Flower Power – The Power of Our Favourite Flowers and How They Rejuvenate Dull, Dry Skin

As we are all missing these vibrant flowers in the cold wintertime, let’s relive the scent and delight of our favourite blossoms in a soothing face mask or delightful face cream. Flower oils can bring a wonderful radiance and they are likely in more of your skincare than you know. So, let’s deep dive into some of the best K-beauty products and the flowers that power them. 

A bright, merry yellow flower that opens at the setting sun. They have been used for a long-time in medicine – with oral evening primrose used as a natural remedy from menstrual cramps, arthritis, cholesterolemia and even acne. It is used as an essential oil in a variety of skincare for its wide benefits. 

It has strong anti-aging effect, improving water retention and plumpness of skin, increasing elasticity and reducing dullness. It also reduces general redness and helps soften skin to a baby-smooth feeling. It is naturally high in omega-6 acids, which is vital to balance inflammation in the body and help soothe and rebuild skin cells. 

It’s used in the soothing, Cosrx Good Morning Peeling Gel alongside soothing Japanese snowbell tree extract and tea tree oil. This creates a very lightweight, herbal cleanser that helps wake you up and get going in the day. It has a low pH to help balance skin and is suitable for all skin types, making it a family-friendly addition to the shower. 

It’s also used in Medicube’s Zero Exosome Shot, designed to reduce pore appearance and reduce inflammation. With exosome-coated spicules that penetrate deeper skin cells, it provides a deep replenishment and cleanse of pores with AHA, BHA and PHA and brightening niacinamide. It also soothes with panthenol, creating a 20% improvement in pore density. You can read deeper about exosomes in our deep-dive here. 

Witch-hazel has a rich history in Native American culture, where they used not just flowers, but barks and twigs in medicine and remedies. It was quickly adopted by colonialists, due to its strong effects. It strongly reduces inflammation in a variety of inflammatory conditions, especially of the skin. It’s used to great effect to relieve itching, redness and deep inflammation – making it a marked favourite of acne-prone and sensitive skin.

It’s also useful to help repair skin barrier damage, helping brighten skin and bring it to a healthy baseline. It’s part of recommended treatment in atopic dermatitis due to its deep-reaching comfort and holistic care of skin. 

It’s no surprise, therefore, that one of Secret Key’s most popular toners is their Witch-Hazel Clear Toner, which contains 9.7% witch-hazel extract, combined with soothing centella asciatica, aloe vera and Japanese pepper fruit extract. It does contain alcohol, however, ruling this toner out for dry or sensitive skin users. Instead, it uses witch-hazel's balancing effect on sebum and oils on the skin, to create a deeply soothing toner for oily/combination skin types struggling with inflammation or acne. 

If you do have dry skin and want to add a little witch-hazel to your routine, it’s also in the TirTir Ceramic Cream. This little jar provides the ultimate nourishment to dry skin in winter, with shea butter, mixed with polyglutamic acid (PGA) which holds more water than hyaluronic acid, keeping skin deeply plump and bright during the day. It brings a dewy, glass skin look and brings the ultimate hydration package. It’s not so recommended for oily skin types, as it can over-moisturize and lead to breakouts. 

Rose and rosewater has been used in skincare over the past 5000 years, from Ancient Egypt making cleansing balms to Middle Age Europe who used it to soothe their stomachs. The rose has inspired and enchanted humans for generations and it's no wonder we were eager to apply its grace and beautiful scent to our skin. Rose extract has a rich plethora of healing qualities and is famous for anti-aging effect and soothing redness. 

It improves the skin response to sun damage, provides healing antioxidants and provides rich polyphenols and flavonoids. These help skin heal and remodel, whilst also reducing skin exposure to UV radiation. 

A big favourite to enjoy the soothing benefits of rose, is the Mary and May Rose Hyaluronic Hydra Wash Off Pack. Wile away the time with this brightening, soothing face mask that combines hydrating hyaluronic acid with soft rose water. It has a subtle fragrance and provides a note of luxury to your routine. It provides a soft exfoliation with gentle kaolin clay and rosa gallica powder (rose petal extract). It can be slightly irritating to sensitive skin, due to the added fragrance, so if you are sensitive to fragrance it might be better to trial out something else. But if you are looking to experience the softness of roses, mixed with indulgent fig extract and centella asciatica to bring radiance to your skin – this is the one. 

If you want to continue hydrating and plumping – there is none better than the indulgent Heimish Black Rose Hydra Plumping Sorbet Cream. This uses black rose extract to brighten and nourish skin, combined with green tea, niacinamide, collagen and hydrating ceramides to soften skin and protect your skin barrier overnight. It improves skin elasticity and has a cooling effect when applied to the skin (like sorbet) to cool redness. It does have a soft rose scent (with added fragrance) so it is not as suited to sensitive skin. If you are looking for a denser cream to deeply hydrate over winter, to relieve fine lines and (most delightfully) leave you smelling like roses – look no further than the cooling, black rose sorbet cream. 

The Calendula flower, also known as pot marigolds, are vivid orange-and-yellow members of the daisy family that are found all over the world. They are symbols of healing and protection and were used for skin problems and healing dating back to Ancient Greece and the Middle East. They are associated with the sun as their prime season is mid-summer. 

The reason for its continued use in skincare formulations is due to its powerful antioxidants, which relieve and protect skin cells from aging. It also relieves inflammation, in redness, itching, ulcers or acne – providing a deep, calm for irritated skin. It contains a wealth of healing solutions – from terpenes (anti-bacterial and healing) to carotenoids (UV protection and healing sun damage), to a wealth of polyunsaturated fatty acids (provides energy and source for rapid skin healing). It’s no surprise our ancestors were excited by the potential of these little summer daisies and scientists continue that excitement today.  

If you want to enjoy the soothing effect of calendula, you cannot go wrong with the all-round replenishing Mary and May Calendula Peptide Ageless Sleeping Mask. This mask combines calendula extract and peptides with soft petals of the calendula itself suspended in the mixture. It is also boosted with hyaluronic acid and glycine to deeply hydrate and centella asciatica and fig extract to reduce redness and brighten skin. It also comes with chamomile extract, which boosts healing (we’ll dive into that soon!). This sleeping mask provides the ultimate soothing, hydration overnight, letting you wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. You can find your perfect sleeping mask with our article on it here. 

Calendula extract is also found in the deeply soothing Axis Y New Skin Resolution Gel Mask, which provides a deep cooling and repair to inflamed or acne-prone skin. Mixed with gentle heartleaf, fig, madecassoside, allantoin, mugwort and yam root – this mask works overtime to relieve acne, reduce redness, reduce hyperpigmentation and gently hydrate skin underneath. If you are struggling with irritated skin, this is the ultimate relaxing wash-off mask to rest and help your skin recover with at the end of the day. 

Little, white and bright chamomile flowers grow in large clusters and spill out in gardens. They’ve a lengthy history with humans – from being used in cooking, in tea, in beer and especially in cosmetics. It, especially in tea, has been used for centuries to calm upset stomachs and also has been used to calm anxiety and high blood pressure. 

In the modern era, scientists have broken down chamomile into its various elements – which match very similarly to the calendula flower (terpenes, flavonoids, fatty acids) which work to reduce inflammation, calm redness and soothe skin. It also contains coumarins, which provides a natural scent (which we recognize in tea) and brightening antioxidants that help repair and revive skin.

If you are looking for a hit of relieving chamomile, you can’t go wrong with Petitfee’s Chamomile Lightening Hydrogel Face Mask. It contains a nutritious mix of chamomile, yuja (whitening and reduces wrinkles), pumpkin (provides hydration and nutrients for skin) and citron extract (which provides soothing vitamin C to equalize skin tone). It comes in a pack of 5, giving you a couple treatments to kick back and relax with, all with cooling hydrogel technology. If you aren’t a fan of the full face mask, they also have lightening Hydrogel Eye Masks, which uses the same technology in a pack of 60 eye patches (for 30 uses) which gives you a whole month of relaxation and boosts eye appearance. 

Looking for a deep mix of plant extracts to deeply hydrate and balance skin? Look no further than Mixsoon’s bean cream – which not only has background notes of chamomile, but also lavender, cape lilac flowers, neem leaf, red seaweed and tulsi extract. These all serve to soothe, brighten and revive dull skin, which contains Mixsoon’s famous fermented soybean to deeply hydrate and refresh and soothing panthenol. It is power packed to create a lightweight, very creamy texture that softens skin in a few uses. 

So, if you are feeling a little down this winter – brighten your skin and relax with these ultra-soothing creams and masks that use ancient flowers to bring a soft, inner glow. Missed out on your favourite flower product? Let us know in the comments. And, as always, all these products and your K-beauty favs are available on Arktastic. Shop now!