What ingredients make your balm especially good for healing? Particularly in winter? Why is it so good as a universal balm?
Most balms are petroleum jelly based, and it seems that petroleum jelly is likely safe for the skin. However, we certainly know it is not renewable, and the concept of covering your skin with a fossil fuel extract is kind of gross. The picture becomes further complicated by other ingredients added to the petroleum jelly. Products like Aquaphor, Bag Balm, Neosporin, Polysporin, Skinceuticals Hydrabalm, Elta MD Laser Balm and many others use a petroleum base mixed with ingredients that are now known to be common allergens such as lanolin, neomycin and vitamin E. Once considered miracle agents, time has shown that these ingredients can cause significant irritation to the skin they are supposedly helping heal.
It was seeing skin reactions to these products that pushed me to create Doctor Rogers RESTORE Healing Balm. It only has three carefully selected, hypoallergenic, plant-based, proven ingredients. The castor seed oil and wax to provide that same occlusive protection as petroleum but with fatty oils that are renewable and have emollient (moisturizing) properties. The vegetable-derived glycerin is included in the balm because of its humectant properties to pull water into the skin to help it hydrate and heal. The benefits of this powerful trio were shown in a ‘split face’ trial, meaning each product was used only on one side of the face, comparing the speed of healing when using RESTORE Healing Balm vs Aquaphor after C02 lasering.
Below is a picture from day 4 of the study with RESTORE Healing Balm used on the patient’s right and Aquaphor being used on the left. In all measured outcomes of recovery, including redness, swelling, crusting and overall healing, RESTORE Healing Balm performed better than Aquaphor. Equally important, ninety percent of patients preferred RESTORE Healing Balm to Aquaphor®, found it easier to use and were more likely to use it in the future!
C02 laser is the most aggressive laser treatment available, but RESTORE healing balm works just as well to help heal chapped lips, cuts, scrapes, burns, dry skin, eczema and so much more. As for the winter, cold air is dry air. Dry air will suck all the water out of your skin. Keeping your skin hydrated is key to its good health. RESTORE Healing Balm will not only protect your skin from losing water because of its barrier qualities, but will also pull water into it because of the high glycerin content.
More on ingredients I used to make this amazing product:
Glycerin: A powerful humectant that pulls water into the skin, promotes healing, reduces irritation and restores normal skin barrier function. The vegetable glycerin in RESTORE Healing Balm is harvested from sustainably farmed oil palm trees and is United States Pharmacopeia (USP) grade. USP is the highest grade available, making it acceptable for food, drug, or medicinal use.
Castor seed oil & Castor wax: Castor seed oil is a well known emollient that hydrates the skin and has been shown to decrease inflammation. Castor wax, also known as hydrogenated castor seed oil, is added to increase stability and keep the balm solid. Only the highest grade castor products, per the International Castor Oil Association (ICOA) industry specifications, are used in RESTORE Healing Balm 100% plant-based ingredients.
Aquaphor® vs. RESTORE®
Meet the author: Board-certified and practicing dermatologist, Dr. Heather D. Rogers, MD, is the founder of Doctor Rogers Skin Care and Modern Dermatology in Seattle, Washington. She studied at Stanford, University of Washington School of Medicine and Columbia University Medical Center. She lectures nationally, is well published, and an active member of the American Academy of Dermatology. Highly respected among the skin care community, Dr. Rogers has been annually named “Top 1% of Most Honored Doctors in the US” by Castle Connolly.
