Mushrooms in Skincare

Traditional Chinese medicine has utilized mushrooms for their healing properties and wealth of nutrients dating back to about 200 AD (Source)! Recently we have seen a large uptake in the use of mushrooms for other purposes, whether it be for decoration, food, or skincare.

You may have seen this trend yourself with mushroom earrings, socks, and even lamps being all of the craze.

This trend has a variety of clever names from the shroom boom to the fungi phenomenon, and we are here for it!

The shroom boom has officially entered the skincare industry, and for a good reason! Mushrooms have many benefits to offer your skincare routine such as anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and more. Stay tuned to discover the benefits of using mushrooms in skincare, and find out which types of mushrooms are beneficial in skincare, and which types are not. Let’s go!

Most common mushrooms in skincare:

Mushrooms have a wealth of benefits when added to skincare formulation. It is important to keep in mind, however, that not all mushrooms are beneficial when applied topically or ingested, and can even be harmful. Mushroom varieties such as death cap, false morels, and conocybe filaris are harmful mainly because they are poisonous to humans (Source).

Many other varieties of mushroom are not beneficial to use in skincare simply because they do not offer the nutrients other commonly used mushroom varieties contain. 

The most commonly used mushrooms in skin care are: 

• Chaga Mushrooms

• Cordyceps Mushrooms

• Reishi Mushrooms

• Tremella Mushrooms

• Shiitake Mushrooms

Mycelium or Fruit Body?

It is worth noting that there is a large debate in the beauty industry regarding which part of the mushroom is best to use for skincare formulation. The main debate is around which is better to use for skincare formulations: the fruit body of the mushroom or the mycelium.

Both parts of the mushroom offer a wealth of nutrients, and there is not a clear winner as to which part is best to use right now. Different types of mushrooms have different nutrient levels in each part of the mushroom, and both parts are beneficial when used in skincare (Source).

In most cases, it's a matter of personal preference which part of the mushroom to use (Source). 

Benefits: 

Almost all mushrooms used in skincare offer the following benefits. Later we will get into what specific benefits each type of mushroom offers and their best uses in skincare.

• All Natural - Clean beauty!

• Hydrating

• Anti-Oxidant

• Anti-Inflammatory

• Good for Sensitive Skin

Now let’s look at each individual type of mushrooms’ most powerful benefits:

Chaga Mushrooms

• UV Light Protection - Let me be clear: Chaga mushrooms are NOT a replacement for sunscreen, and when using a skincare formula with Chaga mushrooms as an ingredient, you should still apply sunscreen daily! Chaga mushrooms help to protect your skin from UV light, but UV light is not the only harmful part of sun exposure. Any additional protection from the sun, however, is never a bad thing (Source)!

• Anti-Aging

• Anti-Inflammatory - Anti-inflammatory in skincare refers to reducing the appearance of red or inflamed areas on the skin. Chaga mushrooms contain the compounds phenol and polyphenol, and triterpenoid, which are anti-inflammatory when used in skincare (Source).

Cordyceps Mushrooms

• UVB Light Protection - Again: Not a replacement for sunscreen, but any additional protection from the sun is always good!

• Anti-Oxidant - Cordyceps mushrooms help to eliminate free radicals from your skin’s surface through its antioxidant properties. Over a long period of time this will help to slow down the process of skin aging (Source).

Reishi Mushrooms

• Hydrating - Reishi mushrooms in skincare have been praised for their ability deeply penetrate the skin’s surface and offer deep hydration (Source).

• Anti-Inflammatory

Tremella Mushrooms

• Hydrating - Tremella mushrooms can absorb up to 65% of their weight in water, and hold it on your skin’s surface. This makes them a great ingredient for hydration!

• Anti-Oxidant

(Want to learn even more about tremella mushrooms in skincare? Head over to our blog all about tremella mushroom in skincare!)

Shiitake Mushrooms

• Reduce Hyperpigmentation - Shiitake mushrooms most powerful benefit is its ability to reduce the appearance of dark spots and overall even skin tone. Even better: This ingredient is rarely known to irritate even the most sensitive skin, so shiitake mushroom can be used to reduce hyperpigmentation in those with sensitive skin (Source).

• Skin Brightening

Overall, mushrooms in skincare are known to be non-irritating to sensitive skin. Those with sensitive skin will tell you it can be difficult to find effective products that don’t irritate the skin. If you are looking to start a skincare line specifically for people with sensitive skin, mushroom skincare is a great place to start!

The natural aspect of mushrooms has helped bring them to popularity along with the entire clean and natural skincare movement we have seen trending in the past few years. Mushrooms are able to offer great benefits to the skin, while allowing a formula to remain clean and natural.

Synthetic skin care ingredients can be harmful to the skin and the planet in the long run, which is why natural skincare is so popular (and important).

Using mushrooms in a skincare product can help to boost its benefits and keep the formula clean!

Custom Formulate Your Skincare Line With Mushrooms:

Since mushrooms are all the craze in today’s beauty industry, you may be thinking about starting your own mushroom skincare brand. Formulating with mushrooms can be difficult as you can not simply add mushroom or mushroom extract your formula to reap the benefits listed above.

As with many active ingredients, in order for the mushroom nutrients to properly penetrate the skin, you will need to include a delivery system in the formulation.

With mushroom skincare trending and continuing to become more and more popular, now is a great time to start selling your own mushroom skincare brand! 

Are you interested in starting your own mushroom skincare brand? Genie Supply can help! Genie offers a variety of custom formulating services to help meet your needs. With experienced full time chemists on staff, we can help make your dream a reality.

Genie Supply specializes in formulating innovative new-to-market formulas, including mushroom skincare formulations.

The best part: when your formulation is complete, you own it, and can take your formula anywhere for manufacturing!

Check out our custom formulating services on our Custom Formulating page for more details, including time and cost estimates. On this page you can also schedule a free 15 minute consultation with a sales representative to discuss your skincare idea! 

Questions? Comments? Feel free to reach out to us at customerservice@geniesupply.com or give us a call at 812-329-1105.