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What is MSM?

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Jessica Michael | 0 comments

MSM is all the rage right now in beauty circles, and following on from my vlog that I posted a few days ago - What Can MSM Do for Your Skin? I would love the chance to go into a little more detail about MSM here with you, and provide you with a bit more research to digest on what is one of my go to superfood skincare ingredients.

It's been touted as the 'miracle supplement' and is now an essential part of many people's daily skincare regime. In fact, in our recent interview with Jo , she raved about our 'divine' MSM range and said her skin 'literally soaks it up'. (1) But if you haven't heard of it, you might be wondering, what exactly is MSM and how will it affect your skin?

MSM is Methylsulfonylmethane, an organic sulfur compound that is found abundantly in rainwater as well as in plants and tissues. However despite being know as an "organic compound" it is not an ingredient that can be certified organic. Although sulfur is present in many natural unprocessed foods...it’s quickly lost during the cooking process.

MSM is gaining a lot of attention due to the recent focus on longevity and anti-aging technologies.' (2) The beneficial qualities of MSM make quite an impressive list but we're going to look at just two today focusing on how it helps your skin.

Probably the most celebrated property of MSM is it's ability to 'significantly boost(ing) collagen and keratin production' (3). As we know, collagen is the most prolific protein in our body and is responsible for giving our skin strength and structure. Collagen production declines with age (4), hence our obsession with products that claim to help with it's production. More collagen hopefully means less wrinkles and more youthful looking skin! But not only does MSM help boost collagen in our bodies but it has the amazing quality of being able to enhance absorption making it 'an excellent way to enhance the absorption of more costly actives making them more available to the tissues, which is beneficial in anti-ageing skin care.' (5)

The second alleged benefit that we are going to look at is MSM's ability to even out skin tone and diminish blemishes. Sulfur acts as a skin whitener and this is thought to be why MSM has been reported to 'help reduce hyperpigmentation issues such as melasma, pink or faded-red acne scars, age spots, freckles and sun damage both as an internal supplement and external application' (6). MSM works alongside Vitamin C, also known to be a key vitamin in helping replenish and revive tired looking skin (2) and the combination of the two is thought to be even more efficient with helping look after the overall appearance of your skin.

So why not go right back to basics and simply focus on the health of your skin? Embrace MSM's incredible abilities to leave your skin feeling renewed and before long, you will find that your skin may feel hydrated, healthy and look downright beautiful. And if it happens to help with a fine lines and wrinkles along the way...then that's just an added bonus!

Check out our MSM Beauty Superfood Skincare collection.