Our Mission
Todao Botanicals integrates novel molecular science with ancient botanical wisdom. Research on plant oils increasingly indicates their ability to restore skin homeostasis and alleviate skin diseases like atopic dermatitis and skin aging. These therapeutic benefits and properties include anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, promotion of wound healing, and the reparation of the skin barrier.
Skin Composition
As the largest organ in the body, its primary function is to protect the internal body from the external environment. This unique interface is a direct function of the skin’s structure and components, especially the most superficial layer, the epidermis. We can go even further, and say the outermost layer of the epidermis, the stratum corneum (SC), is the key to therapeutic access. In clinical practice, the hydration levels of the stratum corneum are tested for transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Skin dryness and decreased TEWL levels are an important indicator of inferior skin barrier function. Modern treatments for eczematous dermatitis, such as atopic dermatitis, aim to restore the hydration of the SC and reduce TEWL because impairment of the skin barrier is considered a primary event in the disease pathology. The epidermis can be restored with the use of appropriate emollients and moisturizers, and may be crucial to the control and prevention of chronic skin disease.
Skin Aging
Skin aging can be discussed as chronic or environmental, and include skin thinning, loss of elasticity, increased roughness, wrinkling, increased dryness, dyspigmentation (lentigo and freckling), and impairment of the skin barrier. The most important factors affecting chronological aging are a decrease in the ability to replace cells, senescence, of the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis, as well as the inability to properly restore the extracellular matrix (collagen bundles and elastic fibers). Environmental aging includes things like UV radiation, air pollution, smoking, and changes in external temperature.
Plant Oils
Plant oils are of unique value because they can be applied topically with high bioavailability, and can target damaged skin by providing an occlusive effect, restoring the skin’s ability to retain moisture and thereby decreasing TEWL levels. Different plant oils act at different levels of the skin, some remain on the surface, such as Almond oil, Jojoba oil, and Avocado oil. Plant oils also contain free fatty acids that have an entourage effect when combined appropriately.
Oleic acid has been demonstrated to penetrate the skin barrier, and can enhance the permeability of other plant oils.