Skin care is like a vast ocean where the deeper you dive, the more unknown treasures you discover. And for how the world has become a wee bit more obsessed with skin care off-late, we don’t intend on sidestepping it either. Whether it’s unearthing Korean skin-care secrets, ways of J-beauty or the most natural products to bag, we ensure sourcing inspiration from around the world. And for this skin-care edit, we have a superfood from Zhongning County, China.
Lycium barbarum or goji berries, much like other superfoods, have incredible benefits for the skin and play a vital role in maintaining its health and nourishment. They have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for years for all that they do for our bodies.
Goji berries are a powerhouse of antioxidants, along with having other vitamins, minerals, beneficial carotenoids, polysaccharides and amino acids. Since all these ingredients have remarkable effects on our skin, harnessing their goodness through different skincare products becomes essential. But, before getting to that, let’s understand how these berries help to promote healthy skin.
What are the benefits of goji berries?
Our skin is exposed to various harmful environmental factors, essentially pollution, and sun exposure, causing oxidative stress in the skin, which leads to various skin issues like damaged collagen and skin barrier, dullness and premature ageing. This is where goji berries come into play.
Because of all the vitamins and antioxidants they contain, goji berries are known to reduce oxidative stress in the skin by fighting harmful free radicals and restore its health. They also help in diminishing signs of ageing in multiple ways. Their high content of vitamin C boosts collagen and elastin production in the skin, which makes it firmer and more youthful-looking. It also manages skin hyperpigmentation and age spots and protects against UV photodamage to lend an even and glowing tone to the skin.
Since these berries have anti-inflammatory properties, they also help deal with skin concerns like acne. The presence of fatty acids like linoleic, palmitic and oleic hydrates and strengthens the skin barrier, thereby improving its overall health.
While goji berry skin benefits are plenty, they are also known for curbing tumour growth and preventing liver damage, balancing blood sugar, boosting the immune system and maintaining eye health.
How to use goji berries?
With regards to oral consumption, you can incorporate dried goji berries into your diet like other berries or savour your own goji berry tea every day.
For topical application, try using skincare products with goji berry extracts regularly in routines to treat various skin issues. Leave-on products like serums, moisturisers and masks work the best.
However, before adding the superfood to either your diet or skin care routine, consult a general physician or a dermatologist.
Now that we’re well-versed with goji berry benefits, let’s scroll down through the list of skincare products enriched with its goodness.
Here are the best skincare products with goji berry extracts that your skin needs
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- Paula's Choice Earth Sourced Power Berry Serum
- Lavish Cosmetics Papaya Face Nectar Rejuvenating Skin Serum
- Organic & Botanic Acai and Goji Berry Moisturiser
- Glamglow Berryglow Probiotic Recovery Mask
- Antipodes Joyous Protein-Rich Night Replenish Serum
- Frank Body Glow Mask
- Sukin Super Greens Detoxifying Facial Masque
- Ahava Extreme Night Treatment
- Naturopathica Beech Tree & Ginseng Moisturiser
- Filorga Lift-Structure Radiance
- Elemis Superfood Day Cream
- Herbivore Botanicals Moon Fruit Retinol Alternative Sleep Mask
- Ole Henriksen Truth Juice Daily Cleanser
- The Organic Pharmacy Rose Plus Marine Collagen Complex
- Erno Laszlo AHA Resurfacing Sleep Serum
- Fresh Black Tea Firming Corset Cream
- Farsáli Unicorn Essence
- Ark Skincare Hydrating Beauty Mist
With extracts from 13 research-prover berries, including goji berries, for their abilities to protect and repair the skin, the Power Berry Serum is a great pick for your skin-care troves. It manages ageing skin concerns like dullness, wrinkles, fine lines and age spots. The powerful antioxidants present in the berries work together to shield your skin from environmental damage and leave it looking youthful.
Image: Courtesy Paula’s Choice
Lavish Cosmetics’ serum is concocted from a selection of naturally derived extracts, including goji berry, papaya and seaweed. Designed to absorb fast, the non-oily, alcohol-free formulation is gentle on the skin. By applying twice a day, the versatile serum works to exfoliate dead skin cells, even out and brighten skin tone, reverse signs of pre-mature skin ageing and lock in moisture, so your skin appears far more radiant.
Image: Courtesy Lavish Cosmetics
Give your skin the healthy glow and nourishment it needs with this natural moisturiser that is enriched with the beneficial properties of acai and goji berries. With acai slowing down the ageing process and firming your skin and goji berries leaving it rejuvenated, this product can definitely be added to your skin-care routine.
Image: Courtesy Organic & Botanic
Formulated to instantly boost skin health and restore its radiance, the Berryglow Probiotic Recovery Mask strengthens and revives your skin visibly. While the replenishing hyaluronic acid and jojoba oil hydrates and protects your skin’s natural moisture barrier, the superfood berry blend (cranberry, blueberry and goji) nourishes it. Additionally, the probiotics balance the skin’s microbiome. The ingredients are also blended with hibiscus and beetroot to lend your skin the ultimate health benefits it needs.
Image: Courtesy Glamglow
Optimising your skin’s appearance by restoring its elastin, delivering a natural radiance and purifying it, this night serum by Antipodes is a must-have skin-care product. Infused with Himalayan goji berry rich in amino acids, raspberry seed oil and New Zealand blackcurrant that helps keep the skin plump and nourished. Hints of South Pacific hibiscus slough off the dead skin cells to help keep it fresh and clear.
Image: Courtesy Look Fantastic
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The Glow Mask by Frank Body gives your dull and tired skin an instant youthful glow when you’re in a dire need of it. It’s a super hydrating natural mask that’s packed with the goodness of many ingredients. For instance, antioxidant-rich goji berry extract makes your skin glow, shea and cocoa butter hydrate your skin and coffee seed oil reduces puffiness. All it takes is five minutes from your day to work its magic.
Image: Courtesy Frank Body
This is a clay-based face mask that has goji berry, bentonite, kale, vitamins and antioxidants that help reduce the appearance of fine lines and brighten the complexion. It’s further enriched with rosehip, baobab and avocado oils to provide intense skin hydration and even out skin tone. The result? A nourished, youthful-looking and glowing skin.
Image: Courtesy Sukin
With the power of Tibetan goji berries, Himalayan raspberry root and Cetraria Islandica Lichen (Island moss) in its formula, this night treatment works wonders for your skin. It improves your uneven skin tone and texture while delivering anti-ageing and antioxidant properties with its lightweight and non-greasy texture. Furthermore, while the AHAs help with the skin’s overnight repair process, the blend of powerful minerals provides it with moisturisation and hydration.
Image: Courtesy Look Fantastic
This is a nourishing moisturiser that improves your skin’s health with its powerful and enriching ingredients. It contains antioxidant-rich beech tree and goji berry extracts that replenish skin while visibly reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The ginseng complex, on the other hand, helps tighten the skin to make it look smoother.
Image: Courtesy Naturopathica
A lightweight brightening solution containing potent anti-ageing properties, the Filorga Lift-Structure Radiance is inspired by aesthetic medicine techniques. It’s a facial treatment in a bottle that has a firming and revitalising effect on the skin. Collagen, cellular factors and hyaluronic acid work together to lend you a visibly tight and uplifted skin with reduced signs of anti-ageing.
Additionally, its CHROMA-YOUTH 3T technology first evens out skin tone and improves skin colouration. It then enhances the skin’s natural radiance with goji berries and minerals and lastly, lends you a bright illuminating skin.
Image: Courtesy Filorga
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Superfood Day Cream is a nutrient-rich moisturiser that has omega-rich extracts like goji berry and broccoli concocted with matcha tea and ginger to balance and moisturise your skin deeply. It leaves you with healthy, fresh and radiant skin.
Image: Courtesy Elemis
A skin-smoothing face mask, the Moon Fruit Sleep Mask is a great alternative to retinol since it is formulated with 1 percent Bakuchiol. It also contains antioxidant-rich superfruits that lock the moisture of your skin to protect it from water loss that occurs during the night. It’s a nourishing and creamy formula that has you waking up to smoother and more hydrated skin every morning.
Image: Courtesy Herbivore
And it’s time to include a multi-tasking cleanser in your skin-care routine that not only removes dirt and oil from your face but even the most stubborn eye makeup. It’s a vegan cleanser made with orange fruit water, PHA and extracts of goji fruit, sea buckthorn, rosehip and lemon. They work in unison to lend you a refreshed and conditioned skin free of dead skin cells. It has a soft gel crème texture and a natural orange fragrance.
Image: Courtesy Ole Henriksen
The Rose Plus Marine Collagen Complex is the ultimate anti-ageing and skin-smoothing serum that greatly reduces fine lines by stimulating elastin and collagen production. Formulated with rosehip, calendula and goji berry extract, the serum increases the skin’s elasticity significantly.
Image: Courtesy The Organic Pharmacy
If your skin feels dull and uneven, this serum by Erno Laszlo would be your saviour and work wonders while you’re fast asleep. It’s a powerful treatment that resurfaces your lifeless skin to reveal a youthful-looking one.
This blend of lactic and glycolic acid sloughs off dead skin cells while wild plum extracts of Kakadu, Illawarra and Burdekin enhance the skin’s luminosity. Goji berries further provide your skin with all the hydration it needs.
Image: Courtesy Erno Laszlo
A cushiony cream formula that delivers 24-hour hydration to your skin, the Black Tea Firming Corset Cream is the moisturiser you need. The potent mix of black tea complex, goji berry extract and peptides act like a corset for your skin by tightening the loose and saggy skin. For an uplifted and younger-looking look, this cream is what you need.
Image: Courtesy Fresh
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A popular antioxidant and primer serum, the Unicorn Essence by Farsáli is an oil-free and dual-purpose solution. While it preps your skin to be layered on by a moisturiser or makeup, it also protects it from free radical damage. It is formulated with the superfruits of blueberry, goji berry and acai, along with vitamins like A, C and E to promote your skin’s natural health and reduce signs of ageing.
Water being the best hydrator makes for the base of this formula to deliver ingredients into layers of your skin easily.
Image: Courtesy Farsáli
This Hydrating Beauty Mist is a super refreshing and hydrating mist that soothes and protects your skin all at once. It has various ingredients that have different benefits and yet they work together to give your skin all the goodness it needs. While hyaluronic acid relieves the skin of dryness, goji berry and blue lotus provide vitamins and antioxidants to detoxify it. The combination of aloe vera, wild water mint and allantoin soothes it.
Image: Courtesy Ark Skincare
FAQs
Does goji berry help with anxiety?
While goji berries in skin care might be a rage, based on a study in 2016, consuming goji berries also helps with anxiety and depression-like behaviours. Yet another study showed that drinking goji berry juice helps in improving mood, digestive health and energy levels.
Who should avoid goji berries?
Although there are no such extensively studied side effects of goji berries when applied topically in the form of over-the-counter products, you must consult a dermatologist before adding it to your skin-care routine, as suggested earlier.
Additionally, when adding goji berries into your diet, they can be harmful when they interact with certain drugs that include blood thinners, and medications for diabetes or blood pressure. If you are allergic to other fruits, goji fruit may as well trigger an allergic reaction. Furthermore, goji berries contain betaine. Hence, their oral consumption should be avoided by pregnant or lactating women, as it may harm foetal health.
Therefore, you must consult a general physician before consuming goji berries in any form.
Do goji berries help in anti-ageing?
Yes, goji berries help in reducing the signs of ageing like fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation, dullness and age spots.
With an academic background in Public Relations, Divya has a flair for writing about topics spanning genres like lifestyle, beauty, fashion, travel, FnB, tech and entertainment. She fancies everything that's a wholesome blend of contemporary finery and timelessness. Quirky earrings and tees are her weakness. When not creating content, you will find her devouring food, snuggling in with a book and a cup-a-chai, admiring skies or revisiting Hogwarts.
