Hydrating Dream Cream – Winter Bloom

We formulated these Dream Creams with winter in mind - from the richness of the cream, to the high quality oils and extracts we selected, to the aroma blend.

So like soft powdery snow settling on a dormant garden, these creams will be here for the season of winter then gone.

If you like them and can't live without them, let us know and we'll take this into consideration for future decisions and formulations.

The organic rosehip seed extract we've sourced is extracted using supercritical volcanically sourced CO2. This is a step up from cold pressing as it ensures a more stable end product and more bioactive components are present - including carotenoids - as seen by it's vibrant colour and potent aroma.

The high level of carotenoids in this organic rosehip seed extract gives the Hydrating Dream Cream it's beautiful yellow colour.

Yes, this cream contains essential oils of rose geranium, lavender, frankincense and sweet orange and to this we've added a smidge of vanilla fruit extract - so the Winter Bloom has a warm, floral aroma with an uplifting hint of citrus

Both Winter limited edition blends contain our hero ingredients - grass-fed tallow, emu oil and organic jojoba oil along with a high quality and potent organic rosehip seed extract and pomegranate seed extract.

The Winter Bloom contains essential oils of rose geranium, lavender, frankincense and sweet orange and to this we've added a smidge of vanilla fruit extract - so the Winter Bloom has a warm, floral aroma with an uplifting hint of citrus

The Winter Delicate does not contain any essential oils.
This is not to say it doesn't have a distinct aroma - any natural product without masking agents has the natural aroma of the ingredients in the product. And the antioxidant-rich rosehip seed extract we've chosen has a kind of earthy, grassy hay-type aroma.

To this we've added a small amount of vanilla fruit extract, so the Winter Delicate has a mild grassy-hay aroma with a sweet hint of vanilla.

We formulated these creams with Winter in mind - so they are amongst the richest creams we make.

Interestingly, these Winter Edition Dream Creams have more tallow than our original creams and more emu oil than our Replenishing Cream - but they don't feel as 'heavy' on the skin due to the velvety feel of the rosehip seed extract and luxurious feel of the pomegranate seed extract.

These creams will be richer in texture and feel than our our Spring Limited Edition, green Revitalising Cream, yellow Soothing Baby Cream, Daily Moisturisers and Summer Limited Edition.

Anyone with dry, mature skin or skin that's prone to being wind chapped or easily irritated. Anyone with skin that's prone to dullness, sun damage or sun spots. And anyone with skin that suffers in the winter.

Yes! ...these creams can be used on the face, hands, arms, legs - anywhere that needs moisturising and some TLC. 

The short answer is that context and processing matter in the question of "are all seed oils bad for you?"

The main reasons people avoid seed oils are concerns around the high heat industrial processing that strips nutrients and antioxidants from the oils and leaves them more prone to oxidation, plus a higher ratio of omega 6's vs. omega 3's.

And we get it! ...we also avoid consuming seed oils in our diet and have done for the last 12+ years.

But the seed oils used in cosmetics are different to the industrialised seed oils that are mass produced for the food industry - so you can’t tar them with the same brush.

The seed oils used in cosmetics and in our creams are typically organic and cold pressed, so they’re not subjected to the same high heat, solvent extraction as mass produced seed oils for the food industry.

One critical outcome of this difference in processing is that cold-pressed and CO2 extracted seed oils retain all of their vitamins and antioxidants that normally get stripped out with industrialised processing.

For example - sunflower is naturally high in Vitamin E and cold pressed sunflower oil contains relatively high amounts of Vitamin E which helps to prevent oxidation of the more fragile elements in cold-pressed sunflower oil.

(and of course one of the major concerns with industrialised seed oils is around oxidation of the omega 6's - a very real concern when this Vitamin E is stripped out - but not as much of a concern with cold pressed seed oils that retain their natural antioxidants)

And the Rosehip Seed Extract we've chosen for these Dream Creams is extracted using supercritical volcanically sourced CO2. This is a step up from cold pressing as it ensures a more stable end product and more bioactive components are present - including carotenoids and other antioxidants. 

Meadowfoam Seed Oil is also an excellent example of not taring all seed oils with the same brush. Meadowfoam seed oil actually contains over 96% very-long chain fatty acids, which means it's more stable and resistant to oxidation than most oils available for skincare.

This context and processing matters.
I would definitely avoid putting highly processed, industrialised seed oils on my skin, but cold pressed seed oils are beneficial for skin when balanced with healthy fats, lipids and other fatty acids.

Here's why - Omega 6's are actually critical for our skin health (especially linoleic acid and gamma linoleic acid)

Without linoleic acid our skin would become thick, scaly, rash and our skin barrier function would be seriously compromised. Omega 6's make up an essential part of ceramides - one of the 3 main components of a healthy skin barrier alongside fatty acids and cholesterol.

And it's always important to remember the balance - omega 6's are only bad when they are extremely overbalancing omega 3's.

Omega 3's, 6's and 9's should not be avoided on the skin as they are all critical for healthy skin, especially in conjunction with the other fatty acids and cholesterol found in grass-fed tallow.

In addition to all of this - when we apply products containing omega 6's on our skin, they're not going through first pass metabolism in the liver and being turned into the more inflammatory arachidonic acid.

And lastly - all well formulated products containing plant oils, butters and essential oils should contain an antioxidant to protect the oils from oxidation and our creams are no different. We formulate all of our creams with either a rosemary leaf extract or Tocopherol (Vitamin E) that acts as an antioxidant.