Cucumbers are a well-known superfood for the skin, but at Agent, we take things a step further - filling our formulations with beautiful and potent distillates where other brands often fill their products with water. 

Cucumber is one of our favorite ingredients to formulate with and something you probably didn’t know is how powerful it really is on inflammation in the body. It isn’t just a surface level ingredient. 

Cucumber helps to cool and calm the inflammatory response in your body and this works by reducing the production of inflammatory cytokines (which are connected to rising levels of inflammation).

Cucumbers also contain flavonoids (compounds high in antioxidants) and so as well as being anti-inflammatory, they have been shown to decrease swelling, reduce redness and alleviate irritation - as well as delivering the cooling effect that we all love (and the beautiful smell that comes with it!).

The cucumber cooling effect works by dilating blood vessels in the skin - which is why it is perfect in our holi (glow) ageless eye serum for reducing the appearance of eye bags, puffy eyes or fine lines and wrinkles  - but also found in our:

• holi (bright) - our newest resurfacing glass mask; and
• holi (water) - pearl and rose hyaluronic essence.
• holi (glow) - ageless eye serum

Distillates sound science-y but are also known as floral waters, herbal waters, or 'hydrosols'. 

Distillates possess the benefits of essential oils (which we love because each essential oil holds its own vibrational frequency, which can help to increase, influence, or uplift our own frequencies).

Cucumber is the dream - Jena absolutely loves it - and working with a distillate allows us to ensure we are packing as many beneficial ingredients into the Agent formulations as possible. Cucumber distillate is pricey - but it's sure worth it.

How does Jena formulate with a distillate?

A distillate is made by taking the raw material of the product (in this case, a cucumber) and loading it into a piece of apparatus known as a distillation still. Here, it sits with around 3-5x its weight in water. Steam passes through the cucumber and removes and carries the beautiful essential oil particles from the cucumber, carried by steam, through a column and then into a condenser.

The mix of water and essential oils is collected and then separated - and the water that you are left with contains up to .02% essential oil - which is why they smell so damn great.

Here are five reasons why Jena loves to formulate with Cucumber Distillate:

1.The multi-faceted power of these antioxidants for anti-aging. Jena loves the power        Cucumber has for helping to fight against oxidative stress, inflammation, and free radicals within the skin, which, in turn, helps to slow down the natural aging process of not only our skin but also our body. The antioxidants that cucumber is packed full of really do alleviate inflammation on the skin so effortlessly.  

2. It contains high levels of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) - that holds strong power in the battle to reduce hyperpigmentation, ease breakouts, prevent premature aging, deliver photoprotection from UV A & B, inhibit melanogenesis, ease inflammatory skin disorders and clarify the texture of the skin - and more.
   
   

3.It's high in lactic acid - one of Jena's favorite and only acids that she will formulate into the Agent range. This high concentration of lactic acid, a known member of the AHA family, plays a role in maintaining and resurfacing the skin surface quality - all without being as harsh as it sounds, while also being a 'clean and green' acid - where so many other acids aren't.

4.It restores the skin pH and is super cooling, hydrating and astringent. The cucumber is naturally very high in water content, and it has a cleansing action not only on the skin in terms of hydration, soothing skin irritation and alleviating sunburnt or windburnt skin - but also holds power within the body to help remove built-up pockets of toxins and old waste.

5.And last but not least, the smell is dreamy, like really, really dreamy. Cucumber distillate proudly possesses the unmistakable smell of freshly cut cucumbers that so many of you tell us is one of the main reasons you keep coming back for our holi (glow). And that? Plus everything else it does? It's just an added benefit.

We hope you love cucumber distillate as much as we do! It’s pricey to add to our products, but 100% worth it.

***THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR REGULATED BY THE FDA. WE ARE NOT DOCTORS; THEREFORE ALWAYS CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST.