Fight Eye Wrinkles with Larch Tree Extract

The larch tree is a type of conifer that grows in the mountains of the northern United

States, and in Canada, Russia, and Scandinavia. These are the skinny, tall trees you see if you go camping at higher elevations. Often, they will have several feet of bare trunk before the branches begin, particularly if they are mature trees.

Larches are often referred to generally as “tamaracks,” which is a particular type of larch found in the eastern United States. In the Pacific Northwest, the tree is typically called the “Western larch.” One tree can get up to 140 feet tall, and though it belongs to the conifer family—most of which have evergreen leaves—it actually loses its leaves in the fall. The leaves are still needle-like, just like an evergreen’s, but they turn a brilliant yellow in the fall and drop from the tree.

Like the evergreens and spruces, the larches have cones that contain the seeds and usually fall to the ground in the fall. The wood is hardy and waterproof, and often used for building boats, posts, fencing, coffins, roof shingles, and interior paneling. The trees are long-lived, and may go on for 500 years or more. They have a hearty nature, and are said to be able to withstand moderate fires, and are usually among the first to return after a bad fire.

Larch flowers, which are small and pinkish red before they turn into cones, were used in traditional herbal medicine, and the resin under the bark was used by Native Americans to heal cuts and bruises, soothe sore throats, and when brewed into a tea, to relieve coughs and colds.

Larch Tree Extract in Skin Care

Today’s scientists took a cue from Native Americans and examined that larch tree resin more carefully. They found one particular compound called “galactoarabinan (GA),” which is a polysaccharide and natural plant collagen.

The ingredient is extracted directly from the trees, making it a natural, bio-available and biodegradable compound that fits perfectly with Annmarie’s vision for natural skin care products. Only heat, pressure, and water are used to extract the good stuff—there are no solvents or other chemicals used in the process.

What are the Benefits of Larch Tree Extract?

This ingredient does a lot for the skin, especially the skin around the eyes. Here’s what we know so far about its ability to turn back the clock:

• Increases cell turnover: This is one of the most exciting characteristics of larch extract (or GA). Laboratory studies have shown that it not only helps exfoliate upper layers of skin, sloughing off dead skin cells and encouraging younger cells to rise to the top, but it also helps enhance the activity of other ingredients that do the same. Add GA to your formula, in other words, and you boost the exfoliating action to enhance and accelerate cell turnover. In time, those fine lines become harder to see.
• Reduces fine lines and wrinkles: The extract does this in a few ways. There’s the increase in cell turnover mentioned above. A clinical study found that after eight weeks use, the extract created a 19 percent reduction in the appearance of fine lines. Secondly, the extract helps reduce particle size so the other ingredients in the formula disperse over the skin more easily. It also enhances penetration into the skin. That means all our other wonderful ingredients are more likely to get down deep into the lower layers where you need them. Finally, the extract helps your skin hold onto moisture, which helps plump skin and keep it hydrated. All these actions together mean fine lines and wrinkles become much less noticeable.
• Reduces water loss: As mentioned above, larch tree extract helps form a protective shield on skin to reduce the amount of water that is lost through evaporation. This can be particularly helpful as you go about your day, when the air outside and indoors tries to sap your skin of moisture. With your protective cream on, your skin is more likely to resist those effects to keep you looking fresh all day long.
• Enhances UV resistance: Because of that ability we mentioned above to help other ingredients disperse more easily onto the skin, larch tree extract has been found to enhance the SPF of sunscreen products, increasing barrier protection to give your skin more of a chance to escape sun damage. This is a great thing to have in an eye cream, because as you know, it’s hard to get a sunscreen close to the eyes, because of potential irritation. Adding this ingredient to our eye cream thus helps delicate skin around the eyes resist UV-induced aging.
• Increases skin radiance: All these properties together—exfoliation, cell turnover, moisture retention, and sun protection—add up to softer, smoother, more radiant skin.

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