[00:00:00] Welcome to Beauty Babble. Today we're talking about the benefits of mushrooms and their increased popularity in skincare. We did an episode on the trends of skincare trends in 2024 and mushrooms was one of the things, so we had kind of saved it for its own episode. So we are going to dive into that today.
[00:00:23] How are you Suzanne? 
[00:00:24] I'm doing well. I'm doing really good, thanks. Yes. All right. So yeah, mushrooms popular in skincare. If you know your ingredients as I keep saying. Honing in on why, why, why is this growing in 
[00:00:37] demand? You know, it's like, it's not new. I mean, if you, if you think about, you know, Chinese medicine had been using mushroom, I'm going to just dumb it down.
[00:00:47] Cause I don't know that much about it on that. Cause that's their world, but they've been doing it traditional Chinese medicine for like centuries. It's a part of their regime, you know, internally eating it or using it that type of thing, but it's been [00:01:00] around for a long, long time and sometimes we forget the power of our ingredients and the why behind it, right?
[00:01:07] Absolutely. I think, although they have been around for a while, The they're gaining more traction, right? So you're seeing more of it. There's been like more research done in recent years as well, like I think even since last year on that increased visibility of them. And sometimes I find like ingredients have been in skincare, just don't talk about them, you know?
[00:01:30] Yes, exactly. But bringing them to the forefront and acknowledging their presence and what the benefits that they you know, They bring to to the skin. So I think why don't we just kick it off maybe by talking about what are the benefits right of mushrooms? Because there's different, I think, oh my God, there's 
[00:01:49] different benefits.
[00:01:51] Of thousands of like there's so many different species of mushrooms, not doesn't mean you can go outside and grab one and start throwing it into your body cream or anything. It's not [00:02:00] about that. Of course, you're extracting what they need from it. But do you remember? I'm going back a long time ago in the early 2000s and even the 90s kind of thing that Dr.
[00:02:08] Andrew wheel. He was an MD out of the States that he was very involved in integrative medicine. Yeah. Anyways, he was huge before people actually he gained momentum. He was on Oprah. So I'm going dating myself here, but he was huge He actually was one of the first to bring it in to his skin care He created skin care lotion just with the mushroom idea behind it And it was, it was like fungi packed lotion.
[00:02:35] He actually headed it like that. Because mushroom is a fungi, right? So that's going back 2005. But of course, that was the, you know, holistic world. And not a lot of people were in that traction of it. But now, even over the counter kind of products are, are coming out with it and they're headlining it.
[00:02:55] But it's not new in our world, right? But when we talk about what's gaining [00:03:00] momentum here, then you as a professional, knowing this, start looking at the product lines you have. Is there anything in mine that I can say, well, we have it too. I've been using it on you for the last two years. You know what I mean?
[00:03:13] Like, I think if we, why we talk about these things is also to Hopefully help you understand what you're currently using yourself, right? But, yeah, it's still actually, that's one of his best sellers, I think, still today, if I saw or researched that correctly. Out of his own origin, I think, is his product line?
[00:03:32] Yeah, origins. I just googled it. Yeah. Yeah. So it's been around like it's still in circulation, still out there. It's still one of, one of, was one of his top. I don't really know recently. That's not really why we're talking about it, but it's growing, right? You're going to find it in face masks and serums and so many different ways and day creams and creams.
[00:03:50] And there's actually one mushroom. Don't tell, I can't tell you which one it was that I read about, but it actually has natural P SPF in it. So it's [00:04:00] interesting how, well, what are they compounding with and how are they making our, and thankfully the beauty industry has, has gotten so competitive and always was, but even more to dive into ingredient world.
[00:04:11] And I think that's, we can kind of thank our pandemic of why we're now asking us consumers more questions of how not only eating it, you see it with chefs. Mushrooms. All of a sudden there's a big phase of the mushrooms are coming to the table, mushroom risotto, mushroom this, mushroom salad mushroom. So they know internally how it helps us.
[00:04:32] So again, that becomes that demand of what people are, are wanting. And it's just a kind of a, a unique way of bringing it out to people. They don't have always have to have it in a pill and a powder. Right? Yeah. 
[00:04:44] And it has like topical property, like it can help you when apply topically. Cause I think things affect you differently, like whether you're ingesting them or applying them topically.
[00:04:52] But when I researched mushrooms, it's all like when used in skincare, they're like antioxidant, they're anti [00:05:00] inflammatory. They can help with Wrinkles or not give you wrinkles, but help prevent wrinkles. And then another one was Reducing hyperpigmentation to with specific types of mushrooms that can help with Reducing hyperpigmentation.
[00:05:14] So there's so many benefits, but it really just depends on the type of mushroom. So it isn't necessarily that you need to know all the mushrooms, but when you're looking at your products and you see a specific type of mushroom, it could do one thing and then another type of mushroom would do something different.
[00:05:31] Exactly. Yeah. So like with the when you say antioxidants, that people need to realize that that's, I mean, antioxidants big word in our industry for many, many years. So it's like fighting the free radicals. That are damaging our skin environmentally, so it's fighting it off, I think, or internally that, you know, inflammation in our bodies, that type of thing.
[00:05:52] But, you know, you think of, you said anti aging properties. Well, that's from the polysaccharides, the fats that come from [00:06:00] some of the mushrooms that help with that high level moisturizing. Some mushrooms have a better moisture content than hyaluronic, right? So, that's why it's understanding maybe which mushroom.
[00:06:14] In fairness, some product lines are not going to tell you which mushroom they're using. They'll just say mushroom stem and the benefits of it. That's what you need to focus on. It's not that shiitake mushroom is in my cream. If they share that with you, great, but it's more about, okay, what's the target of the ingredient?
[00:06:30] Cause as you just mentioned, it does so many things. Anti inflammatory healing antiviral antibacterial. So that's acne breakouts, right? So that's a different mushroom. I mean, there's, like I said, hundreds of thousands of types of mushrooms. Like, I don't know which ones are using. And so it doesn't really matter.
[00:06:47] It's just more of what's the power of the mushroom ingredient and. What's it supposed to do for it, right? Like you said inhibit the melanin production. So that means it's got to be targeting the trisanoid [00:07:00] enzyme that's producing the melanin. So it's putting it to sleep so it doesn't produce the melanin.
[00:07:05] So that's how it's the trisanoid inhibitor for our pigmentation side of things, right? So I think if we remember when we start understanding ingredients, Oh, hyaluronic. It's stronger than hyaluronic. Okay, I get that. Right. So that's the moisturizing agent in it. So I think if we can look at the benefits, but there's so many things.
[00:07:27] That mushrooms do in general, and it's just, I think, a really neat ingredient to kind of talk about because well, yep. It's out there. People are starting to notice it, and they wanna know about mushrooms. So if you see it advertised in Sephora, I'm gonna use Sephora. Then what do you have in your treatment room?
[00:07:43] Yeah, 
[00:07:43] look. Look at your ingredient list. So I just quickly Googled it and there's approximately 14,000 species of mushrooms, . 
[00:07:51] Yeah. And there's one that I saw, it was even more than that, , but they haven't even identified them all. Oh, they haven't. Yeah, there's like so many. [00:08:00] It's like, Oh my God, we only know like the few which we usually eat, but I'm sure if you've gone to, I remember Costco was bringing in sometimes all these different types of mushrooms.
[00:08:09] It was last year. So when you think about it, it's like, oh, yeah, what's the trend? What are the people asking for as consumers? So they're bringing it out, but it's not really new in skin care. I think it's becoming louder because again, people are talking about it through eating it and taking the herbal side of it or through powders or whatever it may be.
[00:08:28] So when you look at that on that holistic side of things, how's that full circle going to help you in your treatment room too? But I mean, yeah, it's also really high in vitamin D. So if they're bringing that to the skin level of skin care, not only consuming it, but what other things is it doing for you, right?
[00:08:48] And I think you're right. Like, I think it does kind of lend into that holistic trend, right? So everybody's moving forward. No, I shouldn't say that. But there's a trend in moving towards a holistic treatments, holistic [00:09:00] lifestyle. And so understanding just having that in your, in your mind. And if you have mushroom extracts in your product, maybe highlighting that for your clients too, because it could be part of that attraction to getting more treatments with you.
[00:09:15] Or even if they're looking you up on your website or whatever, just highlighting some of the things could also help attract. Those specific clients. Exactly. 
[00:09:25] One thing that I found, I found really interesting is that with mushrooms, just diving in a little bit deeper is it's classified as an adaptogen.
[00:09:31] So an adaptogen means it's adapting to something basically, right? So at an environmental level, it's actually helping with the stressors environmentally. So think UV radiation, the pollution, the toxins. And so it's going to adapt and help maybe the other ingredients work better. Or itself with the mushroom.
[00:09:53] So it's really interesting how it can help with other things by neutralizing that free radical damage. And [00:10:00] you know what I mean? Like in helping other ingredients that are there designed to help with something else. So they're fixing or helping make other ingredients do their job better. Maybe that's the word I'm trying to look for, but it's definitely like you said, calming repairing.
[00:10:17] So you think eczema. You think I think that way. Eczema, psoriasis, calming and, and healthy and repairing. So you know, knowing that mushrooms are antifungal, it's like, is that in my mask for acne? Let me go, go, let me go look, right? Or ask your educator, do we have mushroom in this product line? Where is it?
[00:10:38] Maybe you don't have time. Hopefully they can have the answer for you. But, or look through your own technical manual too. And I think that's what we need to look at. for that. You know, they're actually saying that there's a quote I have. Where is it? Some literature reveals that adaptogens help regulate the body's response to stress and brings the body back to homestasis.
[00:10:57] We know that skin health can start from the [00:11:00] inside out. So if aptogens help the body as a whole, the skin could improve as a result. So I think understanding that our last name is Oliviera, I believe her name was, and she's a holistic practitioner, but you know, just knowing that how it impacts the skin, and we know that environmentally, these trigger the bad things to our skin, inflammation, stressors, whatever it may be, so if we know that it's going to help, The condition.
[00:11:29] I think that's even another way to look at it in general. Is it specifically what like we talked about? Like you mentioned, it's directly the mushroom ingredients going to help this or is it actually in there to help something else? And then there's a combination of both as well. Yeah. It's a powerhouse.
[00:11:45] It's a powerhouse. But I think. That's what the researchers and developers. Yeah. 
[00:11:49] That's why, that's why there's researchers. I think on the flip side too, there's always like, I know we talk about, you know, look at your skincare line, but there are some people who are just starting out and if that's [00:12:00] something that, you know, you're looking towards a more holistic practice, then when you're looking for products, maybe having those things that you want you To be something that is in the forefront of products, if that's important to you.
[00:12:14] Exactly. Especially 
[00:12:15] with the trends and stuff. 
[00:12:16] And I think that's something we, we've said so many times over again, is that the consumer trend and what's out there, what are they yelling out at us? You know, and I think if you even like, I like to go look at Europe and see what the trends are. It doesn't matter if it's the fashion world, it doesn't matter if it's the beauty industry, the music, the, like, everything kind of comes from there.
[00:12:37] So if you already know that that's something out there, Is it coming to you? Is it coming here? Is it going to come to us? It's just a different, and it might not, like it could even just be North America comes up with it, but typically it comes from somewhere else in the world before North America kind of sees it.
[00:12:56] And, I mean, I shouldn't even say that. They've probably seen it, but [00:13:00] developing it, they're a little bit more behind of it, right? Whereas Europe's already been developing it, like mushroom stem mushroom has been in skin care for a very long time. It wasn't just Andrew, Dr. Andrew wheel right like. Because he is so involved in the holistic side, he knew from Chinese traditional medicines, and so he found ways, oh, if that worked, what else?
[00:13:20] And again, multi millionaire company, like he could find the science and the research behind it to help develop the product. Knowing that. Is there something we can do? And that's that curiosity of a researcher, right? Interesting. But yeah, it's definitely in the last year been definitely coming to the market a lot more I've seen it on advertisements on it.
[00:13:42] Like I said that retail marketing world So I think that's something that we should be looking at ourselves. And if you don't have it, it's not wrong It's just being aware of it. So if you can even talk about it, I think it's an important factor. It's just helping your toolbox of knowledge, right? More and more.
[00:13:59] And [00:14:00] then you can even ask your product line, is there. Do you have it in there? Are you guys searching it? Like, where are you at with this? And they can find the answer for you, right? So it could be developing and never told you. 
[00:14:13] Oh, totally. And I think too, like knowing about it and then being able to, if your client asks you about it, it's not in this product, but this is what's in this product that does just the same thing or something like that, but having that knowledge of what is trending, because we've taught, and we've talked about this.
[00:14:30] Are your clients have access to skincare online, you know, in stores? So they might be if you're fine that they're gravitating towards, you know, a specific trend, then it's something to consider. We did have an episode on trends, like, so I don't know, do you want to hop on it? It's, I don't know, it's complicated.
[00:14:51] But yeah, so we know that the benefits are just to recap on that, it's like free radical damage, so it helps to repair and it's [00:15:00] very, very hydrating. Some of them are, like I said, higher than it's like a beta glucan is, is kind of the idea behind it, not a hyaluronic, but it's actually higher. So if they say that they have a beta glucan in it, is it a mushroom based?
[00:15:14] might be you might not realize what's the connection behind it. And again, anti aging. So it also helps with the polysaccharide level, like loaded with that. So it helps with the fats helping the moisturize that skin on the fat side of things. And then as you mentioned too, it's a trisoid inhibitor.
[00:15:32] So it's going to help inhibit the melanin production. With the enzyme releasing keeping that dormant and that's a big one like pigmentation is huge people want that perfect looking skin So, you know your client's like, okay, why don't you look at that? Do you have a product that has a trisanoid inhibitor already?
[00:15:51] Is that something you talk about and say? This is what you should be using. And in fact, I think the younger generation are looking for anti aging, but the [00:16:00] products are out of their age category, technically, because their skin's not there yet. Do you introduce a trisanoid inhibitor serum to them to start helping?
[00:16:10] Nothing wrong with that. Right? So that's an anti aging step that you can introduce to your 25 and up kind of thing. A little younger might be, you'd have to see the ingredients, how packed it is, because it's usually directed to combating. But what about a preventative state of your trisanoid inhibitor, right?
[00:16:28] So, you know, like you mentioned, knowing your ingredient, what other line do you have? Or what other product do you have kind of does the same? That could be your answer. You just want to know who your competitor is. So mushroom is your competitor out there, guys. 
[00:16:41] Yes. And your friend. And your 
[00:16:44] friend. But again, also anti inflammatory, anti bacteria, anti fungal, anti virus.
[00:16:49] So acne. That's a big one, right? So, you know, like, okay, start looking at your acne. If you know that there's a line promoting their mushroom for acne, because [00:17:00] that's what they're going to highlight, then you need to be on top of yourself and look at, okay, I don't have mushroom in this, but I have this and this.
[00:17:06] Okay. Right. So they'll be like, Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. But if you don't, you can't just say to them, Oh yeah, I don't have any mushroom in my product. I got nothing for you. Like, you know, we're always trying to help you understand ingredients, I think. And that's why we're bringing this up. So what's the, what's the latest mushrooms?
[00:17:25] Yeah, I mean, it's, I think, especially in this industry, like, there's always learning and changing and growth and there's something new. So it's, it can be a lot, but it's, it's also good to stay in the know so that your your clients can also have the confidence that, okay, you know about it and you're, you're, and you're still, you know, using the products that you have and you've explained how they are the same or they do the same thing, whatever it is.
[00:17:51] I think that also just helps build that trust with your clients. Yeah, and I think that's a huge part to understand and that's why I mean we don't have to, you don't have to run out and buy product that has [00:18:00] mushroom in it now because that's your, that's, that's the new word or the new trend, if you wish.
[00:18:06] But that's, it's a trend that's holistic so it's not really going to go away they're just being more aware of it now, and they want to start having it in different ways so what are some things that you have that you can help, help them understand and then knowing, and then them finding out that you can know about that.
[00:18:22] It's like that toolbox of knowledge, right? Exactly. I think that's why like ingredients, ingredients have always been my, my go to. Of course, deep inside, I'm a little bit of a weirdo when it comes to how deep I like to go. Not to the point where I'd want to do chemistry, ew, save that for the professionals, but to understand a little bit more, right?
[00:18:44] It's like, oh my God, really? I actually Googled cordyceps. Am I saying that right? It's R D Y C E P. I was like, cordyceps, mushrooms, what are those? So I googled a look, I said, oh my god, if I saw that, I wouldn't buy that to eat that. They look, I'm not even telling you [00:19:00] what it looks like. You'll google it and you'll see for yourselves, you guys.
[00:19:03] But, it's like, wow, do you know that's like one of the most powerhouse mushrooms? out there. Now I would probably do it to eat it, knowing how good it is for us, but I'm just going to read really quick what that mushroom is known for. Okay. So it's antioxidant rich, hydrates, reduces dark spots, boosts collagen, elastin production, soothes inflammation associated with conditions like psoriasis and eczema, calming over all irritations, soothe dry flaky skin, help shield the skin from harmful UV.
[00:19:37] It's like, holy, one mushroom, like, not one mushroom, but one, one specimen of that mushroom does all that. It's crazy to know. Mushrooms are amazing. It's pretty cool. I said mushrooms are amazing. There's so much to them. Yeah. And you look at, I mean, even the psychiatry side of things are starting to bring back, you know, touching on that holistic Yeah.
[00:19:59] [00:20:00] Yeah. Level we'll say, but I mean, that's another category, but that's another one. That's come up like mushrooms are out there in almost every aspect, if you look at it. Right. So it's definitely in our beauty world. That's for sure. 
[00:20:13] Absolutely. Well, I think that we've given our listeners lots to think about with yet another ingredient, and if anyone has an ingredient they love and they would like highlighted, let us know.
[00:20:25] We're always looking for you know, recommendations or suggestions. This is for you. So questions, let us know. 
[00:20:34] Absolutely. 
[00:20:35] Awesome. Well, thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week