Xylitol, known as “birch tree sugar” in Finland, has a long tradition in oral and dental medicine. It ́s effects on skincare are also unquestionable. Almost all Skin Candy products have been enhanced with Xylitol. Both professional hair removal pastes and homecare body- and facial products have Xylitol in them.
What does Xylitol do for your skin?
As an ingredient, Xylitol acts like other sugars, it is an excellent moisturizer. It helps the skin to maintain its ́ moisture and enhance the penetration of other ingredients. In addition, Xylitol is antiseptic, and it has an effect on the normal flora of the skin surface. That is the natural level of microbes on the skin. Xylitol-enhanced candying pastes for hair removal can minimize redness and skin infections.
Nevertheless, the most important effect of Xylitol on the skin is its ́ ability to affect the structure of the skin. Usage of Xylitol on the skin increases the production of filaggrin. Filaggrin is a protein that works in two ways in the skin.
1. It strengthens the skin ́s brick wall -like protective layer in the stratum corneum. So, to say, it increases the skin’s ability to protect itself and prevents moisture loss.
2. It has an important effect on NMF (natural moisture facture). NMF is created when filaggrin stayed in the stratum corneum starts to dissolve or hydrolyze into amino acids. NMF impacts how well the skin can absorb moisture from the air and from lower layers of the skin, and how well it retains the moisture.
The healthier and stronger the skin ́s surface is, the more beautiful the skin looks.
People with dry skin or/and atopic skin benefit from the use of Xylitol
Xylitol offers even more benefits for people with dry or/and atopic skin. Some earlier studies prove that the dryness and the weak structure of the atopic skin are caused by a genetic lack of filaggrin protein. New studies have shown that atopic might also suffer from microbe colonization on the surface of the skin. This means an excess of microbes on the normal flora that can form a biofilm on top of the skin which blocks the sweat glands and causes inflammation and irritation.
Why and from where do some people then develop this kind of microbe colonization? It is formed by those same microbes we all have on our skin to protect us. On an atopic skin, the multiplicity of the microbes is disturbed and then a bacteria called Staphylococcus Aureus can multiply in an unhealthy manner. Too much bacterial growth causes atopic a lot of different irritations. The Xylitol used in Skin Candy products can decrease microbe colonization because Xylitol is naturally antiseptic. Xylitol does not decrease microbes by killing them but prevents them from growing since no microbe, bacteria, virus, or fungus is able to grow in Xylitol. Therefore, also resistant microbes are unable to form. Earlier studies have also shown that Xylitol is not allergenic since it occurs naturally in our body and our body also produces it. Products with Xylitol can therefore help significantly in the care of atopic skin.
The Professional Candying method removes mechanically the dead skin cells on the outer layer of the skin with a Xylitol enhanced paste. This also decreases the number of microbes on the skin. After the treatment, Xylitol enhanced treatment liquid and lotion are used making the treatment results more long-lasting. The results can be sustained with Xylitol enhanced home care products. Xylitol truly has a miracle effect on skincare – test yourself and try for example moisturizing Caramel Body Lotion!