At MANTLE, we firmly believe that good skin comes from within as much as it comes from the outside. It's why we have products which require the consumption of CBD, such as The Original Oil, alongside our CBD skincare range. In fact, we believe that skincare is something which is often reflected from within- since CBD has the potential power to balance you, why not incorporate it into your skincare routine? And it's lucky for us that, since CBD can be both ingested in the body and applied on the skin, at MANTLE, we can provide the complete package for keeping you balanced from the inside out.

And, of course, while we still believe that looking after your internal body can have seriously great effects on your general aura and radiance, we do think that actually applying products to your skin is equally important and valuable for a glowing, radiant complexion. Not only is maintaining a great morning and evening skincare routine beneficial for helping to shed those old skin cells, ensuring the layers of skin are hydrated, and removing the dirt and grime which tends to accumulate in the pores, but it's also incredibly stabilising to have a skincare routine which serves you and your individual needs. 

This article will discuss some of the best ingredients to apply to your face in order to keep your skin glowing and hydrated- with a breakdown of some of the ingredients you can find in our premium product, The Glow Serum, which is specially cultivated to induce and maintain plump, juicy, and glowy skin throughout the day. But, since we're a balanced brand first and foremost, it's in our nature to want to discuss some of the effects of looking after your skin from the inside out, the possibilities that come from maintaining and keeping a skincare routine and, of course, the potential balance that can come with infusing a little CBD into your lives. 

CBD and Skincare

So, what exactly can CBD do to promote and maintain balanced, glowy skin? At MANTLE, we believe that CBD skincare is a game-changer- if we didn't, we wouldn't have three premium products devoted to CBD and your skin! Our CBD skincare range is packed with balancing, antioxidative, and hydrating properties, with botanicals and vitamins packed into each product in order to provide the most moisturising, hydrating and nourishing qualities possible. Since each ingredient is added into each product to provide a variety of different balancing and nourishing potential effects, the main link between each of our skincare products lies in the potential to balance that comes with CBD. Not only does CBD have possible balancing effects, but other ingredients in our natural skincare products may be refreshing, anti-ageing, and potentially even help to prevent acne. 

Natural, Ethical Products

At our core, we want skincare products which are natural and ethically-sourced. As passionate as we are about CBD, having it at at the forefront of our skincare range allows our consumers to be satisfied with the fact that all our CBD is sourced from high-quality cultivators, extracted ethically and responsibly and, of course, is just one of our many skincare ingredients which is a natural botanical. Since we believe that excellent, glowy skin stems from natural, well-sourced ingredients, it goes without saying that our priorities lie in providing the very best quality products.

The Science Of Glowy Skin

When we mean glowy skin, often we're talking about skin that's hydrated to plump perfection. Hydrating ingredients, also known as humectants, are commonly thought to pull water from the air into the skin. But science tells us that humectants work in a slightly more complicated way than this: in reality, humectants work to pull water from a range of different environments. The air is one of those environments, as water molecules are present in oxygen- often humectants are useful in pulling moisture out of the air into the skin within humid climates. However, humectants most commonly get the surface of the skin hydrated, giving it that plump and nourished look, from the second layer of the skin (the dermis) to the top layer of the skin (the epidermis). Since moisture often escapes from the epidermis via evaporation, it's often hard to keep it hydrated. This is why humectants need to be applied twice a day. This is especially vital for glowy skin when you realise that, often, the cause of dull or dry skin is down to a lack of moisture in the very top layer of the skin, called the stratum corneum. When the stratum corneum is dehydrated, it gives the skin a dull, dry, and sometimes even flaky appearance. 

Dehydrated Or Dry?

Since moisturisers and humectants aren't interchangeable; in the same way, dry and dehydrated skin are two different things, although they're often seen together. Since dehydrated skin leads to dry skin, it can be said that dehydration is the most common reason for dull skin. No matter how many moisturisers you apply onto your face, without any ingredient (such as a humectant) to actually hydrate the epithelial cells, there's really no point to piling on the products.

• Dry skin often presents as itchy, red, flaky, and irritated.
• Dehydrated skin often looks like dull, sallow, puffy eyes, dark circles, fine lines on the skin's surface.

Humectants

The best way to maintain hydrated and moisturised skin is to use humectants and moisturisers together. The humectant does the work of actually hydrating the skin, ensuring that water is pulled up from the second layer to the top layer of the skin, hydrating it thoroughly. The purpose of a humectant is to attract moisture from wherever it can, making sure that the skin is well-nourished and preventing those pesky dehydration lines (sometimes thought of as wrinkles) and dullness. Alongside this, an excellent humectant should also increase the skin's capacity to hydrate itself by essentially helping the epidermis to draw moisture at all times on its own. Essentially, a humectant will train the skin to attract water even when the humectant isn't there, providing the skin with hydration at all times. Humectants also offer the added benefit of ensuring new cells regenerate in the epidermis; this is what gives hydrated skin that youthful softness.

Since Scandanavian skin tends to be pretty dry (not surprising, since it's pretty cold and dry for most months, meaning lower humidity and faster rates of evaporation from the skin's surface), keeping the skin hydrated has never been so important- especially during the winter months. 

Moisturisers

The purpose of a moisturiser is to seal in moisture- essentially, moisturisers prevent water from evaporating off of the surface of the skin, and ensure that the epidermis can retain moisture by preventing evaporation from the skin's surface. In a way, the purpose of a moisturiser is for it to prevent something called 'trans-epidermal water loss’-this is the fancy word for water evaporating quickly from the surface of the skin (for instance, when the air is dry and there's nothing preventing the water from escaping the stratum corneum). Simply put, all a good moisturiser should do is seal in the moisture for your skin. A good moisturiser allows the skin to reap the benefits that the humectant provides for a more extended period of time, working as an occlusive- this is a thick balm which sits on the skin, preventing moisture from escaping the surface. 

It's essential to understand the science of skin hydration and moisturisation, since these are game-changers for having and maintaining glowing skin. Sealing in the skin's moisture is incredibly vital, especially if you live in a dry, cold climate!

MANTLE's Favourite Glow-Inducers

At MANTLE, we love the way glowy skin looks and feels. So, we have devoted a whole serum to having and maintaining glowing skin- sure enough, we named it The Glow Serum. It's packed with some of our favourite natural hydrators, which allow the skin to attract and retain moisture for the longest possible time. 

Bakuchiol

Bakuchiol is a plant extract derived from the babchi plant, native to India. Packed with a range of properties to make it a particularly potentially beneficial antioxidant, bakuchiol is also particularly useful as a better alternative to less-natural skincare ingredients. Bakuchiol provides a softer, more natural approach to the skin's care, while also promoting hydration and moisture within the epidermis. Much like any good hydrator, bakuchiol is thought to have the ability to stimulate the activity of the epithelial cells to regenerate and strengthen the protective barriers of the skin, preventing a loss of moisture and maintaining hydration. However, bakuchiol doesn't sensitise the skin in the same way other common skincare ingredients (such as retinoids) tend to do- a win-win for our skin!

Carrot-Seed Oil

We've also paired this hero ingredient in The Glow Serum with a moisturiser and occlusive known as carrot seed oil. This allows for optimal hydration, skin cell regeneration, and potentially potent protection, preventing moisture from leaving the skin's surface.

Bisabolol

Another plant-based ingredient (as most of our products are natural and derived from botanicals), this gentle, glow-inducing oil is derived from the chamomile plant. Despite its status as an oil, it can also serve as a hydrator and occlusive, making it the perfect ingredient for glowy skin. Bisabolol is a humectant, as it contains a type of vitamin B5 called panthenol. Panthenol is thought to be incredibly useful to the skin because it moisturises and holds onto other moisturisers in the skin, allowing the skin to stay hydrated and well-nourished for more extended periods. Likewise, panthenol can do what other humectants do, attracting water molecules to the topmost layer of the skin to present a lovely glowing effect. Much like an occlusive, bisabolol forms a protective layer on the skin, preventing moisture loss. 

Liquorice Root Extract

Much like its sister ingredients, you might not be surprised to know that liquorice root extract is great for enlivening dull skin. Putting it alongside the other moisturising and hydrating contenders present within The Glow Serum, liquorice root extract holds its own- by complementing the other ingredients with its antioxidative and brightening qualities. Not only does liquorice root extract provide an excellent soothing addition to the skin, helping with sun damage or irritation, it can also prevent swelling or redness for anyone who suffers from flaky, dry, or dull skin. As liquorice root is particularly useful at effecting hyperpigmentation, it can be an especially useful product for those with uneven pigmentation or scarring. 

CBD

With the game-changing potential that CBD holds, we couldn't leave our defining product out: CBD, with its balancing properties, is one of the best ingredients to incorporate into your skincare. Incorporated alongside our antioxidant hero ingredients, which may typically prevent oxidative stress- damage caused by too many free radicals in the cells of the body (including the skin) resulting in damage such as degeneration, we may learn to recognise that glowy skin isn't just about looks. Since nourished, glowing skin can only happen if we have a balanced base to grow from (with all our skin cells intact) it's no wonder that CBD is our champion skincare ingredient. 

Skincare For Stability

It's safe to say that glowing skin is a constant work-in-progress which requires daily choices: from the ingredients we ingest into our body, to the cosmetics and skincare we apply to our skin. Above all, the ultimate goal to glowing skin is achieved by a cumulative set of choices which are done to reflect how good we feel from the inside- it's a common rule of thumb that the way we feel tends to reflect the way we look. So, of course, there's no denying that good skin, a good lifestyle, and useful routines tend to merge together, often translating into one almighty thing: the desire and reward of feeling good from the inside out. 

During times of stress and uncertainty (and ones of calmness and peace), it's essential to prioritise your self-care routine. It's been proven time and time again that a vigorous self-care routine can vastly improve mental balance. Taking time to prioritise yourself during your daily routine can be incredibly stabilising and grounding. Not only is a skincare routine a fantastic factor in making you look and feel better, but it can also make you feel like you're doing something productive for yourself. Skincare is a simple but effective way of providing nourishment to the biggest organ you have, whilst also giving yourself that luxurious feeling of being pampered. 

Feeling Good To Look Good

Studies show that a new phenomenon known as psychodermatology, a field which solely examines how an individual's emotions might affect the state of their skin, can be a huge factor in how our skin plays up according to mood. It paves the way for new psychological measures for improving the skin, such as introducing healthier sleep patterns and, in some cases, antidepressants, all for the purpose to improve skin health. Psychodermatology connects mental health with skin health, providing credibility to previously held theories that many skin conditions are a manifestation of mental health conditions. In most cases, there lie three main subsections.

• Psychophysiologic afflictions: literal manifestations of low mood or anxiety coming up on the skin, such as acne or eczema. Research tells us these cases are the most common, often not directly connected with the mind, but with emotional states.
• Primary psychiatric afflictions: self-induced manifestations (usually anxiety-related) such as pulling the hair.
• Secondary psychiatric afflictions: disfiguring the skin due to depression, anxiety, and other mental health afflictions.

Mental Health and Skin Health: It's All Connected

The connection between the mood and the skin runs deep, originating all the way back when we were in the womb- studies tell us that, since the skin, nerve, and immune cells share the same embryological origin (they all originate from the ectoderm tissue layer of developing embryos, so they all share similarities and remain strongly connected in our adult lives). In other words, the way we feel, which is expressed by the nervous system, can directly influence how the skin cells react. Similarly, our immunity is also strongly linked to our nerves and skin, too. This explains why we tend to get all red when we're embarrassed or excited, or why low mood or stress can actually make the body physically sick- yes, these emotions originate from our nervous system, but they manifest on the outside of us, too.

This deep-rooted belief that things often unseen can manifest into the physical realm has been explored for centuries. It's more ingrained in our actions than we might have initially thought. It explains the way we operate- for example, why a good diet and lifestyle often makes us feel better, emotionally… and this also reflects in the way our skin tends to physically look.

Glowing From The Inside Out

At MANTLE, we believe in self-care. And, as we've stressed, we believe that self-care is a full-body thing; less about looks, and more about reflecting how we truly feel on the inside. With our CBD skincare range, we want to manifest the potential effects of balance and self-care on the skin. 

Long story short, despite our external environment, which is continuously changing, but is often cold and dry with a general lack of sun- we can still find a way to glow, from the inside out.