Did you know our nourishing hand cream uses upcycled hibiscus acids? We’ve chosen this incredible ingredient for a range of reasons – but most importantly, it protects the skin and stimulates cell renewal. 

Here we dive into why hibiscus is great for your skin and why it came out on top for prime position in our hand cream. 

Soon you’ll be raving about hibiscus too – it’s far from just a pretty flower!

Is hibiscus good for skin?

Hibiscus oil has a number of benefits for the skin. Indeed, it’s sometimes nicknamed the ‘botox herb’ – but allowing you to get the skin you want naturally. No one is coming near you with needles or nasty chemicals! It is packed with vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants that help lock in moisture, keeping your skin supple and smooth. 

Hibiscus flower has long been used in ancient medicine too, as both hibiscus flower tea and also directly applied to the skin. So there’s a lot of strength, science and popularity behind it.

Let’s take a look at the specific hibiscus flower benefits for your skin so that you can understand exactly why we put hibiscus acids in our hand cream.

Hibiscus benefits for skin

1. It’s packed full of goodies

The nutrient profile of hibiscus oil is eye-opening. In this humble and beautifully scented oil there are vitamins A, B6, C, E and K as well as potassium, zinc, manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, calcium, riboflavin, niacin, thiamine and alpha hydroxyl acids, beta hydroxyl acids and more! There are few ingredients that come close to this profile – to call it nutrient dense is an understatement.

This means that the hibiscus extract benefits for skin are wide ranging. It serves as an antioxidant, mopping up the free radicals that we’re exposed to through daily living as well as nourishes, heals, moisturises, cleanses and protects. 

2. It’s good for fighting ageing

Growing older happens to us all, and it’s important to remember that it’s a privilege to grow older. Any visible signs of ageing should be celebrated. However, we do know that some people feel self-conscious about their visible signs of ageing, and may want to try to reduce these signs. Do what makes you feel the best, and the most like yourself. 

Hibiscus is excellent for skin tightening because the anthocyanins stimulate elastin production, helping the natural process of keeping your skin taught and youthful looking. However, it’s not just about appearances. The antioxidants in hibiscus help your skin cells to actually recover from some of the damage caused by things such as exposure to sunlight, pollutants and cuts and scratches. Vitamin C which is present in hibiscus oil is particularly important here.

Your hands are one of the most exposed areas of skin and they may need an extra boost as you start to get older, much like your face. As such, hibiscus for skin care gives your hands and nails the helping hand they need! That’s a compelling reason that convinced us that it was the right prime ingredient for our hand cream. 

Even those who don’t routinely suffer from dry skin can find that it’s a different story for their hands. With frequent washing and exposure to touching different things, it’s not uncommon to experience dry skin on the hands.

One of the best hibiscus properties for skin is that it is exceptional for hydration. The hibiscus acids lock in moisture from other ingredients, such as shea butter, to ensure the skin stays smooth and hydrated. The hydration properties are also so good because of its own natural sticky content for retaining moisture in the plant. This moisture, the mucilage,  is one of nature’s best moisturisers.

4. It evens and improves skin tone

Whether it is hyperpigmentation or discolouration, hibiscus is good for evening out skin tone. This is because of the different acids – alpha hydroxy, citric and malic – which control melanin production in the skin and thus ensure a more even skin tone. 

5. It’s healing

As we touched on, our hands have a tough job, far tougher than that of most areas of our skin. As such, the skin here needs more support with healing than anywhere else. 

One of the primary benefits of hibiscus for skin is that it is rich in Vitamin A. Vitamin A is anti-inflammatory when applied to the skin and can help reduce any redness or soreness.

At the same time, hibiscus acids promote production of a protein that boosts cell regeneration, speeding healing along. 

6. It’s naturally cleansing

With many moisturisers, they may give hydration, but they don’t help the cleansing of your hands. Hibiscus is different; it actually helps to cleanse your skin, eliminating dead skin cells. It’s even commonly used to naturally help with acne and cleanse away the bacteria that makes it worse. 

How we are using hibiscus for skin care

We are really excited to have chosen upcycled hibiscus flower acids from the food supplement industry in our hand cream. We’re bringing you all of the benefits of hibiscus as detailed above, but we’re doing it in line with our upcycled values. 

The hibiscus acids in our hand cream come from a sustainable source in Burkina Faso, West Africa, where no pesticides, fertilisers or irrigation are used. We then ensure it’s used to the fullest extent by taking the acids which are left after the flowers are processed for the supplement industry.

You’ll be pleased to know that the multitude of benefits of the hibiscus flower are there in the acids we upcycle. Indeed, the upcycled hibiscus flower acids contain 45% alpha hydroxyl acid, for example.

The UpCircle hand cream with hibiscus

We wanted to create a nourishing natural hand cream that really works to not only moisturise your hands, but help protect them from daily damage and help them repair. We wanted to do this while remaining true to our values of using upcycled waste products. 

Our hand cream with hibiscus does what we set out to do. The hibiscus oils are combined with nourishing ingredients like shea butter and marshmallow root. There’s also the benefit that the natural ingredients create a beautiful natural scent with calming patchouli leaf oil, as well as the floral scent of hibiscus.

We’re really proud of our 100% plastic-free, natural, upcycled and vegan hand cream. You’ll love it so much that it’ll become your go-to and your handbag essential- not only for your hands but for your elbows and knees too!