Review: Dr Jackson 02 Skin Cream (Night Cream)

I have to admit that the first time I saw the Dr Jackson 02 Skin Cream, I wanted to buy it purely for it’s aesthetics lol The cream is housed in an old school, heavy glass, pharmacy bottle. Back in the early days of skin care, if you wanted an ‘ointment’ for your face, you would have to go see your local pharmacist who would then mix something up for you. Funnily enough, technically this still happens – the ingredients of the skin care products you own at home may have been mixed together by big machines, but they have been skilfully and selectively composed and created by chemists. I didn’t just buy the cream upon seeing it for the first time (I saw it on Cap Beauty) but I looked up the brand, how the skin cream worked and how it was created – and this intrigued me even more.

Dr Jackson is a cosmoceutical brand created which doesn’t only harness the power of synthetic ingredients – but rather, studies natural ingredients within their natural environment so that they are extracted and harnessed correctly. I think a lot of marketing jargon follows ‘trendy’ all natural skin care brands, when really, a lot of natural ingredients haven’t been studied in depth and added to that, aren’t extracted or processed correctly (because of this their quality can vary greatly). Apparently it took 19 years of research to come up with Dr Jacksons first skin care cream (called fittingly 01) and I can see why it would. As an ethno-pharmacologist, Dr Jackson travelled to remote parts of the world to see where particular plants and herbs grew in order to learn from their environment and their biological properties, often spoken about by locals (they would then go back to the lab to be studied). This all sounds rather adventurous and romanticised – but hey, if skin care can not only engage your senses but also your imagination, then I’m all for it!

Dr Jackson’s 01 cream is a day cream, while the 02 cream is a night cream. I went with the 02 cream because I needed a new night cream and I liked the sound of the ingredients. 89.1% of the ingredients in the 02 cream are natural ingredients, while 100% are ingredients of natural origin. A lot of the time we don’t refer to natural ingredients as ‘actives’ and I think that’s because like I mentioned, natural extracts aren’t understood very well and aren’t studied or utilised to the best of their ability.  What are the main ingredients in this night cream and why were they selected? Dr Jackon’s website is actually quite thorough and descriptive with the ingredient listing (a good thing of course!) so be prepared!

 “Dr Jackson is a Pharmacognosist* and has formulated this cream using natural extracts of Kigelia, Baobab, Frankincense and Mango Seed Extract. Kigelia is traditionally used to repair and ensure blemish free skin, Baobab helps to alleviate dry and damaged skin, improve skin tone and elasticity, Frankincense for its reputed anti-inflammatory and skin healing capabilities and Mango seed extract for its superior moisturising properties.

Learning from traditional healers, Dr Jackson’s natural products, mimic as close as possible to the way that these natural ingredients are harvested and extracted at source.”

Key ingredients:

Kigelia:

Kigelia pinnata (Bignoniaceae) is a tree found in parts of Sub Saharan Africa. Traditionally extracts from this tree have been used by tribalwomen to ensure a smooth, blemish free complexion and as a skin and breast firming remedy. The fruits from the tree are used to treat excema, psoriasis and many other skin irritations. Compounds identified within the plant attach to dark pigmentation and stop melanin production, thus diminishing sun spots and liver/age spots, especially effective on sun damaged skin. The Bignoniacea species, to which the Kigelia tree belongs, contain iridoids and napthaquinones and phytosterols, which are antimicrobial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory, therefor reducing redness, puffiness and minimise blemishes.Isoflavones and steroid saponosides present in the fruit are known to have a firming effect on the dermis, skin drainage and a restituitive effect, restoring elasticity and firmness. TheSapononosides found in Kigelia inhibit degradation of the skin tissue structure that supports biomolecules such as collagen and elastin through a protective action from its plant hormones.

Baobab:

Adansonia digitata, (Malvaceae) is a tree native to Madagascar, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Australia. Baobab is known in Africa as The Tree of Life because there are many traditional uses for every part of it, from the leaves to the roots. The seed oil is used by African women to protect their skin and hair against the harsh savannah environment and to prevent and treat dry skin conditions. Baobab seed oil contains almost equal measures of palmitic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid as well as some small quantities of stearic and cyclopropenoid acids, it is prized as a moisturiser, and used as a lip balm for anti-chapping and used on nails against breakage. The fruit has six times as much vitamin C as an orange, is a plentiful source of antioxidants it combats skin aging by improving skin firmness and strength by boosting the elastic quality of the skin and encouraging cell regeneration. Tightening of the skin diminishes the look of facial lines.

Mango Seed extract:

Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae). Mango seed oil is obtained from the Kernels of the mango tree, and it has a high content of stearic acid. The Mango is one of the largest fruit trees in the World and can grow fruit for hundreds of years.It is cultivated all over the tropival regions. It is used traditionally in the rainforests and tropics for its skin softening, soothing, moisturising and protective properties. The kernel is a good source of gallotannins and the seed kernel contains 9-13% oil and yields a valuable emolient oil that is used in cosmetics. Its main components are hydrocarbons, wax esters, sterol esters, fatty acids, including, oleic acid, linoleic acid and palmitic acid, the main sterols are β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol. Mango seed oil is a semi solid at room temperature so melts on contact with skin it provides moisturising, wound healing and regenerative activity to the skin. Flavonoids found in the Mango called Mangiferin are strong anti-oxidants, and have health benefits such as antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activity.

Frankinscence Oil:

Boswellia carterii (Bursuraceae) Frankincense also known as olibanum, is one of the oldest aromatic substances used by mankind, already in antiquity it was used as incense in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. The genus Boswellia comprises of different species, some of which produce aromatic resins, commonly known as incense. One of these is Boswellia carterii, and when the bark is cut, a gum resin oozes out. The dried resin, known as Guggul in India or Frankincence in Western Countries has many medicinal proerties. The use of the plant is common in the African, Chinese and Ayurvedic traditional medicines. Olibanum oil is obtained by steam distillation of the Boswellia resin, and has a woody-balsamic scent with citrus tones. It has been used traditionally for the treatment of acne, wound healing, bacterial and fungal infection treatments and minimizing scars. The oil contains Boswellic acids (pentacyclic triterpenic acids) the most powerfull being AKBA and ABA which have powerfull anti-inflammatory activity, it provides for an ideal facial toner, smooth’s wrinkles and calms troubled or inflamed skin conditions.

Full list of ingredients:

Aqua (Water), Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Andansona Digitata (Baobab) Seed Oil, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Mangiferaa Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Organic Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Glycerin, Kigella Africana Fruit Extract, Olea Europaea Leaf Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seed Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Sympthytum Officinale Leaf Extract, Alcohol Denat., Benzyl Alcohol, Dehyroacetic Acid, Boswellia Carterii Oil, Organic Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract, Organic Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Limonene.

Night creams should help your skin along in their repairative functions and regeneration. I love that this cream targets inflammation, skin tone and elasticity. The fatty acids and oils help to moisturise skin. I have come to expect that most night creams will be quite heavy and almost greasy in texture, and although this cream states that kigelia helps reduce blemishes and enhance elasticity, I still thought it would be heavy (suitable for combination and oily skin, but ‘heavy’). I was very wrong in that presumption – the texture of this cream isn’t greasy or sticky at all. The cream itself is quite thick, but it spreads easily and nicely over the skin. It almost feels like it ‘seals’ in any products you may have layered underneath it. My skin feels automatically soothed and moisturised. It hasn’t broken me out and I haven’t experienced any negative side effects from this night cream. You only need the tiniest amount, which is great seeing as it is expensive (around the $120 Aus mark) 😛

The only issue some people may have with the packaging. is that because it is a glass jar slash bottle, you need a little spatula to retrieve the cream from the bottle (you also don’t receive a spatula with the cream which is a shame). This is somewhat inconvienient, but at least the cream stays more bacteria free this way. You can also buy the Dr Jackson cream in a standard small round jar for ‘travel’ or everyday use if that suits you more.

I’m very happy with my purchase and while Dr Jackson’s skin care line is quite minimal atm, I will be interested to see what else they come up with! You can find the 02 cream at Cap Beauty (they now provide international shipping!) or on Dr Jackson’s official website here (they also ship worldwide and shipping is free once you spend over 80 GBP).

Speaking of all that is exotic – it’s almost passionfruit season! Our passionfruit plants are blooming atm, which means that fruit should be growing any day now… Here are some garden shots 🙂

Are you currently using a night cream? If your not sure what products to use when check out this Skincare 101 post which tells you when to use your serums and skin care creams. Let me know what night cream you are currently using and if you are happy with it down in the comments below! 🙂 I’d love to know 😉

Catch ya soon beauties – bzzz!

Beauty Bee~

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