MSM - The ultimate beauty mineral?
March 11, 2021 – Marina Engervik
Our founder, Marina Engervik, is a regular columnist for Kosmetikk, the Norwegian trade magazine for the beauty industry. As a columnist, she shares her personal opinions, useful information and tips on natural beauty trends and ingredients. Here is an article she recently wrote about MSM:
I would like to tell you something that surprisingly few people have heard of: MSM is a useful anti-aging ingredient.
Beauty trends are often created by the needs and desires of the consumer. We as manufacturers and suppliers want to satisfy and accommodate these desires, and it is important to be informed and updated on what is happening in the beauty market right now. The pandemic we are in has us more concerned with staying healthy and fit than ever before. We also feel the need to take even better care of ourselves and our skin.
MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is a dietary supplement that has been on the market for decades. It effectively relieves joint pain, is great for recovering sore muscles after exercise, and can also strengthen the mucous membranes in the stomach and intestines. And what I find very exciting here is that more and more people are opening their eyes to MSM in skin care products. I believe and hope that we will see more of MSM, because this ingredient is very special and incredibly useful. I have used MSM myself for many years already, and have experienced the effects.
What is MSM?
MSM is a type of sulfur found in all plants and in skin tissue. In the human body, it acts as the “glue” that holds together the amino acid chains, the building blocks of the skin. The natural formation of MSM occurs via the earth’s recycling system. When microscopic phytoplankton that live in the oceans die, they decompose and decay. The biomass of the plankton emits a gas, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), which is absorbed by the atmosphere. Oxygen and sunlight react with the DMS. The gas then goes through a series of oxidation steps that include the formation of methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and other sulfates. Water droplets in the atmosphere absorb MSM, and when these droplets fall as rain, the MSM is taken up by the earth to be used by plants. The process is then repeated.
MSM is claimed to be nature's ultimate beauty mineral
Several studies show that MSM may have a unique ability to restore collagen and keratin in the skin, which is the basis of healthy and youthful skin. MSM has an absorption-enhancing ability. This means that the mineral can increase the absorption of other nutritious, active ingredients, and also make these more receptive to the skin. In other words, the skin care product can work more effectively when it contains MSM, which is very beneficial in, for example, an anti-aging cream with many active ingredients. MSM helps against free radicals because it improves the body's ability to use antioxidants. Because MSM is a type of sulfur, it can also help with acne, inflammation and inflammation in the skin. Several have also reported that MSM can soothe irritated skin, moisturize dry skin, reduce scar tissue, improve wound healing and reduce redness in the skin.
Is MSM synthetic or natural?
It is not possible to press or extract MSM from plants. Although MSM is a naturally occurring sulfur compound, the microscopic amounts found in food are too small to be extracted. This compound cannot be extracted, isolated or grown from a natural source. MSM is therefore synthetically produced to be used as a nature-identical ingredient in both dietary supplements and cosmetics. MSM is natural, but in order for us to benefit from it, it must be produced synthetically. The result is MSM molecules that are completely identical to those found in nature.
