The cosmetic use of an ancient peat of thermal origin
Key Findings
- Double-blind, two-month study of 60 healthy volunteers with mild-to-moderate xerosis (dry skin), testing a vegetal-origin thermal peat (>90% organic matter) as a face/leg mask and as a shampoo ingredient
- Face and leg skin hydration increased ~24% (p<0.01) over 8 weeks with the peat mask used alongside a vitamin C cream, versus a smaller increase with the vitamin C cream alone
- Surface skin lipids increased ~22% (p<0.05) with the peat mask, reaching a 70-95% cumulative increase by week 8
- Skin elasticity improved only in the vitamin C cream arm — the peat mask itself added no measurable elasticity benefit
- Peat-containing shampoo significantly reduced hair static and improved combability and shine versus a plain-surfactant control shampoo
A double-blind clinical trial testing a thermal, vegetal-origin peat (about 90% organic matter) as the active ingredient in a face/leg mask and a hair shampoo, benchmarked against clay and plain-surfactant controls respectively, in 60 volunteers with mild-to-moderate dry skin. The mask arm was co-treated with a vitamin C cream on all sites, so the peat’s isolated contribution is best read incrementally: it measurably improved skin hydration and surface lipid content beyond what the vitamin C cream achieved alone, and in the shampoo arm it reduced hair static and improved combability and shine. Elasticity gains in the study came from the vitamin C cream, not the peat — this trial is not evidence that peat improves skin elasticity on its own.