Ingredient Library
Edelweiss
Leontopodium alpinum
Edelweiss is a resilient alpine flower rich in antioxidants that defend and firm. Protective and restorative, it suits mature, sensitive, and stressed skin.
A natural history
Edelweiss is the legendary little star shaped white flower of the high European mountains, growing where almost nothing else can, on wind scoured rock ledges far above the tree line. Its name means noble white, and for nearly two centuries it has been a beloved emblem of the Alps, a token of purity and devotion once gathered by mountaineers to prove their daring.
What lets so delicate a flower thrive in such a harsh place is a kind of natural armor. Its leaves and petals are wrapped in dense white hairs that shield it from the intense mountain sun, and inside it makes protective antioxidant compounds to defend its cells against cold and ultraviolet light. That same survival chemistry is exactly what makes edelweiss so valued in skin care today.
What it does for your skin
Edelweiss is rich in protective antioxidants, among them leontopodic acid, the compounds that help it withstand the harsh alpine sun. In laboratory testing, edelweiss extract showed strong antioxidant, free radical scavenging activity, and is recognized as a frequent ingredient in anti-aging skin care.[1] In skin cell studies and a small facial test, an edelweiss extract supported antioxidant defense and the look of smoother, firmer skin around the eyes.[2] In a formula it is an antioxidant botanical that helps stressed skin look defended and resilient. Skin-cell studies and a small facial test both point to that defended, firmer look.
References
[1] Pralea IE, et al. Profiling of polyphenolic compounds of Leontopodium alpinum callus cultures and screening of in vitro effects. Plants (Basel). 2021;11(1):100. doi:10.3390/plants11010100
[2] Cho WK, et al. Anti-aging effects of Leontopodium alpinum (edelweiss) callus culture extract through transcriptome profiling. Genes (Basel). 2020;11(2):230. doi:10.3390/genes11020230
Found in these formulas
Questions, answered
It is an antioxidant-rich alpine flower whose protective compounds help defend the look of stressed, mature skin against everyday environmental and sun stress.
Most skincare edelweiss is grown sustainably from plant cell culture, since wild edelweiss is scarce and protected, so its benefits come without harming the alpine flower.