1. What is the paracress?
Paracress is a plant originating in South America. It is known for its anesthetic effect and is therefore called “toothache plant” in English-speaking countries. The often used German name “Parakresse” suggests that it belongs to the cruciferous plants, but this is not the case. Rather, it belongs to the composite plants, which are one of the most species-rich plant families in Europe.
In Western culture, the plant has meanwhile made a name for itself as an anti-aging miracle cure. Especially the positive experiences with paracress precede it. As an ingredient of paracress cream or paracress serum, it is suitable for mature skin and has been proven to reduce wrinkles.
2. Where does paracress originate?
Paracress originated in Peru, today the plant is mainly cultivated in tropical Brazil and is considered a medicinal plant. However, there it is known under the name Jambú. This is another reason why a sunny and warm location is important for paracress, if you want to grow it yourself and make a paracress cream from it. With a little skill, you can even make the paracress serum yourself.
3. Appearance of the plant
The leaves of the herbaceous plant are triangular, egg-shaped or heart-shaped and have a partly pointed leaf edge. The stem is between two and six and a half centimeters long. The flowers are tubular with reddish leaves. The German nickname “Husarenknopf” is due to the shape of the flower heads.
4. The ingredients of cosmetics grow in your own garden
If you want to plant cress in your garden, it is best to do it in mid-May. Then the temperatures are sufficient, because frost does not like the South American plant. The seeds must remain on the surface of the soil, because they need sunlight to germinate. Experience with paracress shows that the seeds develop best between 18 and 22 degrees with a germination period of about two weeks. Important for growth is a moist soil and a place in the sun. The roots should never dry out, so regular watering – especially in summer – is important. For fertilizing you should use only organic fertilizer. Between July and October you can harvest the plants.
If you want to make your own paracress cream and grow the plant for several years, the temperature must not fall below ten degrees. A greenhouse is usually best suited for the winter months. Therefore, the plant is quite high maintenance. In the garden it takes up a lot of space, because it covers the ground like a carpet at a height of between 15 and 30 centimeters.
The yellow flowers are a great splash of color in any garden or vase, and not only a great thing as an ingredient in paracress serum.
5. In the kitchen
Jambú is a great ingredient especially in the kitchen, as the leaves add a spicy flavor to dishes. They are suitable in raw form for salads, dried for flavoring sauces.
6 Applications of paracress
6.1 Cosmetic area
Experience with paracress shows that its use in cosmetics is justified. Why? The plant contains the active ingredient spilanthol. It has a paralyzing effect and can reduce muscle contractions. Especially in the face, the gentle effect of natural botulinum toxin has already been proven. Paracress cream has been proven to help relax facial features and can even soften severe wrinkles. In the form of a paracress serum, the active ingredient can also develop its effect under make-up. A positive side effect: spilanthol stimulates the skin’s collagen production. Collagen provides elasticity and firmness. Due to the natural aging process, collagen production decreases. At this point, the Paracress Serum is particularly suitable. Users report their positive experiences with paracress and the natural effect of paracress cream.
Regular use of paracress serum plumps up, smoothes and tightens the skin.
How does it work? Spilanthol, an ingredient similar to botulinum toxin, is a natural wrinkle reducer. Whereas botulinum toxin usually paralyzes the muscles in the face completely and thus hardly allows any facial expressions, spilanthol has a much more natural effect. Paracress cream is a gentle, non-invasive way to prevent or reduce wrinkles.
6.1.1 What is spilanthol?
This oily liquid has anesthetic properties. In addition to the Brazilian jambú plant, the flowering plant Heliopsis longpipes is also a supplier of the natural botulinum toxin. However, because paracress is much more abundant, it is more suitable. Its flower heads contain 1.2 percent spilanthol. Even this small amount is sufficient to cause a gentle anesthesia of the corresponding muscles. In combination with a paracress cream, it acts like botulinum toxin: it relaxes the wrinkle-forming muscles.
Spilanthol can penetrate deep into the skin due to its compact structure: It penetrates the cornea, accumulates in the skin and can inhibit contractions. However, complete paralysis as with botulinum toxin does not occur with the use of a Paracress cream or serum. Laughter and other facial expressions are therefore still possible – without the side effect of getting wrinkles.
6.1.2 The comparison with botulinum toxin- which is better?
But how does Spilanthol really compare to the “real” botulinum toxin? What advantages does it offer?
As we already know, similar to botulinum toxin, paracress reduces muscle activity. This tightens the skin and prevents wrinkles. However, while botulinum toxin almost completely paralyzes the muscles for months, this remains the case when using paracress creams. Spilanthol does not cause complete paralysis, but only inhibits contraction. Your face therefore does not look mask-like and “frozen”, but still natural. Botulinum toxin is much more aggressive in its mode of action than a paracress serum. Once injected, it cannot be reversed. Although the treatment with botulinum toxin is minimally invasive, it is still an intervention and requires professional knowledge of the treating physician. This is another reason why the experience with Paracress, especially from women, has been very positive.
The local anesthetic effect of Parakresse cream sets in quickly and usually lasts for hours. Experiences with Paracresse show that rapid penetration into the skin is guaranteed, especially with a liposomal formulation.
Liposomal formulations enclose liquids in a lipid bubble. Which liquids these are is irrelevant for the liposome. They can be nutrients, minerals or vitamins. In the case of Jambú, the active ingredient is enclosed in the liposome. The synthesis allows better transport of the active ingredient to the target.
When used on sensitive skin, redness may occur temporarily. Therefore, you should start using paracress cream slowly. If you use it regularly, you can lower the dosage. The wrinkle-reducing effect remains the same. Overdoses are – unlike botulinum toxin – not critical or associated with negative effects.
6.1.3 Products in the cosmetics sector
Numerous cosmetic products now contain spilanthol as an ingredient. The positive experiences with paracress products speak for themselves. Especially the highly effective paracress serum lives up to its reputation. Numerous manufacturers in the cosmetics industry, such as Biotulin, have discovered the South American plant for themselves and use it in their products with great success.
6.2 Medical sector
Medicine also reports positive experiences with paracress. In traditional medicine, jambú is mainly known as the so-called “Toothache plant”. It relieves pain caused by dental problems or gingivitis and is used as an anesthetic for toothache and as an antipyretic. Chewing on the fresh or dried plant or using the extract is especially helpful. The Incas in Peru have used jambú for centuries in the treatment of toothache. In India, the analgesic effect is also known. Extracts are used as an analgesic oral gel with no known side effects.
The plant also has a diuretic effect. Excess water can thus be flushed out of the tissues. Because urine is slightly acidified when jambú is ingested, it can dissolve urinary stones.
Skin diseases such as scabies or psoriasis are also treated in Ayurvedic medicine with the extract of paracress. In addition, flower heads, roots and leaves are used. Scurvy can also be prevented with the extract and roots of the plant. The “sailor’s disease” is caused by a lack of vitamin C and brings fatigue, muscle weakness, joint and muscle pain, rash on the legs and bleeding gums.
In Africa and India, jambú is used in boiled form for the traditional treatment of malaria. Spilanthol is shown to be particularly effective.
In rheumatic diseases, the joints and connective tissue are affected. The leaves of the plant are traditionally used as a tonic for the treatment of rheumatism and gout.
Jambú can even provide relief from severe gastrointestinal diseases such as dysentery or constipation. Especially in Southeast Asia, the plant is known for its effects. Taking the extract protects against colds or flu and their accompanying symptoms. Experiments have also shown that the Spilanthes ingredient has a strong anti-inflammatory effect. In addition, a significantly increased pain threshold could be demonstrated. Thus, the plant possesses not only anti-inflammatory properties, but also analgesic effect. If Spilanthes acmella – as paracress is known among experts – is taken, the body’s immune response is shown to be better and faster. Paracress is a natural medicine to strengthen the immune system.
7 Production of paracress products
The ingredients of the plant find different uses. However, the most popular at present is certainly its use in high-quality cosmetic products such as paracress serum. In order to extract the valuable ingredients of the Brazilian plant, there are various possibilities. Here, the choice of extracting agent depends primarily on the subsequent intended use. For paracress creams, oil is required, for aqueous substances an alcohol extract.
7.1 Extraction with oil
Oil macerate, an extract oil, can be used to extract the lipophilic ingredients. In addition to the paracress, a vegetable oil of choice is required for the extract. The paracress is covered with oil for weeks and should be kept in a protected place. Repeated swirling or shaking of the container improves the active ingredient content.
After about four weeks, the oil is separated from the plant material. The resulting oil macerate can be incorporated into ointments or balms.
7.2 Extraction with alcohol
Alcohol can extract lipophilic and hydrophilic ingredients. A positive side effect is that the alcohol preserves not only the extract but also the cosmetic product. When extracting from flowers, an alcohol content of 30 to 40 percent is sufficient. It is important to use only ethanol.
The production itself is similar to an oil macerate: The fresh or dried plant material remains in a sealed jar for about ten days and must be shaken daily.
After filtering with a coffee filter, further filtering should be done using a laboratory filter. In this way, the extract is freed from all impurities. Alcoholic plant extracts are mainly found in facial toners, gels and emulsions, as they cannot be used in purely fat-based cosmetics.
7.3 Extraction with glycerin
Glycerols are a viable alternative, especially when alcohol must or should be dispensed with. They are produced in the same way as when extracting with alcohol. Glycerin is used instead of the alcohol. One disadvantage of glycerol: the higher viscosity makes filtering much more difficult.
7.4 Extraction with hydrolate
Hydrolates are by-products formed during the distillation of essential oils. A small part of the essential oil remains in the hydrolate. In cosmetics, hydrolates are a high-quality substitute for water and are therefore particularly suitable for water-containing products such as toners or gels.
7.5 Industrial production
If the plant extract is produced on an industrial scale, extraction is carried out by state-of-the-art processes in the laboratory. In gentle extraction processes, the valuable ingredients of paracress are preserved and can then be incorporated into a paracress cream or serum.
8 Conclusion
Paracress creams have many positive properties. Especially in the medical and cosmetic field, the effects could be proven beyond doubt in the course of investigations and studies. In traditional medicine, it is mainly the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects that show the potential of the plant. In Western culture, paracress has made a name for itself as a “natural” botulinum toxin. Its gently paralyzing effect is used as a secret weapon in the fight against wrinkles and works without side effects. The gently smoothing effect is immediately apparent. And the good experiences with paracress of female consumers speak additionally for itself.
Try Biotulin today and see for yourself the effects of paracress/spilanthol.
