Multitasking turmeric an amazingly powerful antioxidant. Add half a teaspoon to your food when cooking and you’ll be adding 3,500 ORAC points. In cosmetics  you will find it various guises including tetrahydrodiferuloylmethane and tetrahydrocurcumin, part of the family of equally unpronouncable tetrahydrocurcuminoids. This is an important antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, soother of irritations and skin whitener.

Curcumin is thought to be the primary pharmacological agent in turmeric. The research is a bit patchy and most of it has been conducted on animals. However, in some studies, curcumin’s anti-inflammatory effects have been shown to be comparable to the potent drugs such as hydrocortisone. In a report in Medical News, one company claims that turmeric’s skin whitening potency is four times greater than that of the conventional cosmetic whitener, arbutin.  Its cosmetic purposes run the gamut from lightening skin to removing superfluous hair to curing eczema, psoriasis, and acne.

This bright yellow spice is gradually appearing more often and often is cutting edge cosmetic formulations as well as more predictably in those that follow the Ayurvedic tradition. Our Five Best with turmeric will pamper your body with Osmotics Barrier Repair Body Silk, help your hair became stronger and thicker in Nutra-Lift shampoo ($22) and even conceal those little imperfections in Cover FX Conceal FX Camoflager.  For traditionalists, we offer up Pratima Turmeric Face Mask and we simply couldn’t resist including newcomer  Femme Science Age Control. Check out the details by clicking on the images.