What Are The Skin Benefits Of Kakadu Plum?
When it comes to excellent sources of vitamin C, one ingredient outperforms all the others - and no, it’s not oranges. In fact, oranges don’t even come close when compared to this Australian native ingredient. Kakadu plum is the world’s richest source of vitamin C and it’s a must for anyone seeking brighter, younger skin.
Why vitamin C is essential for skin
Vitamin C is one of the top anti-ageing ingredients you can apply on your skin. It’s incredibly rich in antioxidants which support your skin’s natural regeneration process to help your body repair damaged skin cells. Other vitamin C skin benefits include stimulating collagen production, inhibiting your skin’s melanin production to prevent dark spots from forming, shielding skin from free radical damage, and leaving skin looking brighter and more youthful.
Our bodies do not naturally produce vitamin C or store it so it’s essential that we regularly get it from other sources, such as our diets and skincare. And there’s no better time to start introducing vitamin C into your beauty routine. You should start applying a vitamin C serum from as early as your 20s.
The benefits of Kakadu plum for skin
Since vitamin C is vital for healthy skin, you might as well go straight to the richest source available: Kakadu plum.
Kakadu plum has been used as medicine by local Aboriginal tribes for centuries thanks to its antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. More recently, Kakadu plum’s skin benefits have become widely recognised and bottled up to deliver glowing skin to the world.
While citrus fruits have always had a reputation for being good natural sources of vitamin C, the vitamin only makes up for around 0.5% of their weight (53mg per 100g in oranges). Kakadu plum contains 3700mg per 100g, which is about 70 times more vitamin C than oranges!
Found in remote, rugged areas of Australia’s outback, in areas such as Kakadu National Park (where it got its name), The Kimberly’s, and Arnhem Land, it’s these harsh conditions that Kakadu plums endure that have led to the small fruits developing a tough defense mechanism. Kakadu plums produce powerful antioxidants to protect themselves and store essential phyto-compounds to survive extreme conditions of heat, drought, flood, and sun exposure.
All these complex survival skills equate to a superfruit that is packed with nutrients that offer a wealth of skin benefits. Also known as gubinge, billygoat plum, or murunga, Kakadu plum has anti-ageing, brightening, antioxidant and soothing properties.
Kakadu plum’s anti-ageing benefits
All that vitamin C in Kakadu plums works wonders for helping to reduce the visible signs of ageing. Besides promoting collagen production to keep skin looking plump, vitamin C helps improve skin elasticity and reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
Kakadu plum brightens skin
Vitamin C is also a great skin brightener. It can help fade pigmentation, even out skin tone and improve skin texture to restore and renew the complexion. Kakadu plum is a must-have if you want to get rid of a dull complexion and increase your skin’s luminosity.
The native ingredient is rich in antioxidants
Antioxidants play an important role in protecting skin from environmental damage, such as UV radiation and pollution, which we’re exposed to daily. Once again outperforming its fellow fruits, Kakadu plum has five times more antioxidants than blueberries. The high concentration of antioxidants in Kakadu plum help manage oxidative stress and fight premature signs of ageing.
In addition to vitamin C, Kakadu plum also contains two other antioxidants: gallic acid and ellagic acid. Gallic acid has anti-inflammatory properties, can help reduce pigmentation and dark spots, and works to restore skin’s natural barrier. Ellagic acid neutralises free radicals, supports a healthy skin barrier and promotes skin elasticity and suppleness.
Kakadu plum helps soothe skin
Speaking of gallic acid and ellagic acid, these two polyphenols are the reason vitamin C serums formulated with Kakadu plum are suitable for sensitive skin types. While some vitamin C serums can be irritating, what makes a vitamin C serum formulated with Kakadu plum a good choice for all skin types is that the native fruit is also rich in anti-inflammatory gallic acid and ellagic acid, which help calm skin and reduce redness. Gallic acid is antibacterial too, so Kakadu plum is a great ingredient for treating acne-prone skin as well.
How to incorporate vitamin C into your skincare routine
Vitamin C is a potent ingredient, which means there are a few ins and outs of introducing it into your skincare routine.
The best way to use vitamin C in your skincare routine is with a serum, as they’re more concentrated and stable. But not all vitamin C serums are created equal. Vitamin C can be very unstable and is extremely sensitive to light and air, which causes it to break down quickly. Unlike ascorbic acid, the man-made vitamin C commonly found in skincare products, the natural vitamin C in the Kakadu plum extract used in HydroSkin’s Kakadu Plum Serum does not begin to oxidise almost instantly when it is exposed to air, light or water.
HydroSkin is the first skincare company worldwide to utilise Kakadu plum in its pure, 100% undiluted form. We source Kakadu plum for our concentrated serum from Western Australia where it grows wild. The fruit is grown naturally without any fertilisers, herbicides, or pesticides and harvested by local indigenous communities who directly benefit from the crop.
Then, to ensure none of the powerful properties of the Kakadu plum are diminished or corroded, we use a unique form of cellular extraction called Biococentration extraction. The result is a naturally derived, stable, active, undiluted and organic Australian Kakadu plum concentrate. This pure Kakadu plum extract is the sole ingredient in our HydroSkin Kakadu Plum Serum.
If you’re keen to put the benefits of Kakadu plum skincare to the test, we recommend trying our potent HydroSkin Kakadu Plum Serum, $138.
