Pumpkin Spice for Your Skin: It’s Not Just Good In Your Latte!

Ah, pumpkin spice—the best part of fall. Believe it or not, this sweet, multi-functional plant can be great for your skin. Here are some pumpkin benefits in skincare.

Pumpkin Benefits for Your Skin

The chemical composition of pumpkin yields several advantages for your skin, much like the traditional skincare ingredients you’re used to seeing on the market. According to the International Dermal Institute, pumpkin’s fruit enzymes and alpha hydroxy acids will smooth your skin, brighten your skin, and increase cell turnover. This means that pumpkin can increase the rate at which your skin creates new cells, helping to give your skin a youthful, glowing appearance. Pumpkin benefits also include vitamin A and vitamin C, which also help improve signs of aging by boosting collagen production. Some studies show that vitamin C can treat UV photodamage that causes inflammation.

Additionally, the zinc in pumpkin helps to control oil production, preventing acne. As for pumpkin seeds, they also control the oil glands in your skin and are chock-full of vitamin E and essential fatty acids to protect your skin’s barrier. This is also known as the lipid barrier, which maintains firmness, hydration, and soft skin. The barrier of lipids between your skin cells also help to decrease water loss, keeping your skin healthy and nourished. Unfortunately, the lipids your skin produces will decrease as you age, so if you have dry and mature skin, pumpkin can help!

Pumpkin’s fruit enzymes and alpha hydroxy acids will smooth your skin, brighten your skin, and increase cell turnover.

Another one of the many pumpkin benefits is that it can treat hyperpigmentation and brighten a dull complexion. Because the molecular structure in pumpkin is small, it can penetrate deep into your skin in topical skincare products.

(Pumpkin) Spice Up Your Skin with These Essentials

For a limited time, we offer a pumpkin spice facial packed with enzymes that will exfoliate, brighten and, reduce oil in the skin. This facial is 15 percent pumpkin-orange formula packed with vitamins A and C.

What to do when it’s not pumpkin spice season? We have plenty of products with very similar vitamins that can brighten up your skin! For example, our Vitamin C Skin Brightener from our custom line of Dr. Longwill Skincare has vitamin C just like pumpkin, and it features an innovative complex of active age-fighting ingredients that work synergistically to improve the appearance of dull and maturing skin visibly. Ingredients like arbutin, bearberry, emblica, and Co-Q10 target and help correct uneven skin tone while vitamins A and E neutralize free radicals, increase firmness and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles for a rejuvenated complexion. Another of the pumpkin-like products we carry is la regime’s ™ Molecular Enzyme Peel Serum, which contains powerful enzymes to soften and smooth skin just like pumpkin does. The enzymatic exfoliation in this serum uses specific proteases to break the cell-cell interactions and accelerate the exfoliation process. Papain stimulates exfoliation by decomposing proteins into smaller fragments causing a softening effect to the skin and ultimately sloughing off dead epithelium.

While we don’t recommend pouring a pumpkin spice latter onto your skin, the chemical compounds of pumpkin itself can be great for skin!

The Molecular Enzyme Peel Serum takes advantage of the synergistic activity of a unique proteolytic enzyme obtained from the fermentation of a microorganism, Bacillus Subtilis, with Papain. These ingredients are stabilized in a molecular film/Hydro Glycolic medium that helps to enhance the shelf life, efficacy, and delivery of these enzymes. In short, this unique state of the art formulation helps to increase epithelial turnover, which in turn gives your skin a luxurious look while fighting the formation of rough and dry skin. Also, la regime™ incorporates minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and amino acids, which help to restore the levels of moisture after performing gentle exfoliation.

This fall, remember that pumpkin spice isn’t just good in your latte! Don’t be afraid to ask our dermatologists before using any pumpkin skincare products, and check out our online skincare shop. Make sure to stop by our office for our pumpkin spice facial, available for a limited time!