Labrador Tea [Ledum ] or K'WILA̱/'MA̱XS in Tsimshian, means, “always grow”. The plant proliferates in acidic soil, and is found in bogs and wet forests.  Because of its medicinal qualities, Labrador tea has been traded and used as a remedy for different illnesses over the last 10,000 years.  Labrador Tea grows in the muskeg bogs of the Great Bear Rainforest. It’s our core ingredient and we wild harvest it sustainably to ensure that we can go back into the same areas year after year.

This plant isn’t widely used in the skin care industry. This is likely because the plant does not yield a high volume of essential oil when it is distilled. The plants are packed with tannins, sesquiterpenes (a hydrocarbon), numerous mineral salts and Vitamin C, all of which combine to give it astringent and extremely potent antioxidant properties. It is fabulous in the treatment of skin irritation and inflammation, and as an antioxidant it works to combat free radicals caused by pollution and UV rays.

Tests of Labrador Tea have proven that it is 20 times more potent than Idebenone* and 3 times more active than Vitamin C and grape seed extract in combating free radicals. It’s exceptionally high in antioxidant-rich catechins; it is 20 times more potent in antioxidant power than *Idebenone and three times as potent as vitamins E and C. It’s full of skin-repairing and anti-inflammatory ursolic acid, and helps skin keep its natural elasticity, protects collagen and promotes the production of ceramides; all of which helps to delay and prevent skin aging, while ceramide synthesis allows proper moisture of the skin.

*Idebenone is the bioengineered cousin of the vital human antioxidant enzyme – CoEnzyme Q10, and up to 1000x more effective. It is described as a “Super CoQ10″. It is designed to deliver a level of skin rejuvenation that you cannot get from AHA, Vitamin A, Vitamin C.