What's in My Cream
I take pride in the fact my ingredients are the healthiest that can be found for a skin cream. A good progesterone cream must perform double duty as an excellent skin cream, as well. So, I include several super healthy ingredients such as Vitamin E, Coconut Oil and Aloe Vera Juice, along with the natural progesterone. Since both my husband and I use my cream on a daily basis, only the safest and most nourishing ingredients are used.
Start With - Vitamin E & Progesterone Oil
The first step is to create a concentrated Vitamin E - Progesterone oil. Because this oil is too sticky to put on skin directly, it is turned into a skin cream. We are inspired by Dr. Ray Peat who strongly recommends dissolving progesterone in Vitamin E to get maximal absorption through the skin.
JAR INGREDIENTS: Natural Progesterone, Purified water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride(Fractionated Coconut oil), Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), Glycerine, Glyceryl Stearate (and) POE (100) Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice( Aloe Juice Extract), Phenoxyethanol(<1%).
Jars need the extra protection that Phenoxyethanol provides because there is a lot of contamination from the finders and air. This preservative will even protect the inside walls of the jar that is not touching the cream which most natural preservatives will not do.
PUMP INGREDIENTS: Natural Progesterone, Purified water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride(Fractionated Coconut oil), Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), Glycerine, Glyceryl Stearate (and) POE (100) Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice( Aloe Juice Extract), Sambucus Nigra Fruit Extract (Elderberry Extract).
Pumps can do with a little less protection because of being sealed from contamination and inside of the container is always touching the cream which has the preservative.
- USP Natural Progesterone (10%)
Where does Progesterone come from?
Most progesterone sold on the market is synthetic but is identical in all ways to what your body produces naturally. The main starting chemical to make progesterone is called Diosgenin which only takes five chemical transformations to become natural progesterone. The process to do this is called the "Marker Degradation" discovered in the 1930's by Dr. Russell Earl Marker. This process can also produce Estrogen and Testosterone.
When progesterone is said to be "wild yam derived" it means the chemical Diosgenin was extracted from the yams and chemically transformed into progesterone, requiring five chemical processes.
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Purified water - Not Deionized
Don't discount water as a nourishing component of a good cream. Water is just as important for the skin as the oils are. I use Aquafina bottled water in my cream because it is one of the most pure on the market. Some cream makers use deionized water but it is not recommended for human consumption and I avoid it. Here's a good article that discusses Aquafina as the purest drinking water: Aquafina (BEST WATER TESTED)
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Aloe barbadensis leaf juice(Aloe Vera Juice)
Long considered the ultimate in skin care for beautifying, soothing and nourishing the skin. No skin cream should be without Aloe Vera Juice.
Here's an interesting article about making your own aloe vera juice: How To Make Aloe Vera Juice
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Glycerin
Glycerol aka glycerin is present in all animal and plant fats. It is a humectant, in other words it draws moisture to the skin by attracting moisture from both the air and lower layers of the skin. I use the ingredient glycerin to maintain the skin's outer barrier, preventing dryness.
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Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E - Soy & GMO Free)
Not only is Vitamin E really great for the skin, I use natural Vitamin E as a carrier for the progesterone in my cream. This is mainly because Vitamin E is one of the only solvents that dissolves progesterone, well. Natural Vitamin E is twice as potent as the synthetic kind of E normally sold as supplements.
Dr. Ray Peat strongly suggests first dissolving progesterone into Vitamin E which allows a much better absorption through the skin. The vitamin molecules are small enough to penetrate the outermost layers of the skin and take the dissolved progesterone molecules with them. The micronized form of progesterone is not recommended as the progesterone crystals simply sit on the skin surface and take a much longer time to absorb.
Vitamin E can have positive, long-lasting effects on the body this vitamin sinks below the surface, to the deeper layers of the skin and encourages the natural growth of collagen. Vitamin E gives skin a firmer, plumper look, which can play a significant role in reducing the appearance of many fine lines and wrinkles.
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Cetyl Alcohol
Used as a thickener, Cetyl Alcohol is, also, an oil-free moisturizer which gives my cream its creamy glide. The use of Cetyl Alcohol is widely considered very safe.
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Glyceryl Stearate (and) POE (100) Stearate
These are emulsifiers which form highly stable oil-in-water emulsions with excellent appearance and feel. Often used with cetyl alcohol (as a thickener) in formulations. Added to oil phase of formulations. POE (100) Stearate is not considered to be an irritant or sensitizer (it gave only minimal irritation in studies up to 100%), and are CIR and FDA approved for use.
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Phenoxyethanol (A Preservative in Jars only)
This is the main preservative in my jar creams because it is considered one of the least irritating, non-toxic to skin or even if it is accidentally ingested. It is understandable why it's approved for use around the world. Although phenoxyethanol is found in green tea it is usually synthetic and not naturally derived.
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Sambucus Nigra Fruit Extract (Elderberry Extract).
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The Air Less Pump
The bottle isn't an ingredient but you might wonder, "what is an 'airless pump' ?" It's very simple. As you pump the cream out, the bottom of the airless pump rises up, leaving an air gap underneath it, so that the cream is protected from the air. This second false bottom "inside" moves up while the bottom "outside" of the airless pump stays fixed.