Dear Hirstina,

Benefits of Gold for Skin Care

1. Wrinkles, Fine Lines, Spots Can Be Reduced:

To have a clear skin, free from wrinkles & spots is every woman’s ultimate desire. Gold can activate the basal cells of the skin which reduces the elasticity of the skin. It thus reduces wrinkles, fine lines, blemishes and marks on the skin, and will make you look younger.

2. Stimulates The Skin Cells:

The ions present in gold help in stimulating the cells, nerves and veins in your body which leads to improved blood circulation. This will increase the metabolism of skin cells and secretion of the waste. Gold can help to stimulate the cells and have a healthy skin.

3. Premature Aging Of The Skin Can Be Prevented:

Dryness of skin can lead to its premature aging. Use of gold can reduce the dryness of skin and helps in increasing the metabolic rate. This would prevent the skin from premature aging.

4. Gold Can Lighten The Complexion:

As we recollect history, it was rumored that one of the beauty regimes that Cleopatra followed was the use of gold. Cleopatra used a gold mask every night to enhance her complexion and keep her skin youthful, glowing and beautiful.

5. Collagen Depletion Is Slowed Down:

Collagen is naturally produced in your body which keeps the body flexible. It is responsible for giving smooth skin and shining hair. The collagen level in the body starts depleting from the age of 25 and this is when you notice the changes on your skin. Skin care with gold can slow down the depletion of collagen level in your skin cells.

6. Sun Damage Can Be Treated:

We all are very concerned for our skin getting tanned under the sun. Production of melanin or black pigment in the skin is responsible for tanning of the skin, when exposed to sunlight. The production of melanin in the body can be reduced with the use of gold.

7. Allergies Can Be Treated:

Egyptians believed that gold has medicinal properties that can help in healing a few diseases. The antioxidant properties present in gold helps in increasing blood circulation which leads to reduction in acne and other skin allergies.

8. Inflammation Can Be Treated:

Gold is said to have anti-bacterial and anti-inflammation properties that help oxygen to enter into the skin for renewal of the cells. This helps in treating ulcer and other inflammatory disorders of the skin. It is also known to rejuvenate your skin.

9. Elasticity Of The Skin Can Be Increased:

Skin tends to sag when its elasticity decreases or is completely lost. Use of gold can breakdown the elastin gradually and restore the elasticity of the tissues. This would further prevent the skin from sagging. Gold increases the elasticity of the skin, thus makes it firm and toned.

10. Glowing Skin:

Gold helps in improving the blood circulation, hence it helps hydrate and maintain the skin’s moisture level. The small particles of gold get absorbed into the skin imparting a rich glow. This makes the skin healthy, fresh and radiant.

Gold not only gives a beautiful, glowing and youthful skin but is also beneficial in many ways. It slows down the collagen depletion, increases skin’s elasticity, lightens the skin’s complexion, stimulates the cells making the skin firm, improves blood circulation and prevents premature aging, wrinkles, tanning etc.

Thttp://www.stylecraze.com/articles/benefits-of-gold-for-skin-care/

Hoping this will be helpful,

Rafik

Thank you for the useful list. I would appreciate it if you could comment more on 7). Allergies 

I also wonder whether there are some good interactions with gold - in other words, cosmetic products are full of ingredients and some may not be that beneficial to our health, the effects of gold may be obsolete, less important or perceptible in some combinations.

Dear Hristina,

Herein an article on the use of gold to treat acne (this is regarding item 7 in my first answer):

DENVER — A novel acne laser treatment that uses infrared-activated gold nanoparticles to deliver thermal damage to sebaceous follicles is safe and effective for reducing inflammatory lesions, according to a new study.

"So far, nobody has successfully taken a physical approach to the selective destruction of the sebaceous glands," said Rox Anderson, MD, professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

He presented the results here at the American Academy of Dermatology 72nd Annual Meeting.

There are many treatments for acne, but it often reappears after treatment has ended. Researchers have therefore become interested in inactivating the overactive sebaceous glands that can lead to pore blockage and inflammation.

With the laser treatment, gold nanoparticles are worked into the gland using an emulsion and a topical vibrating massage device. The particles are tuned to absorb near-infrared light, heat up, and cause thermal damage to the gland. The treatment uses 800 nm laser irradiation without anesthesia.

Dr. Anderson's team conducted 2 studies of the laser therapy.

In the first, they evaluated 48 subjects; 23 were treated with gold nanoparticles, and 25 used over-the-counter face wash (2% salicylic acid) for 12 weeks and then crossed over to gold nanoparticle treatment.

Gold nanoparticle therapy was administered in 3 sessions, each 2 weeks apart.

At week 12, the mean reduction in inflammatory lesions was significantly better in the nanoparticle group than in the face wash group (34% vs 16%; P = .02).

At week 16, the reduction in lesions was the same in the nanoparticle and the face wash/nanoparticle crossover groups (38% vs 38%).

At week 28, the mean reduction was larger in the nanoparticle group than in the crossover group (61% vs 50%).

Subjects reported mild to moderate pain during the laser procedure. Adverse effects included mild erythema, which went away 30 to 60 minutes after the procedure.

In the second study, the researcher team evaluated 49 subjects who received 3 treatments administered at 1-week intervals; 26 subjects received gold nanoparticle treatment and 23 received sham treatment.

At 16 weeks, the mean reduction in inflammatory lesions was significantly better in the nanoparticle group than in the sham group (53% vs 31%; P = .045).

"The technology is now all the way through some human studies, and it looks like it's going to work," Dr. Anderson reported.

 "I think it's a very interesting avenue, given that we've been looking to explore new methods to get beyond our current strategies of retinoids," said Carolyn Jack, MD, PhD, a resident in dermatology at McGill University in Montreal. "Phototherapy and light therapy have an immense value, and they are very popular. Patients really do like it," she told Medscape Medical News.

However, it is not clear how long the sebaceous glands will be inactivated after treatment, or how long it will take for acne to recur, she noted.

There is also concern about the safety of long-term exposure to gold nanoparticles, particularly because they are being used now in sunscreens. It is not clear "where these nanoparticles are going in the body, how they're absorbed systemically, and what the long-term effects may be," said Dr. Jack.

 Dr. Anderson countered that with this therapy, the gold nanoparticles are much larger than those used in sunscreens. He also pointed out that tattoos are optically active nanoparticles.

"The fact that about 25% of the American adult population is walking around with optical nanoparticles in them fairly safely is a good precedent," he said.

Dr. Anderson is a consultant for Sebacia, which funded the study and is commercializing the technology. Dr. Jack has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) 72nd Annual Meeting. Presented March 22, 2014.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/822678

Rafik

I was asking for more information on allergies, not acne. Anyway, thank you for the links provided. Obviously, the question is not very well studied yet.

7. Allergies Can Be Treated:

"Egyptians believed that gold has medicinal properties that can help in healing a few diseases. The antioxidant properties present in gold helps in increasing blood circulation which leads to reduction in acne and other skin allergies".

Point 7 talks on allergy of skin. Acne is considered as a kind of skin allergy. Therefore, I provided you with the paper on acne.

Rafik

When we apply mud based cosmetic products, the effects are affecting our immune system and may be beneficial not only on the particular spot of application. My question on the effects of gold is along these lines - overall health benefits. 

No experience using such products. But I find the notion of gold as a nutrient fascinating. Alternatively, targeted gold nanoparticles as a antibiotic substitute in the age of increasing antibiotic resistance.

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Perhaps we have reached a phase in human progress where we are now no longer looking for the philosopher's stone, but looking instead to turn gold into water- or rather infuse gold nanoparticles into water...to safeguard the most precious of commodities, our very health and well-being. Through the oligodynamic effect. I can imagine a day when water used to wash our faces will be the cosmetic product sought after.

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