia. In ancient Greece, the berries of Vitex agnus castus were used to treat injuries and inflammations, until in the Middle Ages some monks also experimented with its ability to produce feelings of well-being.
To enhance the qualities of these plant-based phyto-endorphins, moisturizing factors that combat the signs of aging while protecting and hydrating the skin have been added to the products in the "The Body and Soul Specialists" line, combined with two powerful antioxidants, namely ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, a stable and liposoluble form of ascorbic acid, and tocopherol (VIT.E), ideal for fighting free radicals.
Marigold (Calendula officinalis) is a well-known and appreciated plant for its emollient, moisturizing, and refreshing properties.
The marigold is a herbaceous plant, which has origins in North Africa, but is also present in all the countries that face the Mediterranean, including Italy.
It is found in fields and meadows, its flower is similar to a daisy rich in petals, the color varies from bright yellow to intense orange.
In popular tradition, it was already seen as a remedy for various skin irritations, due to a variety of causes: sunburn, redness, general skin irritations. Even at a cosmetic level, all its properties are exploited to provide the skin with maximum hydration, protection against external agents, as well as a soothing and refreshing effect.
Beta-glucan is a molecular group of the carbohydrate family. It is found among plants, specifically in medicinal mushrooms, yeasts, cereals, and some algae.
Despite their substantial size, beta-glucans can penetrate the skin.
Among its benefits for the epidermis: it is able to bind a lot of water and create a non-occlusive "film," capable of countering water loss from tissues, maintaining the skin's natural hydration, protecting the skin from external agents; it also has a reparative action against damage from solar rays, is able to strengthen the skin's immune system, counteracts free radicals, and is skilled at accelerating the renewal of the stratum corneum of the skin, which, with age, tends to slow down.
Finally, in the composition of the cleansing milk, we also find vitamin E, which serves to counteract the weakening of cells, deeply nourish, and slow down photoaging and the degenerative action of free radicals.
