Why don't we include oils known as plant oestrogens in our Defiant Beauty Range?

Why don’t we include oils known as plant oestrogens in our Defiant Beauty Range?

Phyto-oestrogens, or plant oestrogens, are naturally occurring chemicals that have a structure similar to the female hormone oestrogen. Oils such as borage, avocado, evening primrose and soy are plant oestrogens. We do not include these oils in our Defiant Beauty Collections as these products have been formulated specifically as skin care for cancer patients and some cancers, particularly breast cancer, are oestrogen positive. About 7 out of 10 breast cancers are oestrogen positive. They contain receptors that allow proteins or hormones to attach to the cancer cells. The hormones cause the cancer cells to grow and divide, resulting in tumour growth. Hormone treatment may be used for oestrogen positive cancers. These treatments include

• Oestrogen blockers. The well-known drug, Tamoxifen, worked by blocking the oestrogen.
• Aromatase inhibitors. These medicines include anastrozole, arimidex, letrozole and exemestane.

• These are medicines which work by blocking the production of oestrogen in body tissues. They are used in women who have gone through the menopause.
• Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues. These medicines work by greatly reducing the amount of oestrogen made in the ovaries. They are usually given by injection and may be used for women who have not yet reached the menopause.

• An alternative which may be considered for women before the menopause is to remove the ovaries (or to destroy them with radiotherapy). This stops oestrogen from being made.

When we worked with our lead cancer nursing team at our local NHS hospital we were asked to exclude plant oestrogens from the formulations as their advice has always been to avoid plant oestrogens in skin care for cancer patients. You may want to consider this advice and check ingredients labels if buying gifts for cancer patients. We went further than excluding only phyto-oestrogens, we used glass containers rather than plastic to package our skin care for cancer patients as some plastics contain xeno-oestrogens that could leach into our Defiant Beauty Collections

We often recommend oils such as soy, borage and avocado to our bespoke skin care clients seeking an anti-aging product. Oestrogen levels decrease as the body ages and dropping oestrogen levels are often blamed for accelerated aging sometimes experienced after the menopause. Brittle hair, dry and flaking skin that has lost its glow, are symptoms often complained of during and after menopause. We seek to reduce the impact of these signs of aging by creating unique products for clients and matching their skin to the best oils for them. Often, when the goal is rejuvenation, the oils known as phyto-oestrogens are the most beneficial. There is lots of evidence to support the anti-aging benefits of the topical application of soy oil (topical application means putting it onto the skin), amongst others.

We are often asked if we can do anything to help to reverse the accelerated aging that results from cancer treatment. The answer is, we will do our best. We created our Defiant Beauty Serum as so many of our clients, cancer patients and survivors told us that they were aged by cancer and it’s treatment. We suggest that you try this first. If you would like a bespoke product without oestrogens or essential oils associated with changes in liver function and hormone regulation – just ask. You can use our online questionnaire to create your unique product or you can ask one of our consultants to help you. We make sure that clients with oestrogen positive cancers, or those that have survived oestrogen positive cancers are able to create their uniquely appropriate bespoke skin care range – whatever the aim, anti-aging, reduced stress, combination skin, dry skin……we at Jennifer Young can help.