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We built our original fundamental gummy, The Base Layer, around Polypodium leucotomos (PLE), a little fern that packs a serious punch for healthy skin. This botanical ingredient is so impressive that The Base Layer is—big surprise here—the foundation of our gummy skincare routine.
It should take a coveted place in your skincare routine, too. So, in this post, we’ll start by introducing you to one of The Base Layer’s rockstar ingredient, PLE.
We think you’ll be impressed!
What is PLE?
Polypodium leucotomos is, in short, a fern. Sort of like the ones hanging around your favorite plant shop, but with potent skin-boosting benefits. This particular plant’s antioxidant properties help it stand out.
Polypodium is native to South and Central America, where its leaves and stems have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. The PLE used in The Base Layer, our original botanical skincare gummy, comes from Ecuador.
Polypodium’s potential to radically improve our skin isn’t news. In fact, it’s been documented in medical literature for over 50 years! Researchers have shown that PLE is packed with antioxidants that can help our skin fight back against environmental stressors.
When our Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Emilia Javorsky, a dermatology researcher, first learned about PLE she was blown away. So much so that she decided to form a skincare product around it—that’s how Sundaily was born!
How does PLE work?
In a recent post, we explored astaxanthin, the key ingredient in The Back Up and a powerful type of antioxidant in the carotenoid family. Similar to astaxanthin, Polypodium leucotomos is an antioxidant.
Antioxidants are our skin’s best defense against environmental stressors—the factors like smog, sunlight, and stress that cause free radical damage and visible signs of aging.
Our skin gets antioxidants through diet, ingestible skincare, and topical support. But often, diet and topicals alone aren’t enough to stop the visible signs of aging. That might look like wrinkles, dark spots, or uneven skin tone—signs that our skin isn’t getting what it needs.
(See Asta-what? Here's how The Back Up's rockstar ingredient works and How do antioxidants for skincare work, anyway? for more!)
That’s where PLE can help. Our fern friend is rich in a different type of antioxidants called polyphenols. Polyphenols, which are also found in famous wellness ingredients like green tea, strengthen our skin’s ability to resist the harmful effects of environmental stressors. They’re also responsible for the rich color of The Base Layer gummy! Like carotenoids, they’ve also been shown to play an important role in promoting healthy skin and fighting back against skin aging.
That means PLE is especially good at protecting us from the daily onslaught we face from sun, stress, and smog with powerful antioxidants, and at calming inflammation!
And that’s why we put it in a gummy!
How can we use it?
Why choose a gummy system for your daily dose of PLE? For one thing, the antioxidants in this fern aren’t readily found elsewhere. Since PLE works best internally, you need to eat it, rather than applying it topically (we call that ingestible skincare).
Our gummy makes a concentrated dose of this power-packed fern an easy addition to your routine.
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