Add this to your skin-care vocabulary: Tremella fuciformis, also known as snow mushroom.
By Meirav Devash, Allure
Add this to your skin-care vocabulary: Tremella fuciformis, also known as snow mushroom. It sounds like something Queen Elsa would order on her pizza, and yes, it is a fungus, but it looks more like a white gelatinous flower than a mushroom. It's commonly used in traditional sweet Chinese foods (like snow fungus soup) and has also been a staple ingredient in Asian medicine and skin care for thousands of years. Now it's popping up as an active ingredient in skin-care products in this part of the world, including Olay's new Active Botanicals line.
As far back as the imperial Tang dynasty, concubine Yang Guifei (713 to 756)--one of China's famed four great beauties--it said to have credited the snow mushroom with maintaining her youthful appearance. Modern science can explain why: "It draws moisture to the skin, like hyaluronic acid," says dermatologist Dendy Engelman, the director of dermatologic surgery at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City. Hyaluronic acid can hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water, so finding an all-natural match for its hydrating power is pretty major. And snow mushroom has an extra edge. "The particles are smaller than hyaluronic acid so it penetrates the skin more easily," says Engelman. She cautions, however, that she wants to see more targeted studies on the ingredient's skin-care properties before she hails it as a magic mushroom.
This fungus sure looks promising, though. To show off its sponge-like skills, Christine Chang and Sarah Lee of the Korean beauty site Glow Recipe tried a kinda-sorta scientific experiment on Instagram. "We dropped a tiny tab of dried snow mushroom--maybe half the size of a credit card--in a gallon of warm water," says Chang. "We took a time-lapse video, and in a half hour, it blossomed into a huge flower." In addition to the Olay line, you can also find snow mushroom extract in Jurlique Nutri Define Superior Retexturising Facial Serum, AminoGenesis Paranormal-EFX Anti Aging Super Serum, Colbert MD Nutrify & Protect Day, Tracie Martyn Resculpting Body Serum, and Earth's Recipe Moisture Bound Cream.
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