We love to highlight the ingredients we use in our range of natural products to give you more information about what you’re putting on your skin or hair.
We believe you deserve to have that transparency where you can look at a product’s ingredients and know exactly why it’s been selected for use. That’s one of the principles that UpCircle stands by.
From passion fruit oil and hemp seed oil to date seeds and apricot kernel oil, we’ve covered a lot of ingredients so far – but now it’s the turn of may chang oil. Find out some of the most paramount benefits of may chang oil and also details about our Body Oil in which this zesty oil is used.
May chang essential oil – what you need to know
We wouldn’t be surprised if not many of you have heard of this oil, but may chang oil – Litsea cubeba oil – is a fragrant oil that is typically derived by steam distillation of the fruits of the plant. The oil can also be extracted from the leaves of the may chang plant.
The plant is an evergreen shrub that is native to several Southern Chinese regions including Guizhou and Fujian, as well as Taiwan and other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia.
Important may chang essential oil benefits
Comparatively relatively unknown among the general public compared to the likes of rosemary oil or jojoba oil, may chang oil has several impressive skin benefits.
Has antibacterial properties
May chang oil exhibits strong antibacterial properties which makes it great for use in our body oil. This helps to ensure the skin is free from harmful bacteria that could cause skin infections. It also helps to support wound healing with its antibacterial nature, helping to keep the damaged skin free from infection.
Free radical scavenging
Various studies have looked at the efficacy of litsea cubeba oil for both pharmaceutical and cosmetic uses. Research has found that may chang oil displays some free radical scavenging activity which is great for your body. This sounds complex, but it’s all about eliminating molecules that can cause damage to cells in your body.
Molecules that are naturally released by the body, free radicals have one or more unpaired electrons in its outer shell and can damage the cells in the body. When produced in excess – and where cells cannot adequately destroy the excess – free radicals and oxidants can bring the body into a state of oxidative stress, which can alter the cell’s structure.
Free radicals ‘steal’ an electron from a healthy molecule to form their missing pairing, and consequently damages the healthy cell. Antioxidants destroy free radicals, but during this process, the antioxidant itself becomes oxidised. This is why it’s so important to constantly replenish the antioxidants in the body – and what better way to do so than by using a luxurious body oil?
Free radical damage causes both a breakdown to the DNA of your skin, and can also cause visible and uncomfortable skin damage in the form of dry skin, uneven pigmentation, wrinkles, broken blood vessels and crepey skin.
UpCircle’s Natural Body Oil
Our Luxury Body Oil is brimming with gorgeous natural and upcycled ingredients, such as natural passion fruit, tangerine, and kumquat oil to help hydrate and nourish the skin.
After use, this non-greasy body oil's quick-absorbing characteristics allow it to enhance skin softness and radiance, while invigorating and energising the skin.
May chang oil
Used in our luxurious body oil, may chang essential oil provides a zesty, lemony aroma, alongside a host of skin-loving properties. Both antioxidant and antibacterial, this oil helps to take care of your skin while leaving it with a wonderful natural fragrance.
Upcycled passion fruit oil
Added to our catalogue of upcycled ingredients, we use passion fruit oil in our body oil. Rich in both linoleic (omega-6) and oleic (omega-9) fatty acids, this oil works to help deeply moisturise the skin and support the skin’s natural barrier.
High in polyphenols, passion fruit oil shows great antioxidant activity, working alongside oils such as may chang essential oil to scavenge free radicals and prevent them from damaging cells.
Passion fruit oil has been found to both increase collagen production and inhibit collagen and elastin degradation, which helps the skin to retain its moisture and elasticity.
Tangerine oil
We infuse our body oil with tangerine essential oil to help soothe sensitive skin, and work with other oils to support the skin barrier. Tangerine oil also helps to aid the production of collagen due to its significant vitamin C content.
Tangerine essential oil has been found to have both antibacterial and wound-healing properties, making it an ideal ingredient for anyone who has acne-prone skin.
Apricot kernel oil
Not only a great antioxidant, apricot kernel oil is rich in oleic and linoleic acids to help strengthen and repair the skin’s natural barrier.
What sets tangerine oil apart is that it is a great natural source of vitamin A, which is a key ingredient in many skincare products targeting acne, uneven skin tone or conditions such as psoriasis. You may have heard of retinoids – compounds including both natural biologically active forms of vitamin A and synthetic forms of vitamin A – but many people find them to be too harsh on the skin so opt for natural sources of the vitamin instead.
"The Unreleased Trio" Cracker
You’ll find our soothing body oil in our "The Unreleased Trio" Cracker, alongside the wonderfully nourishing Lip Balm and reviving Home Mist.
Dive into our full range of skincare, haircare and fragrance at UpCircle, where we prioritise using natural ingredients and giving a new lease of life to discarded ingredients.