{"id":118678,"date":"2025-11-05T04:46:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T04:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/118678\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T04:46:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T04:46:06","slug":"researchers-reveal-rosemary-extract-in-viral-skincare-trend-is-worth-the-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/118678\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers Reveal Rosemary Extract in Viral Skincare Trend Is Worth the Hype"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newswise \u2014 The social media trend touting rosemary and rosemary extract as part of skincare routines is now backed by science. A compound found in rosemary leaves may significantly improve the healing of skin wounds and reduce scarring, according to new research published in\u00a0JCI Insight<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0Perelman School of Medicine<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0University of Pennsylvania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany skin injuries end in scars, and in some people, it can lead to long-term cosmetic and even functional issues,\u201d said senior author\u00a0Thomas Leung, MD, PhD<\/a>, an associate professor of Dermatology at Penn. \u201cOur findings suggest that rosemary extract, and specifically the antioxidant, carnosic acid, can shift the healing process from scarring to healthy skin regeneration. We don\u2019t have proven ways to consistently do that in humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hypothesis behind the hype<\/p>\n

The inspiration for this study stemmed from an unusual place: TikTok and Instagram. After seeing beauty influencers and other social-media users touting the skin-healing benefits of homemade rosemary extract serums and products with rosemary, Penn undergraduate student Jiayi Pang and Penn PhD candidate Emmanuel Rapp Reyes turned to Leung for expertise. Then, they did what all good scientists do: they went to the lab and ran their own tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hypothesized there was likely something real behind the hype because rosemary contains \u00a0many antioxidants,\u201d said Pang, co-lead author of the study. \u201cBut we knew in order to really uncover its potential, we needed to prove its healing properties and uncover how exactly it was facilitating healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conducting the research in mice, the researchers made cream with carnosic acid, a naturally occurring antioxidant mostly existing in rosemary, to accelerate wound closure and restore hair follicles, oil glands, and cartilage. They also found that a particular nerve sensor in the skin previously identified as essential to scarless healing, TRPA1, was critical for stimulating the healing in this instance, too. When tested in mice without the TRPA1 sensor, which\u00a0previous research from Leung<\/a>\u00a0showed is responsible for scarless healing, carnosic cream lost its impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also identified other herbs, such as thyme and oregano, that may activate TRPA1. But rosemary stood out for its potency and safety,\u201d said Rapp Reyes, co-lead author of the study. \u201cOther natural ingredients, such as mustard oil, or the topical medication imiquimod are known to also stimulate the TRPA1 receptor, but unlike rosemary, those can cause irritation and inflammation,\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers also found a localized effect from rosemary; scarless healing only occurred when carnosic acid cream was applied to the site of the injury but not when it was applied to skin far from the wound.<\/p>\n

The team at Penn, however, notes that individuals should speak with their doctors before incorporating \u00a0rosemary skincare products in their daily regimens or mixing up their own rosemary-based concoctions. Nevertheless, given rosemary\u2019s accessibility and low cost, the researchers hope their findings will inspire further investigation into its use in human wound care, especially for patients at risk of excessive scarring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf rosemary is part of your skincare regimen and you think it\u2019s working, it likely is,\u201d said Leung. \u201cI\u2019m proud that the young scientists that led this research sought answers to questions in their everyday lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newswise \u2014 The social media trend touting rosemary and rosemary extract as part of skincare routines is now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2057,3531,83916,134,527,66526,111,2055,139,69,83917,1675,1414],"class_list":["post-118678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-all-journal-news","tag-dermatology","tag-dermatologyskincarerosemarycarnosic-acidtrpa1wound-healingscarring","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-internet-trends","tag-new-zealand","tag-newswise","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-perelman-school-of-medicine-at-the-university-of-pennsylvania","tag-public-health","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}