The Eight Skincare – Traditional Chinese Medicine infused
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The Eight Skincare is based on its founder’s work in herbal medicine, traditional acupuncture, and the mind-body connection of clinical massage, particularly around musculoskeletal issues. Founder, Nicola has been practicing these forms of health and wellness for decades and decided to distil it into her own skincare range. The Eight Skincare products use potent active ingredients that nod to Chinese herbal medicine history and pharmacology. I caught up with her during her clinic session to find out more.
Nicola’s first clinical massage qualification came in the late 90’s, followed by acupuncture ten years later, and herbal medicine training a decade after, so her knowledge of the health landscape is both rooted and continuously evolving, ‘much of my work is woman’s health and gynae so I am dealing with a myriad of issues including post-surgical treatment for scars and I was increasingly frustrated at the lack of education for patients around scar support.’ Nicola made products for clients as she went along and realised she could do a lot better than many of the oils on the market, which she found used ‘cheap ingredients’, rather than herbal plants ‘that have as much efficacy for skin as for internal medicine.’
So, during Covid, The Eight Skincare was born as ‘effective skin solutions found in nature but refined by expertise.’ The product range features ‘The Targeted Series’ specialist oils for trauma induced skin alongside a ‘Daily Botanical’ collection: Grapefruit Face & Body Lotion, Damask Rose Facial Oil, Meadowfoam & Pumpkin to Gel cleanser, Targeted Skin Renewal Oil are a few of the enticing blends.
As a sensitive skin sufferer who has experienced trauma through early life and experiences psoriasis outbreaks during stressful times, I was interested to hear Nicola’s knowledge around mind-body connection, stored trauma, and the effects of cortisol on the skin microbiome; ‘This connection has always been the keystone of treating the body as a whole in Traditional Chinese medicine – we don’t separate systems. Chronic stress absolutely affects the skin by weakening the skin barrier function, increasing oil production, triggering inflammation. Then there are also environmental aggressors such as UV exposure, pollution and even over cleaning which effect the skin microbiome – I think there is not enough focus on skin repair and kindness out there,’ she continues, ‘I look at the skin dysfunction from within, so herbal ingredients like rose, calm the mind and spirit, as in TCM rose is used to regulate Qi or energy. Other shen herbs also help soothe the nervous system with emotional balance and mental tranquility.’
What was the first product formulated? ‘It was the solid moisturiser bars rather than the oils. I wanted something genuinely nourishing for the skin barrier without unnecessary fillers or huge amounts of water, which can be found in a lot of mainstream products,’ she continues, ‘the bars are packed with Kokum butters, cocoa butter, shea butter, and baobab oil: these are nutrient dense with omegas 3,6,9, and support the skin barrier without feeling greasy.’ Nicola focuses on skin physiology and long term health so the facial oils were a natural progression, ‘these required more complex formulations so you can expect to find unique ingredients including bakuchiol, centella asiatica, liquorice root, tamanu, strawberry seed oil and rosehip C02 extracts across the range as they all have evidence of supporting skin regeneration, inflammation, pigmentation and barrier repair.’
The facial oils were my ‘way in’ to The Eight skincare as I found that typically oils on the market were either heavy, sat on the skin surface and even caused me breakouts or were so ‘natural’ they had little efficacy. ‘That was one of my biggest frustrations too, so the oil formulas use a balance of lighter oils, reparative oils, botanical extracts – ingredients like squalane help with slip and absorption, tamanu and rosehip are there for more targeted skin recovery, and Centella, liquorice and bakuchiol support the appearance of texture, tone and skin renewal,’ she continues, ‘I also use CO2 extracts and lipid soluble extracts because they can deliver highly concentrated plant compounds without needing massive percentages.’
It is refreshing to speak to Nicola and experience an approach to skincare that is honest, embedded in understanding of the nervous system and neuroscience and precisely formulated, ‘I really believe that most people are overdoing skincare now with too many acids, harsh activities and constantly stripping the barrier with too many products,’ she muses, ‘I want to correct that mentality with ritual based skincare that can give people a little calm and inner peace even if its for two minutes putting on your oil in the morning. Smell, touch and ritual genuinely affect the nervous system and stress levels that in turn affect the skin.’
I look forward to following The Eight Skincare journey – which is fundamentally always driven through Nicola’s client experiences at her clinic. In development include an eczema focused formula and next hair and scalp formulations, ‘I find this category interesting as there is a lot of crossover with stress, hormones, circulation and inflammation.’ Ultimately ‘I want people to understand skin health more rather than just jump from trendy product to trendy product.’